From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Sun Jan 19 2003 - 13:53:27 MST
The Nanogirl News
January 19, 2003
Nanotech oversight bill reintroduced. Legislation establishing a government
advisory board to oversee a U.S. nanotechnology initiative was reintroduced
this week in the House of Representatives. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Mike
Honda, D-Calif., calls for industry and university experts to serve on an
advisory panel that would advise the Bush administration and Congress on
research investments and goals for the U.S. National Nanotechnology
Initiative. Similar legislation was introduced in October by Honda, a member
of the House Science Committee. The bill calls for the formation of an
advisory panel that would develop short-, medium- and long-range objectives
for nanotechnology development over the next decade and beyond. (EE Times
1/10/03)
http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20030110S0047
CEPD touts nanotech boost to industry. Vice Premier Lin Shin-yi urged
yesterday Taiwanese companies and government research laboratories to work
together to build a global leadership niche in the coming wave of
applications of nanotechnology. Accompanied by staff of the Council for
Economic Planning and Development, Lin, who is concurrently CEPD chairman,
said "many breakthroughs in research and development" made at the
Nanotechnology Research Center of the Industrial Technology Research
Institute (ITRI) would make a major contribution to upgrading the island's
"traditional" industries. (eTaiwanNews 1/14/03)
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Business/2003/01/14/1042505798.htm
UMass team develops novel self-assembly processes for nanotech applications.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have developed a
series of novel techniques in nanotechnology that hold promise for
applications ranging from highly targeted pharmaceutical therapies, to
development of nutrition-enhanced foods known as "nutraceuticals," to
nanoscopic sensors that might one day advance medical imaging and
diagnostics. The research, published in the Jan. 10 issue of Science, was
funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation.
(EurekAlert 1/9/03)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/uoma-utd010703.php
Nanoparticles encapsulate water droplets. Scientists at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst, US, have come up with a technique for assembling
nanoparticles into robust 3D structures by encapsulating and stabilizing
water droplets. The researchers attached ligands to the nanoparticles to
achieve the results. (nanotechweb.org 1/10/03)
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/1/4/1
also see:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/uoma-utd010703.php
Competitive Technologies Announces Exclusive License for Bone Cement and
Bone Substitute Technology. Competitive Technologies, Inc. (Amex: CTT)
announced today that it has signed an exclusive agreement with the
University of South Carolina Research Foundation (USCRF) to license and
commercialize a new nano-technology invention of injectible calcium
phosphate-based biomaterial for use in skeletal repair. The technology is
from the research of Dr. Brian Genge, a research professor in the Department
of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina.
(StockHouse USA 1/17/03)
http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=CTT&newsid=1473523
(Space) Researchers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope reported today they
are seeing the conclusion of the cosmic epoch called the "Dark Ages," a time
about a billion years after the big bang when newly-formed stars and
galaxies were just starting to become visible. "With the Hubble Telescope,
we can now see back to the epoch when stars in young galaxies began to shine
in significant numbers, concluding the cosmic 'dark ages' about 13 billion
years ago," said Haojing Yan, a Ph.D. graduate student at Arizona State
University (ASU)...The ASU team reports that Hubble's Advanced Camera for
Surveys (ACS) is revealing numerous faint objects that may be young
star-forming galaxies seen when the universe was seven times smaller than it
is today and less than a billion years old.-image on the website-
(HubbleSite 1/9/03)
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/2003/05/text
UT consortium formed for nanotechnology research. The provosts of five
University of Texas campuses signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday
intended to position their schools in the forefront of nanotechnology
research. Nanotechnology involves working at atomic, molecular and
supramolecular levels to create materials with entirely new physical or
chemical properties by virtue of their sizes, which are smaller than the
wavelength of light.
The most fascinating aspect of nanotechnology is that the properties of
familiar substances change at very small sizes, said Paul Barbara, the
director of the Center for Nano- and Molecular Science and Technology at
UT-Austin.
(Brownsville Herald 1/17/03)
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/sections/archive/topstoryjmp/1-17-03/News4.
htm
Scientists develop enhanced biomedical nanoapplications. Taiwan's dedicated
scientific research is helping to propel the country to a spot in the
international forefront of nanotechnology. As part of a joint National
Science Council project, a top research team has been demonstrating the
enormous potential and commercial benefits of "nanoparticle" applications in
biomedical sciences, some of which were on display yesterday. (eTaiwanNews
1/17/03)
http://www.etaiwannews.com/Taiwan/2003/01/17/1042773304.htm
Nanoshells offer sensor for single molecules. Rice University researchers
have come up with a way of tailoring the local electromagnetic field around
metal nanoshells. The scientists claim this could enable chemical screening
for single molecules using the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)
effect. "This is the first time that anyone has designed and engineered a
nanosensor specifically for obtaining chemical information," said Naomi
Halas of Rice University. (nanotechweb.org 1/14/03)
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/1/6/1
Lasers slim enough for chips. Optical fibres thousand times narrower than
human hair produce laser light. US scientists have made tiny lasers that can
be incorporated into silicon microchips. The devices could help make
information technology faster and more compact. Built by Charles Lieber and
coworkers at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the lasers are
single wires of the semiconductor cadmium sulphide. Called nanowires, they
measure just a hundred millionths of a millimetre across. (Nature Science
Update 1/16/03)
http://www.nature.com/nsu/030113/030113-5.html
Nanotechnology developments poised to redefine electronics markets.
Nanotechnology promises devices that are small, fast, and inexpensive. These
devices are poised to enable a range of innovative products, transforming
industries from medicine to transportation. It is in electronic markets,
however, that nanotechnology is likely to have the most significant and most
immediate impact. (Technical Insights via EurekAlert 1/14/03)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/ti-ndp011403.php
University, Argonne Lab to launch a flagship nanoscience program. The
University and Argonne National Laboratory have launched a joint $1 million
Consortium for Nanoscience Research to serve as a flagship science program
focused on emerging science and technology and as an incubator for the next
generation of nanoscience research. "We can achieve something together in a
way that we couldn't do individually, and that's why we have this
consortium," said consortium Director Heinrich Jaeger, Professor in Physics
and the College. "It is an effort that goes way beyond what would be
possible on an individual-investigator basis." (The University of Chicago
Chronicle 1/9/03)
http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/030109/nano.shtml
Claude Vorilhon, (aka Rael) leader of the Raelians who has just been in the
news recently for proclaiming the development of an unconfirmed cloned
birth(s), is also dropping technowords like nano-robots and artificial
intelligence into the press. (Washington Post 1/17/03)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A4047-2003Jan16.html
Thomson Derwent Introduces Derwent Web of Nanotechnology. Thomson Derwent
has announced the development of Derwent Web of Nanotechnology, a Web-based
patent resource that delivers up-to-the-minute Nanotechnology-related patent
records from Derwent, journal literature from Thomson ISI, and editorially
evaluated Web sites. Derwent Web of Nanotechnology houses 35,000 patent
records from the Derwent World Patents Index (10,000 added per year) and
more than 185,000 journal records from ISI Web of Science (25,000 added per
year). (1/17/03 EContent Xtra)
http://www.econtentmag.com/ecxtra/2003/2003_0117/2003_0117_6.html
The possibility for the production of new types of weapons of mass
destruction (WMD) is emerging as the burgeoning field of nanotechnology
(NT) - the science of designing microscopic structures in which materials
are machined and manipulated atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule - matures.
While specialists agree that its widespread use by the military is some ways
off, it is likely that it will be increasingly employed, especially as this
new science develops. Under such monikers as "micromechanical engineering"
and "microelectromechanical systems" (MEMS), the field of NT was born 30
years ago in nuclear weapons laboratories. Its present application has been
to refine existing nuclear weapon designs. But its greatest potential,
however, remains on the drawing board. Nanotechnology has the potential to
create entirely new weapons. Fourth-generation nuclear weapons are new types
of nuclear explosives that would use inertial confinement fusion (ICF)
facilities.
(Janes 1/15/03)
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jcbw/jcbw030115_1_
n.shtml
Purdue leads NASA project to create tiny, super smart computers. Purdue
University scientists are teaming up with NASA on a nanotechnology institute
devoted to creating tiny computers with enough brainpower to allow future
space probes to think for themselves. The goal of the new NASA Institute for
Nanoelectronics and Computing is to design miniature supercomputers that can
make unmanned probes autonomous enough to react quickly when unexpected
problems arise far from Earth. But the same technology would also lead to
tiny, lightweight and energy-efficient sensors, and communication,
navigation and propulsion systems for spacecraft, said Supriyo Datta, the
new institute's director. (Indystar 1/15/03)
http://www.indystar.com/data/wire/out/0115ap_n0eisjf109.html
Add Ceramic Fracture Protection to the List of Nanotube Attributes. Ceramics
are famous for being hard, but easy to break. Now, researchers have
demonstrated that adding carbon nanotubes to a ceramic material can nearly
triple its resistance to fracturing. Since carbon nanotubes were discovered
a decade ago, ceramics researchers have tried to exploit the tiny tubes'
extraordinary strength and flexibility to make much more fracture-resistant
materials. Such durable materials could eventually replace conventional
ceramics or even metals in countless products, says Joshua D. Kuntz of the
University of California, Davis. (Small Times 1/13/03)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5308
Microelectronics goes nanomechanical. In modern electronics, components are
being designed on increasingly tiny scales. As we approach dimensions of one
billionth of a metre the nanometre scale it is now appropriate to talk
about nanoelectronics rather than microelectronics...a new type of device in
which electron transport is manipulated by both electrical and mechanical
means has been built by Dominik Scheible, Artur Erbe and Robert Blick at the
Center for NanoScience at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich (D
Scheible et al. 2002 New Journal of Physics 4 86.186.7).
(PhysicsWeb January 2003)
http://physicsweb.org/article/world/16/1/7
Nanotechnology is good for the heart. A Swiss team of physicists,
biochemists and doctors has constructed an array of sub-millimetre sized
cantilevers to monitor blood proteins. The device, built by Youri Arntz of
the University of Basel and colleagues at Basel and IBM's Zurich Research
Laboratory, can measure proteins whose concentration reflects the state of a
person's heart. It promises quicker and easier diagnoses of heart attacks
than existing technologies, which rely on the radioactive labeling of
proteins. (PhysicsWeb 1/10/03)
http://physicsweb.org/article/news/7/1/4
Researchers create novel life form. Researchers said Monday they have
manipulated an organism successfully to make it produce an unnatural amino
acid in addition to its natural counterparts. "It's a bona fide unnatural
organism now," said lead researcher Ryan Mehl, previously at Scripps
Research Institute where the study was conducted and currently an assistant
professor of chemistry at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
Manufacturing this unnatural bacterium could lead to the manipulation of
others to manufacture antibiotics, enzymes or other compounds for human use,
Mehl said. By adding a novel amino acid, another protein building block, the
bacterium could produce proteins not found in nature and with unknown
potential, he said. (United Press International 1/13/03)
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030113-061458-1878r
(More _Prey_ reaction) Devil in the details? The molecule-size machines long
promised by nanotechnology now seem menacing to some. Nanotechnology, touted
as promising supermaterials and molecule-size robots, is starting to know
sin-or at least some bad PR. In his new techno-thriller, Prey, author
Michael Crichton presents supersmall, supersmart nanobots as itsy-bitsy
baddies. And in some corners of the real world, environmental groups and
arms control advocates are raising questions about possible health effects
of nanotech's tiny particles and the weapons potential of its tiny machines.
(U.S. News 1/27/03)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/030127/misc/27nano.htm
Economic slowdown stalls Biotech's 'next big thing'...Scientists and
businesses also are excited about nanotechnology, the development of
products and applications at the atomic and molecular level that could
revolutionize a broad range of industries. Tiny medical devices and sensors
with military and civilian uses are among some of the first applications
under study, but development is still years away. At the moment, financing
new technological advancement has become a problem in a slow economy saddled
with too much capacity. Money is scarce for entrepreneurs, but some new
ideas are getting financing. (Contra Costa Times via BayArea.com 1/19/03)
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/4983226.htm
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Extropy member http://www.extropy.org
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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