Nanotube Business 101

Another nano news item has me reaching for my notebook today, this one from Intel and Zyvex. Intel is figuring out how to keep computers cool, using carbon nanotube material from Zyvex. Zyvex CEO Tom Cellucci told me about this impending deal a few weeks ago and discussed the business strategy behind peddling a nanotube process rather than the tubes, themselves. Cellucci was the guy who was brought on board about a year ago to transform Zyvex from a science project into an actual business. So, the first thing he did was try to figure out what the unsatisfied needs were. The company placed nanotech into three different "buckets" -- "tools, materials and structures." We looked at materials and we saw a plethora, in fact too many, carbon nanotube production companies and we made a decision very early on – and stuck with it and glad we have – not to get involved in the production of carbon nanotubes. It's already, quite frankly, commoditylike because everyone's trying to sell it. We're interested in the processing of carbon nanotubes to make things like composites and things of this nature, to get closer to the application. That was a good move. And we've produced something called the ZPM, Zyvex Processed Nanotubes, which have done quite well for us." OK. Write that down, nanobusiness students: Spewing tubes won't get you an appointment anymore, but scraping them up and figuring out who needs them and why just might get you a deal with Intel. Discuss You Click, You Buy Science and Application of Nanotubes Science of Fullerenes and Carbon Nanotubes Carbon Nanotubes

A gem at The Emerald

I couldn't figure out why I liked this column from a student journalist at the Oregon Daily Emerald until I recognized the familiar ring: It sounded a lot like me at my college paper back in 1985. Poor kid. Despite the crankiness beyond his years, he just might make it in the news biz. Here's an excerpt from eager young news cadet Travis Willse:

For one, given that most students are just beginning their tenures in the arena of public dialogue, unjustifiable zealotry can usually be chalked up to the impetuousness of youth and novelty. Moreover, I naively suggest that students calling for an end to nanotechnology research because it has potential military applications, or for a stop to animal research because they believe it has no material value, do so largely out of concern for the quality of the world around them. (Professors promulgating irresponsible rhetoric don't have this excuse.) But the road to the hell that is philosophical incoherence is paved with good intentions.

Discuss

Difficult to be dispassionate

A great many people have reacted to my Small Times column from last November, and subsequent NanoBot posts, that used the alleged MMR/autism link to illustrate a larger point about the disconnect between scientists and "consumers" of science. It's an emotional issue, since it involves my child and the children of the parents who have written to me, making it difficult to remain dispassionate. I certainly understand and respect the views of parents who have reached different conclusions than I have. A wide-ranging discussion on the autism/MMR issue can be found here, as well as many other sites. I've been quoting nanoscientist Carlo Montemagno a great deal these days, but let me go back to my interview with him one more time for some words that I find appropriate. He's talking about the nanoparticles/environment issue -- and I realize the analogy does not work on all levels -- but I found the sentiment appropriate, nontheless. Me: How affected are you, if at all, by public perception of nanotechnology – maybe some of the things that you read in the popular press that may be wrong or used to further somebody's agenda? Montemagno It does have an effect on me. It always has an effect on me. I work really hard at trying to educate people and also being honest. People are worried about nanoparticles, in Europe mostly now. Immediately what ends up happening is that people who don't know anything, they speculate that it's deadly. Scientists step back and say, 'Oh, that's not a problem at all.' You know what the answer is? We don't know. It hasn't been studied and we don't know. I think what has to happen is an honest dialogue. Say, 'Look, I don't know the answer. There may be a problem, may not be a problem, we have to study it. We don't know the answers. You going out off the deep end and saying it's a problem without any data is just as wrong as me telling you there is no problem with no data. Discuss You Click, You Buy Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism? Elijah's Cup: A Family's Journey into the Community and Culture of High-Functioning Autism and Asperger's Syndrome Asperger Syndrome, the Universe and Everything Asperger's Syndrome: A Guide for Parents & Professionals Asperger Syndrome: A Practical Guide for Teachers Eating an Artichoke: A Mother's Perspective on Asperger Syndrome

The Nano Mikado

Libretto for the nano-opera: "Atom and Eve"
By Marc Abrahams


ATOM:
It's elementary.
I know I'm just an atom,
Down in the lowest stratum
Of humblest society.
From what I learned in school
I know I should be bonding.
My parents are desponding
Because I'm not a molecule.
My future seems so, so, so very miniscule.

What if I dream of bigger things?
They will object.
Oh, sorrow!
They say I'm made of tiny strings.
Are they correct?
Oh, sorrow, sorrow!
I feel some larger force
From some enormous source.
I dream of inter--.
Can we connect?
Tomorrow? Tomorrow?
 
Discuss

Cryonics running hot and cold

Future Timeline: Futurist Re-animated Today: "An influential futurist from the 20th century was re-animated today from cryonic suspension at Alcor per his original request. He is still in critical condition, where nanobots have just completed the repair process, restoring his body back to that of a 25 year old. When asked about his plans for the future he said, 'I plan on living each day as if it were my last'." More Meanwhile, back in our "when," Alcor celebrates a victory over the state of Arizona. But how can they stay cool in such a dry heat? Related Posts Nanodays on Ice Unfrozen Cave Men Discuss You click, you buy Cryonics * Ted Williams/Babe Ruth Autographed 20' x 24' Framed Photo - Autographed By Ted WIlliams Timothy Leary'S Last Trip (DVD) Ted Williams Autographed Sports Illustrated Issue (11/25/96) Inside the Dream: The Personal Story of Walt Disney

The (Nano) Apprentice

From USA TODAY "It's crazy," [Donald] Trump says, and that's not an exaggeration. Not that he's shy about exaggeration. In promotional interviews for The Apprentice, he regularly says the contestants have IQs of 200, scores that are so deep into the realm of genius that the contestants would be doing tasks in nanotechnology rather than flea-market and lemonade sales. Discuss You click, you buy What Jesus Would Say : To: Rush Limbaugh, Madonna, Bill Clinton, Michael Jordan, Bart Simpson, Donald Trump, Murphy Brown Mister Satan's Apprentice: A Blues Memoir Star Wars Jedi Apprentice #14: The Ties That Bind

Abstract Cart

G-quartets 40 years later: from 5'-GMP to molecular biology and supramolecular chemistry Davis JT Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2004 Jan 30; 43(6): 668-98 Molecular self-assembly is central to many processes in both biology and supramolecular chemistry. The G-quartet, a hydrogen-bonded macrocycle formed by cation-templated assembly of guanosine, was first identified in 1962 as the basis for the aggregation of 5'-guanosine monophosphate. We now know that many nucleosides, oligonucleotides, and synthetic derivatives form a rich array of functional G-quartets. The G-quartet surfaces in areas ranging from structural biology and medicinal chemistry to supramolecular chemistry and nanotechnology. This Review integrates and summarizes knowledge gained from these different areas, with emphasis on G-quartet structure, function, and molecular recognition. More Paranemic crossover DNA: a generalized Holliday structure with applications in nanotechnology Shen Z, Yan H, Wang T, Seeman NC J Am Chem Soc. 2004 Feb 18; 126(6): 1666-74 The key feature of the structure is that the two adjacent parallel DNA double helices form crossovers at every point possible. Hence, reciprocal crossover points flank the central dyad axis at every major or minor groove separation. More Discuss You click, you buy DNA's Debut Cracking the Genome: Inside the Race to Unlock Human DNA

News in a NanoSecond

Molecular Nano Weapons: Research in China and Talk in the West (NewsMax.com) As a research associate of Drexler’s Foresight Institute puts it today, a country confronted by molecular nano weapons “would be in the position of a band of spear-throwing warriors, confronted with an army deploying mass-produced guns, armored vehicles, and helicopters”. More Global Bar Group Forms To Explore Tiny New Frontier (New York Lawyer) A unique new global organization for lawyers, scientists, medical professionals, industry executives and government officials is set to be announced today at a noon press conference in New York. Brainchild of Manhattan solo attorney Sonia E. Miller, the "Converging Technologies Bar Association" will address the legal and ethical uncertainties about a new frontier of scientific advancement so transformative that some would say the very definition of humanity is at question. More Can nanotubes keep PCs cool? (CNET) Intel is conducting research with nanotechnology provider Zyvex to see if carbon nanotubes can help dissipate the pent-up heat inside PCs. More (Nano)Tech licenses up for grabs? (South Florida Business Journal) Seamless Nanorings Could Be Nanoscale Sensors, Resonators Or Transducers (SpaceDaily) Quantum Dot thinks big (IDG) Spintronics goes organic (nanotechweb) NanoBusiness Alliance names new advisers (Small Times) Discuss You click, you buy High Tech Weapons set Science at the Bar: Law, Science, & Technology in America Technology Transfer

Carlo's just a Copycat

I've had Carlo Montemagno on my mind the past couple of days, partly because he made the news recently with his spectacular microcyborg, and partly because I'm working on a Small Times magazine column that incorporates some of his work. I'm in geek heaven when I take the time out from various duties just to go through some of my old interviews with brilliant people like Montemagno who, to paraphrase ZZ Top, not only got knowledge, but know how to use it. The winner of the 2003 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology is really just a big copycat. He's obsessed with imitating nature. I can't blame him, really, since nanomachines are all around us, just waiting for magicians like Montemagno to figure out how they work. In addition to his incredible achievement in making a microrobot move by muscle power, Montemagno is working on another project that might not make for such spectacular headlines, but in the long run will make a bigger splash in the world. I'll roll the tape and give you a peak into Montemagno's mind. Last fall, I gave him my usual prelude about how I try to write to a lay audience, and I thought his answers were beautifully understandable. But I made the mistake of calling him a "science guy," so he quickly interrupted to set me straight: Montemagno: I'm not a science guy. I'm an engineer. I look at trying to achieve a device functionality that meets a societal need. So, I focus always on the end game, where it's going to go or how we will use it. I don't do inquiry-driven science unless I come to an intellectual roadblock that requires me to make an advance in that area. So, I'm an engineer, and being an engineer is fundamentally different than being a physicist or biologist. Me: So, what's the end game for you? Montemagno: My end game is focused on making devices that have embedded intelligence and which, the component pieces, when I put them together, the functionality is greater than the functionality of the individual pieces. ... I take all these building blocks and I put them all together and these building blocks, by the interactions with one another, they elicit properties which are not manifest by any individual building blocks. It's the difference between pressure and molecular reaction. At the nanoscale, pressure doesn't exist. Right? Molecules bang into one another. In the aggregate, pressure emerges as a result of all these molecules banging together. And there are numerous properties which emerge, particularly in biological systems, as a result of these molecules all interacting together that reveals sophisticated behaviors. Me: Can you give me a practical example? Montemagno: The example that I'm most focused on right now is making nanosize particles that transport information very much like neurons do. How do I do that? I take a membrane, an engineered membrane which I make, I take some molecules that allow the flow of calcium or potassium, I take another molecule that pumps potassium, and I put them all together. When I put them all together, what happens is collectively they generate an electrical signal. If I do it properly, they'll make an oscillator and they'll keep on pumping the signal. But the parts don't do that. It's something that emerges as a result. I see that as a tableau for trying to make embedded materials, or smart materials. The smartness is part of the way the molecules interact with one another. He told me that he's reached a level in the lab where molecules are sorted and protons pumped. The next stop, and relatively soon, is commercialization. What kind of useful product will come out of this mess-o-molecules? The scientists among you probably already know. But for the rest of you, that's a story for another day ... Related Posts The Amazing Montemagno Driving under the influence of Feynman Merkle and the case of the Misleading Metaphor Nano 'crackpots' seem downright respectable Discuss

News in a NanoSecond

Piercing the Fog With a Tiny Chip (New York Times) Radar technology was once synonymous with the big and the bulky - for instance, the heavy, rotating antennas at the airport, scanning skies and runways. But lately radar, like so many other technologies, has been slimming down. Now a team of electrical engineers at the California Institute of Technology has shrunk the functions of a radar system into one tiny, intricately designed silicon chip and eight minuscule antennas. More Dismissing Drexler Is Bad for Business (Better Humans) Ignoring the potential of molecular manufacturing won't make it go away, so why is the US nanotech industry painting its advocates as kooks? More Atto boy! The shortest time yet measured, and the most sensitive set of scales (Economist) People who think “nano” is the epitome of smallness should think again. A nanosomething is but a billionth of that something. Two new pieces of research concern themselves with attosomethings—billionths of the nano. More The Hedonistic Imperative (Future Hi) Squealing cells? (The Globe and Mail) 'Musclebots' Are Coming (Roland Piquepaille) Help asked for nanotech center (The Oregonian) Self-assembly wins with gold rosette (nanotechweb) Marine Sponges Provide Model For Environmentally Friendly Nanoscale Materials Production (Science Daily) Technostart tries to bridge the gap between investors and inventors (Small Times) Discuss You click, you buy Polyoxometalate Chemistry: From Topology via Self-Assembly to Applications Self-Assembly Monolayer Structures of Lipids and Macromolecules at Interfaces Troubled Pleasures : Writings on Politics, Gender and Hedonism

The Amazing Montemagno

I've written about UCLA's Carlo Montemago here, and he continues to amaze. At right is a picture I took (all rights reserved, etc., etc.) of Montemagno giving his Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology acceptance speech at a conference last October. Now, Montemagno has made a microrobot move by muscle power. According to the New Scientist: Whatever the ultimate applications of the technology, no one was more surprised to see the tiny musclebots finally move than Carlo Montemagno, the microengineer whose team is developing them at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has spent three disappointing years trying, and failing, to harness living muscle tissue to propel a micromachine. But when he and his team looked into their microscopes, they were amazed to see the latest version of their musclebot crawling around. Montemagno now wants to use the technology to help people who have damaged phrenic nerves. These stimulate the diaphragm to make us breathe and damage means patients often need ventilators instead. Rather than moving the legs of a musclebot, the muscle fibres would flex a piece of piezoelectric material and generate a few millivolts to stimulate the phrenic nerve. Using cells from the patient's own heart would prevent rejection of the implant, and the muscle could be powered by blood glucose. Montemagno's initial brief from NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts was to design a muscle-powered micromachine that could seek and repair micrometeorite punctures on spacecraft. Discuss

Oregon Trail and the Holy Grail

From BendBulletin.com, an update on Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's quest for one of 10 Holy Grails -- a vessel in which to store federal nano funds. When last we left our nano-knight-errant, the adventurer reversed the Columbia River course followed by Lewis & Clark, Woody Guthrie and others to seek the favor of rulers in the Eastern lands. The Bulletin's Andrew Satter reports: "We wanted to get to look at somebody who is involved in the decision-making process so that when we call them they know who we are and what we are calling about," the governor said. "We're trying to get in the door to let everyone know that Oregon is first in line." ... Kulongoski said that boosting Oregon's technology industry, with an emphasis in nanotechnology, is at the forefront of his long-term plan for bringing the state economic stability and job growth. "If you get the seed capital in for this nanotechnology and get designated, my belief is that these broader investments will continue to flow into the state, and Oregon will develop in the western part of the United States as one of the leading centers for nanotechnology," he said. More background here. Discuss

News in a NanoSecond

USPTO - Nanotechnology Customer Partnership Meeting (Nipper's Patent Law Blog) This Nanotechnology Customer Partnership initiative is designed and developed to be a forum to share ideas, experiences, and insights between individual users and the USPTO. ... Meeting date: April 20, 2004. More Small technology attracts big interest from NZ investors (www.stuff.co.nz) E-Commentary-- Hey Dude, The Surf's Up... Somewhere (Industry Week) As University of Houston knows, learning doesn't end with licensing (Small Times) Growing Silicon Nanowires Where You Want Them (Roland Piquepaille) Insights gained from molecular modeling may lead to better insecticides (Eurekalert) Duke nanoscience certificate approved (The Chronicle Online) DuPont links with solar nano developers 10 Rules of Tech Transfer "Mipan Nano-Magic Silver" Donations fuel USC nano research Scientists Brew Tree-Shaped DNA Realm of particles affect tomorrow Nanotech job engine hard to get started Profiting From Nanotechnology Indian institutes to focus on nano Molecular trains scheduled Discuss

Mr. Kulongoski goes to Washington

According to the Stateman Journal of Salem, Ore., Gov. Ted Kulongoski plans to ask "Bush administration science officials" that his state get in on federal nano dollars. The governor said the follow-up phone call shows the importance of face-to-face meetings in Washington, D.C. He hopes it works today, when he meets with Bush administration science officials to argue that Oregon should be one of 10 centers for nanotechnology research. The proposal is part of a bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., that passed Congress last year. The new law authorizes but does not guarantee $3.6 billion in federal funding during four years for research on building atom- or molecule-sized electronic circuits for use in construction, energy storage or medical treatment. Kulongoski doesn’t expect an answer today, but he said, “If you don’t show up, you can’t get in the queue.” The governor's reverse-Oregon-trail pilgrimage is part of the state's push to capitalize on Wyden's influence with nanotechnology proponents. As Small Times reported last week,  Oregonians are going to make the most out of their senator's co-sponsorship of the nanotech act. Update: And this just in from The Oregonian. Scientists scramble to gain footing in the burgeoning field of nanotechnology" Discuss Related Stories at Small Times President thinks a billion of nano, but a bit less than allowed by law Wyden visits Oregon State University for a big nano pep rally Boomtown wannabes all want a piece of the new nanotech action Retired HP official to lead Oregon nano center University of Oregon nano researchers aiming for marketable products Oregon, My Oregon Free Money from the Federal Government for Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs Grant Writing For Dummies

Nanoscience writers as lab rats

A project at the University of South Carolina's center for societal and ethical implications of nanotechnology (Thanks, Jack): Science Journalism: Lowndes Stephens (J. Rion McKissick Professor of Journalism, USC) will pursue an experimental study of ways to improve science journalism, particularly that covering nanotechnology. The experiment will be conducted during summer 2004 on a group of experienced science writers who will have a weeklong training course in Newsplex, a $2 million state-of-the-art multi-media, micro newsroom laboratory at the University of South Carolina. Using information from other team members and from members of USC’s NanoCenter, the subjects will be asked to research, source and write news stories on several significant advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The subjects and their stories will be examined both before and after their experience in Newsplex, as a way to determine the degree to which this experience improves their ability to write about nanotechnology. I met a couple of the USC nanopeople last autumn, and they told me about this database of nanoscience abstracts that they're building. Sounds like a worthwhile project. While you're on the USC site, browse around a bit and find nano-enlightenment via pdf. The science of the study of the popular perception of the study of nanotechnology has truly arrived. Discuss Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics Human Genetic Information: Science, Law and Ethics - Symposium No. 149 Fundamentals of Ethics for Scientists and Engineers

News in a NanoSecond

Lee C. Gerhard and Victor John Yannacone Jr. want to invoke a real precautionary principle. I threw precaution to the wind here. A bit fast and loose with the 'n' word? DF Moore is looking at some interesting thesis topics Joe is lonely. Please visit him. Discuss Rethinking Risk and the Precautionary Principle Write Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day: A Guide to Starting, Revising, and Finishing Your Doctoral Thesis

Journal recants publication of autism study

For those who read my Small Times column on this topic, here's an update via The Seattle Times. Another update from BBC News: Sir Liam Donaldson, England's chief medical officer, accused Dr Andrew Wakefield of peddling "poor science". He said the 1998 study was flawed and has been criticised by "independent experts around the world". His comments came as the General Medical Council prepared to open an investigation into the way Dr Wakefield carried out his study. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged parents to have their children vaccinated. Discuss Autism Spectrum Disorders Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism? Curious Incident of Dog in Night-Time Immunization Safety Review: Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccine & Autism

News in a NanoSecond

The Republican Main Street Partnership is taking credit for passage of the nanotechnology bill The Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce is trying to "cultivate newer industries like wireless, digital media, and nanotechnology." Good discussion thread here on "Prey," nanofact and nanofiction. The National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network is looking for a few good undergrads for its summer research program. Discuss

DoE, EPA in MOU

The U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency recently signed a "Memorandum of understanding (PDF, 70KB) on cooperation in research to protect human health and the environment." Here are some excerpts that might be of interest: The purpose of this MOU is to expand the research collaboration of both agencies in the conduct of basic and applied research related to: (1) environmental protection, environment and energy technology, sustainable energy use, ecological monitoring, material flows, and environmental and facilities clean-up; (2) high-performance computing and modeling; and (3) emerging scientific opportunities in genomics, nanotechnology, remote sensing, bioinformatics, land restoration, material sciences, molecular profiling, and information technology, as well as other areas providing promising opportunities for future joint efforts by EPA’s and DOE’s research communities. Another goal: Explore the use of new technology sensors, nanotechnology, visualization, etc. to provide better understanding of human health and the environment. Discuss

Educating the Regulators

"Regulatory Opportunities" from the NanoBusiness Alliance and Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP: The federal government is beginning to address the regulatory issues raised by nanotechnology. The EPA is turning its attention to the potential environmental and public health effects of nanoparticles in the environment. The FDA is preparing to deal with nanoparticles in medical and cosmetic products. As these agencies begin to focus on nanotechnology, Alliance members will find it helpful to be involved from the outset-working with regulators to alert them to special issues, educating them about the field, and meeting with them early in the product development process in order to avoid costly course-shifting later. For assistance with regulatory matters, please contact Daniel Ritter at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP. Discuss

Nanotech Meetup

Here's a new one to me: Nanotech Meetup -- Calling all Nanotech Enthusiasts Apparently it's the third Thursday of every month. Is this a Friendster-style networking thing? Discuss

Nano Goulash

Robin Green went to a public seminar on nanotech in the U.K. and filed this thought-provoking report on nano-ethics, Drexlerian nanotech, public perception and a frustratingly "low level of understanding of nanotechnology amongst the audience." Interesting stuff, how fact, fiction, politics and perception are tossed into the nanopot, producing a sour soup indeed. Discuss

News in a NanoSecond

• Multiple choice question. Nanotech: threat or menace?
• World's largest scientific society launches kid-friendly chemistry Web site
• More nano in space

Discuss

Rockin' Iranian Nanobots

I think James Joyner is on to something here. I’d probably read a good blog on Iranian nanobots that cover local restaurant bands. Well, here are a couple of places you can go to see if there's any interest. Related Posts Drawing a nano-sized line in the sand Israel and Iran going nano Discuss Music of Iran I Music of Iran II Classical Music Of Iran

Nano Snake Oil?

Syntrax Methoxylon "with Nano Dissolution Technology. ... Potent for gaining muscle, losing fat, and increasing vitality, well-being and endurance. Also useful in supporing strong, healthy bones, and maintaining low cholesterol levels."

Discuss

Nano work, if you can get it

Lockheed Martin is looking for a college student intern who "should be pursuing a Chemical Engineering degree and have knowledge of carbon nanotubes and polymer materials." And Millipore needs a technology manager for "nanoscale processing solutions."

News in a NanoSecond

Thank you again, Glenn Reynolds: So if I were starting out from scratch, with the goal of having maximum blog-impact, I think I'd give that subject [warblogs] a pass. Instead, I'd look around to see what's going on that's potentially very interesting, but that isn't getting enough attention. That can be a subject-matter area (Howard Lovy's Nanobot blog on nanotechnology is a good example), or it can be a geographic area (just look at all the attention that Iraqi bloggers have gotten, by virtue of being close to the action). More on the new "Century City" series: In the Century City world you can be accused of robbery for "stealing back" their personalities and nanotechnology has led to the crime of virtual rape. Congratulations to Shawn Anthony, a Northwestern University undergrad in the Stupp research group who made the All-USA College Academic Third Team. Shawn is a biomedical engineering major with a GPA of 3.87 who is using nanotechnology to develop biomaterials that mimic natural bone. European journalists will want to check out this event (registered journalists only) in Brussels: "Nanotechnology - fear or fiction? Explaining the science - identifying the issues" "A hearing at the European Parliament (EP), Brussels, organised by the EPP-ED Group(European People's Party (Christian Democrats)and European Democrats in the European Parliament), in association with the Institute of Physics. "The hearing aims to: Discuss what nanotechnology is really about using examples from research in electronics, materials and biology Look at perceived risk areas and separate those that might be happening now from those which are, at present, science fiction Examine ways to widen discussion about the application of nanotechnology in society." Discuss Green Ink: An Introduction to Environmental Journalism

Feynman was not for first-timers

In response to my request for former students of Richard Feynman, Sydney Smith (aka medpundit), writes: I didn't go to Cal Tech, and I'm not a physicist, but my husband did his graduate work in physics at Cornell, where Feynman also once taught. He never had any close contact with him, but he attended some of Feynman's lectures which he says were the best physics lectures he's ever heard. They always provided a fresh angle and new way of thinking about things. The problem was that you had to already have a good grasp of the subject to get anything from Feynman's lectures. The consensus among students who were new to physics (i.e. "physics-for-poets" students) was that it was hard to learn anything from him for the first time. Which backs up Feynman's own observation about his teaching. Discuss Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! (Audible.com) Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman!: Adventures of a Curious Character (eCampus.com)

Do no harm: Don't forget Freitas

Hello, Howard, I'm Robert Freitas, author of the Nanomedicine book series (along with many other works relevant to molecular nanotechnology). I think you do a great job with your "NanoBot" column, which I check out regularly. But I was wondering why you hadn't ever mentioned either of my nanomedicine books? I see that you DO mention technical books from time to time. My recent book "Nanomedicine, Vol. IIA: Biocompatibility" ( ) is the first technical book ever written on the subject of the biocompatibility of nanomaterials and nanostructures in the human body. This scholarly work includes over 6,000 literature citations. Admittedly, the focus is primarily on the biocompatibility of diamondoid materials such as might be employed in medical nanorobots (e.g., diamond, graphene, fluorocarbon, sapphire, etc.), and on various other de novo issues related to a future medical nanorobotics technology (that nobody has ever thought about before) such as motile particle mechanocompatibility. But I also included in the book several sections on the biocompatibility of more conventional materials such as carbon nanotubes, dendrimers, DNA (such as might be used in devices built by Nad Seeman), along with discussions of more conventional biocompatibility issues. By the way, my first book in the Nanomedicine series -- "Nanomedicine, Vol. I: Basic Capabilities" or "NMI" ( ) -- which came out in October 1999, was the first technical book on medical nanorobotics ever written or published. It is still in print, available for purchase at Amazon.com, but only in softcover because the hardcover edition sold out its entire printing quickly, a couple of years ago. Please note: NMI is also freely available online in its entirety at my nanomedicine.com Website (which I own). I don't think you'll find any other nanotech technical books online. My book, and my publisher, are unique in this regard. I want to encourage dissemination and discussion of my vision of the future of medicine. In case your reviewer copy of NMIIA has somehow gotten lost, you can check out the entire Table of Contents of the book at http://www.nanomedicine.com/NMIIA.htm, and I anticipate the entire book will be up online (just like NMI) sometime in the next two months or so (just as soon as I can get to it). For future reference, later this year (probably around late summer or early fall), my next book, co-authored with Ralph Merkle and also published by Landes Bioscience, will hit the streets. The title is "Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines" (KSRM). (It will probably be online at my Website http://www.molecularassembler.com by year's end, if all goes as expected.) This book is the first general survey (and including new analysis) ever written of the theoretical and experimental progress to date in designing, building, and operating machines that are able to physically replicate themselves, updating the famous 1980 NASA study of self-replicating lunar factories, which I edited. As usual, in KSRM I provide literally thousands of relevant literature citations. Best wishes, Robert A. Freitas Jr. Author, Nanomedicine Robert, I'm very glad you wrote to me. I know you by your work and reputation. It's actually a reflection of how successful the site has become when a major researcher writes to me! Unfortunately, I write this blog in my spare time and have to place priority on the work that pays me a salary -- otherwise, I would be blogging a lot more often. I've been sticking with sources with whom I've had conversations, so I would very much like to speak with you to get your perspective on nanotech issues. There are a number of doctors in my family, by the way, and they all ask me about the medical applications to nanotechnology (I had to be the black sheep and go into journalism). I'd love to be able to give them an informed run-down without a lot of hemming and hawing. Howard Lovy Related Posts Nanotubes and the tale of the rats 'Old school' medicine meets the modern Playing God with Monsters Discuss

Evangelicals and Nano-Gnosticism

Luddites to the left of me, the religious to the right; and here I am, stuck in the middle with nano. This Christianity Today article: "The Techno Sapiens Are Coming," is subtitled, "When God fashioned man and woman, he called his creation very good. Transhumanists say that, by manipulating our bodies with microscopic tools, we can do better. Are we ready for the great debate?" The author, C. Christopher Hook, director of bioethics education for the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, and chairman of the Mayo Clinical Ethics Council, writes: "The ethical implications of nanotechnology are great, but even more troubling is the philosophy of some of its proponents, who subscribe to transhumanism. This is the belief that someday we will re-engineer our natures to such an extent that a posthuman species, or several new species, will be created that are "superior" to homo sapiens." Here's an issue that will need to be addressed. The evengelical lobby has tremendous influence with the current administration in Washington, and subscribers to a publication that reaches many of them are being told that some nanotech proponents are "transhumanists," which the author calls a "new incarnation of gnosticism." I'm guessing that the nanotech business leadership, already going through some bizarre intellectual contortions in order to distance itself from proponents of molecular nanotechnology, would certainly not want to be painted as gnostics. Yet, here, a pro-nano evangelical and a confused religion writer add their voices to the latest incarnation of ages-old questions of faith and science. Discuss Bioethics for Scientists Bioethics for Scientists provides an introduction to the ethics of modern life sciences and encompasses a wide range of environmental, social, scientific and medical issues. Subjects such as global warming, GM crops and the recent advances in genetics and cloning affect all areas of society. Scientists in all fields are frequently reminded of their own responsibilities, not just within their own profession but also to society. Confucian Bioethics Guiding Icarus: Merging Bioethics with Corporate Interests Bioethics from a Faith Perspective: Ethics in Health Care in the Twenty-First Century

News in a NanoSecond

NanoDot is debating NanoCreationism The Foresight Institute is a nonprofit looking for donations, but a guy named John says don't slip on the snake oil DF Moore likes his professors to be enthusiastic about SPMs and nanotribology "Professor X" had his spine repaired using nanotechnology. Further bulletins as they become available. Jeremy Shepherd is curiously contemplating naval science and nanotech Something is lost in the Google translation, but a German blogger is fascinated by the space elevator idea. And Google has no tool to translate this. I think he says something nice, though. Discuss Scanning Probe Microscopy and Spectroscopy: Theory, Techniques, and Applications, 2nd Edition Advances in Scanning Probe Microscopy of Polymers Exploring Scanning Probe Microscopy With Mathematica Scanning Probe Microscopy: Analytical Methods

dot-dot-dot, dash-dash-dash, dot-dot-dot

Last month, I showed you how I'm read in in very high places here and here. Now, here are a few more examples, taken from my Web stats. If blogging still isn't considered a legitimate way to get information, there sure are a lot of  people from important (and somewhat scary to this lone blogman!) agencies and governments paying attention to what I have to say.

Discuss

Writers who know what I meme

David Pescovitz and Mark Frauenfelder, BoingBoing bloggers, NanoBot advisers and legendary writers, have contributed some excellent work to Small Times in the past couple of days. David writes of how my daughter educates her dad on nanocool in: Nano's got the ways and memes for a viral assault on pop culture. David has since heard from Victoria Vesna and James Gimzewski, who pointed out their own article on the subject: The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science Mark, recovered from Raratonga, writes about the L.A. "nano" exhibit in: For nanoart to imitate real life, exhibition goes back to basics You can read more of David's Small Times columns here, here and here. And cryonics believers might want to look at Mark's coverage here. Related Posts Unfrozen Cave Men Why the Nano Generation Doesn't Need Us Nanomation Discuss Mad Professor

Drexler: More Empty Arguments

Dear Howard, A recent review of Daniel and Mark Ratner's book, "Nanotechnology and Homeland Security," highlights the current tactics of the denialist camp. The Ratners embrace stain resistant pants as "real nanotechnology," but label the original Feynman nanotechnology concepts of molecular assembly as "science fiction", relegated to a section entitled "What Nanotechnology is Not." Following the example of Richard Smalley and others, the Ratners choose to attack straw men of their own fabrication instead of addressing the scientific literature or the specifics of molecular physics and engineering. These false denials of real opportunities and dangers, coupled with a questionable PR strategy, make the nanotech industry increasingly vulnerable to a public backlash. Best wishes, -- Eric Drexler Related Posts: Drexler on Drexlerians The Impossible Dream Drexler: 'Bait and Switch -- The Coverup' Discuss Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing & Computation Engines of Creation

More pieces of Feynman

Driving under the influence of Feynman seems to have touched off some discussion over at Blogcritics, where I repost some of my work. Scroll down to the end to read and participate in the Feynman free-for-all. If you're interested, here are some of my other Blogcritics posts, all of which have also appeared on NanoBot. Blogcritics is an excellent conglomeration of bloggers, by the way, and it certainly gets my vote for a blog site that will "make it" after the blog hype settles down and only the profitable survive. Not that I'm any kind of Website soothsayer, but way back during the go-go late '90s, I had faith that Beliefnet.com would live to tell the greatest economic boom story ever told, and I was right. Some of my contributions from a few years and career turns back can be found here and here. Back to Feynman. In my previous post, I talked about how the nanotech founding father's words get me through my morning commute. Feynman was big on making science understandable to everyday slobs like me. I've written about this subject before, and I do wish that I had been around during his heyday. But I wonder how I would have handled this interview, relayed by Robert P. Crease in a March 2001 article in Physics Web, Revenge of the Science Writer. "In my own encounter with Feynman - which, incidentally, is recounted in the epilogue to James Gleick's biography Genius ( ) - I asked him questions about episodes of his intellectual development. Feynman's replies were direct, but accompanied by intense curiosity about why I was asking; he sought to learn. Then I asked him about progress in science. This did not interest him. A physiological change in his face told me that I had abruptly gone from scholar to scribbler. All at once he grew angry, stood up, and began shouting. "It's a dumb question," he yelled, "I don't know how to answer it. Cancel everything I said!" He slammed his fist into the mountains of papers on his desk, then strode to the door. "It's all so stupid. All of these interviews are always so damned useless." He walked down the corridor, shouting: "It's goddamned useless to talk about these things! It's a complete waste of time! The history of these things is nonsense! You're trying to make something difficult and complicated out of something that's simple and beautiful!" In that instant, witnessing his curiosity evaporate, I realized this had nothing to do with me, nor with contempt for outsiders, nor with scorn for history. Rather, it had everything to do with Feynman's absorption in his own work - the same kind of absorption that made him a great physicist. That was one tape I kept." I suppose flying off the handle is not the sole duty of business public relations specialists. If you're still with me, I wanted to quote some more Feynman and then throw a question out to everybody. This is another passage from the book I'm "reading" (listening to), "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out" ( ). It's from a 1979 interview he did with Omni magazine: Omni: Will a historian of science someday trace the careers of your students as others have done with the students of Rutherford and Niels Bohr and Fermi? Feynman: I doubt it. I'm disappointed with my students all the time. I'm not a teacher who knows what he's doing. Omni: But you can trace influence the other way. Say, the influence on you of Hans Bethe or John Wheeler. Feynman: Sure. But I don't know the effect I'm having. Maybe it's just my character. I don't know. I'm not a psychologist or sociologist. I don't know how to understand people, including myself. You ask, 'How can this guy teach? How can he be motivated if he doesn't know what he's doing?' Well, as a matter of fact, I love to teach. I love to think of new ways of looking at things as I explain them, to make them clearer. But maybe I'm not making them clearer. Probably what I'm doing is entertaining myself. I've learned how to live without knowing. I don't have to be sure I'm succeeding, as I said before about science. I think my life is fuller because I don't know what I'm doing. I'm delighted with the width of the world." I've seen CalTech in my site stats before. Do any of you have a Feynman story you'd like to share? I'm not really an "historian of science," but I'd like to hear from some of Feynman's former students to see how far his influence stretched. If nothing else, we can all at least read some more bongo-playin' "Feynman stories." Discuss Related Post: Driving under the influence of Feynman Related Small Times story Nanotech for the Common Man PACKAGE: The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Commemorative Issue, Three Volume Set

News in a NanoSecond

From The Guardian: "A Horizon investigation into the dangers of nanotechnology was watched by 2.1 million, 300,000 more than watched The Diana Conspiracy, Channel 4's investigation into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. 1 femtotesla: Is that one-quadrillionth of an '80s hair band? Modzelewski Employment Watch: Day 1. More here and here But enough strife, nanotech should build bridges. This site doesn't threaten me at all, but this one looks really interesting. Who would have thought that a microscopy conference could sound so exciting! IBM = Nano = Buy Nanomedicine on a five-year mission. Discuss Gocollect.com :: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - Movie Posters - Comedy -

Small Tech Business Directory is online

If I can get all commercial on you for a moment, I've been meaning to highlight the great work going on at Small Times. Our crack team of researchers (no mild-mannered librarians are they -- two of them are experts at Tae Kwan Do), have invested a great deal of time, effort and eyestrain into the 2004 Small Tech Business Directory. If you're involved in small tech in any way -- even as a consultant -- you need to be listed in there, since this is the bible that industry insiders are using. If you're missing, drop them a note. And despite the impression you might get on this blog, the job that pays me is all about the business of small tech. Much of what you read on smalltimes.com is assigned, edited and posted by me, and I'm especially proud of the large databank of company profiles we've amassed, with the help of some of the best freelance writers and karate-choppin' researchers in the biz. Directory of Venture Capital Kate Lister and Tom Harnish deliver information on more than 6000 sources of venture capital in this revised edition.

A Game of Risk

Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post writes: "Just when you absorb one type of danger, someone invents a new one – SARS or avian flu or something enigmatic called nanotechnology."

Don't send your angry letters to Joel, though. He's just the messenger. Achenbach mentions nano as part of a larger report on risk assessment. And, like it or not, your local paper has probably already featured headlines that warn of nanotech's "risks." So, what are you going to do about this perception?

Discuss

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Breaking the Vicious Circle: Toward Effective Risk Regulation Stephen Breyer explores three difficulties currently plaguing efforts to cope with health risks.

InstaMission

Good evening, Mr. Phelps, The Speculist and CRN have joined your IM (InstaMail? InstaAntiModz?) Force.

Discuss

Related Post
Ripples in the Nanoblogosphere

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Blog On Todd Stauffer is the author or co-author of over 20 books on computing.

Unauthorized uses of 'Nano'

As before, cease and desist orders are being sent to the following perpetrators:

Risotto rice: Arborio is the most widely available, but also worth buying is the creamy vialone nano and carnaroli, which is especially good with seafood.

Adidas Men's Nano-Second Synthetic leather upper with TPU side panel. CMEVA midsole with adiPRENE® heel insert provides flexibility and comfort, TorSion® System. Forefoot feather construction with carbon rubber outsole. (Blogger's Note: Why is it nano? Dunno)

Nano Survives Second Storming A 2,000-strong crowd of protesters attempted to storm the office of Albanian Prime Minister Fatos Nano on 8 February and called for his resignation, following a 4,000-strong demonstration the day before.

Discuss

Driving under the influence of Feynman

One of my dirty little secrets is that I listen to audiobooks from audible.com (My commute from suburban Detroit to Ann Arbor keeps me in my car about two hours a day). This morning, I "read" (OK, had read to me), Richard Feynman's "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out." (

)

I'm a caffeine addict, but Feynman's words had, as the nanofather himself would say, a "kick" all its own. Here are a couple of quotes that stayed inside my brain:

"It is not necessary to understand the way birds flap their wings and how the feathers are designed in order to make a flying machine. It is not necessary to understand the lever system in the legs of a cheetah — an animal that runs fast — in order to make an automobile with wheels that goes very fast. It is therefore not necessary to imitate the behavior of Nature in detail in order to engineer a device which can in many respects surpass nature's abilities."

The quote had me rushing to my notes when I got to the office this morning. It reminded me very much of something one of Feynman's successors (in fact, a winner of the 2003 Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology), told me during an interview last fall. Carlo Montemagno of the University of California, Los Angeles, won the prize in experimental nanotechnology. He's making hybrid devices, or "taking components you would find in living systems and import them into engineered systems." I asked him whether that is what they're talking about when I hear the term "biomimetics." He responded that he's working on a different level than, say, an engineer who is creating "a robot that moves its fin like a fish, or a flying object that flies by flapping like a bird."

"The work that I do is a little more basic than that in the sense that I'm looking at trying to make materials and devices in terms of sensors and actuators that incorporate the same sort of molecular, biological complexity and structures that enable these to behave almost exactly like a living system. So, it's a little bit different. I'm at a smaller scale. So, I'm looking at making membranes that convert energy from one form to another, or filter chemicals or pump molecules just like a living membrane would do."

Montemagno's "end-game" is to make devices that have "embedded intelligence," or whose "functionality is greater than the individual pieces." And before I bore the business-minded among you, he's not doing this merely for the pleasure of finding things out. He said he's about two years away from commercialization. The first application? Water filtration. Remember those two words, by the way. They will make the headlines this year as a number of nanotech research and business plans grow ready for prime time.

And speaking of the news, let me leave you with one more Feynman quote from the book I've been listening to:

"To decide upon the answer is not scientific. In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar. Ajar only. We are only at the beginning of the development of the human race, of the development of the human mind, of intelligent life. We have years and years in the future.

It's our responsibility not to give the answer today as to what it is all about, to drive everybody down in that direction and to say, 'This is the solution to it all,' because we will be chained, then, to the limits of our present imagination. We will only be able to do those things that we think today are the things to do. Whereas, if we leave always some room for doubt, some room for discussion and proceed in a way analogous to the sciences, then this difficulty will not arise.

I believe, therefore, that although it is not the case today, that there may someday come a time, I should hope, when it will be fully appreciated that the power of government should be limited, that governments ought not to be empowered to decide the validity of scientific theories, that this is a ridiculous thing for them to try to do, that they are not to decide the various descriptions of history or of economic theory or of philosophy. Only in this way can the real possibilities of the future human race be ultimately developed."

UPDATE: Here's a link to more on Carlo Montemagno, which includes a short video of the nanotech researcher explaining "biobots." At right is a picture I took (all rights reserved, etc., etc.) of Montemagno giving his Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology acceptance speech at a conference last October.

Discuss

Related Posts
The Impossible Dream?
2003: The Year of the Straw NanoMan
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Six Easy Pieces Essentials Of Physics Explained By Its Most Brilliant Teacher

News in a NanoSecond

• The Everlasting Phelps has an open letter to members of the NanoBusiness Alliance.
• Something's lost in translation here, but I think we get the idea.
• The Peking Duck is worried that Kim Jong-Il might learn to cook.
• Floyd says: "If you don't have an opinion on nanotechnology, get one."
• Aussies and Brits have launched a new nano portal, AZoNano.com, but I'm confused as to which accent should be used for pronunciation.

Discuss

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Perspectives of Fullerene Nanotechnology The first ever book on the applications of fullerenes and nanotubes. World's experts on the industrial use of these new forms of carbon contributes chapters, that are based on lectures given in a large workshop held on February 2001, and expanded thereafter. The contents are intended for those who are interested in the exploration of industrial applications of fullerenes and carbon nanotubes.

News in a NanoSecond

• "In the world of Nano-science ... man goes more nearer to the creator in his understanding of nature."
  
  
• Ninth-graders out in Hackensack need some nano help
  
  
• Nano good for brain, nano bad for brain
  
  
• The reason journalism is so much more fun than fiction: You just can't make this stuff up.

Discuss

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Computational Studies, Nanotechnology, and Solution Thermodynamics of Polymer Systems This volume combines two symposia, Computational Polymer Science and Nanotechnology, and Solution Thermodynamics of Polymers, both held at the Southeastern Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society, October 17-20, 1999, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Both symposia brought together leaders, pioneers, and promising researchers in the area of the physical chemistry of polymers. The first meeting concentrated on computational techniques, while the other presented recent work on both experimental and theoretical works in the physical chemistry of polymers.

What up with BBC doc?

Small Times London Correspondent Ben Wootliff  brought this to my attention. The BBC is airing the above documentary tonight.

The picture is of theoretical physicist Michio Kaku, but the headline highlights Hendrik Schon, a former Bell Labs researcher who was disgraced in 2002 for allegedly manipulating and misrepresenting data.

Small Times Correspondent Jack Mason reported in Sept. 2002 that some of his work might yet prove to be groundbreaking in areas such as molecular electronics.

I'm not sure what the Beeb doc will focus on, but maybe one of my British readers can watch it and let me know?

UPDATE: Richard Jones and Sheila Nicholas have answered my transatlantic SOS and supplied some great commentary here. Thanks!

ANOTHER UPDATE: BBC has posted a transcript of the program here, and a "What are Nanobots?" breakout box here.

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Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize The 21st Century Quantum mechanics, artificial intelligence and biogenetics will forever change the way humans live in the 21st century. Visio...

Nano is chocolate in silicon's peanut butter

I've written before on Intel's Nano Inside, and EE Times' report, Top chip makers tout nanotechnology, expands a bit more on these ideas. At the 90-nm node, gate lengths are 50 nm, which is "clearly nanotechnology by any definition," said George Bourianoff, Intel Corp.'s senior program manager for the strategic research group at Intel. Bourianoff said there's a "push-pull relationship" between the silicon industry and nanotechnology. He said carbon nanotubes and nanowires may extend CMOS scaling down to the 1 to 3 nm range. At the same time, he noted, the silicon manufacturing infrastructure is an ideal platform for enabling nanotechnology. A couple of days ago, I met Zyvex President Tom Cellucci at an Ann Arbor restaurant (Take a note, young entrepreneur wannabes: this high-powered nano honcho enjoys Greek salad and hummus, while this low-powered journalist just sat and chain-drank coffee), and we discussed a range of issues. Among them were the short-term commercialization steps the company is taking along the way to its goal of building a molecular assembler. (Yes, you read that correctly. A real company still has, as its stated goal anyway, the creation of the "impossible.") Cellucci was brought on board in late 2002 to, essentially, force the company to "get real" and start selling products after the initial hype surrounding Zyvex (one of the first nanotech companies to launch) had died down. I had assumed, then, that Cellucci would sluff off the "molecular assember" question, clear his throat and attempt to change the subject. So, of course, I asked the question. His answer surprised me. Me: "Would you say that Zyvex has pretty much turned around almost 180 from the goal of a molecular assembler, or is there still part of the corporate culture that's working toward that goal? Cellucci: Oh, no. No, we still are holding true to the long-term vision of developing a molecular assembler. What we've done, though, is we've gotten more detailed in what that technology development pathway needs to be, what capabilities we need to build and at the same time we looked at unsatisfied need in the marketplace. For example, we needed to develop a nanomanipulation capability. We needed to move things at the nanoscale. Well, we found out that there were a lot of companies, large companies like GE, Intel, Hewlett Packard, our customers today, who were doing R&D in nanotech, and very much could use these tools. That's how we launched the nanomanipulator line." Silicon and nanotech, as a colleague of mine would say, are the new Reese's of the tech world -- the "peanut butter and chocolate" that can help each other taste so much better. More on the silicon/small tech marriage will appear in the March/April issue of Small Times magazine. Related Posts Intel's 'Nano Inside' The Electric Kool-Aid Nano Test Discuss

Big Honor for Little Blog

Thank you, Nanotechnology Now, for naming the NanoBot one of the Best of 2003. They write: "Choice post in 2003 include - but are not limited to - Stairway to Heaven and Apocalypse Nano, The Hulk, Prince Charles and other scary things and 2003: The Year of the Straw NanoMan. This honor, plus my recent mention in Wired magazine as one of the Instapundit's top news sources, makes me wonder whether I should be reading my blog a bit more often. Apparently, there's some decent information in here. Discuss

Money for Nano, Clicks for Fee

I've sold my first ad through blogads. As you can see at left, somebody at Scientific American believes this blog is an actual, respectable publication (I won't say anything if you won't). So, if you were thinking of subscribing to SciAm, anyway, click on the ad and help support your friendly neighborhood NanoBot! The same goes for the Amazon ads at right. I hope they don't distract too much from the content of this blog, but if you see anything of interest, please click the Amazon links on this site on your way to the virtual checkout aisle. I try to make the products fit the content of individual blog posts – sometimes just for my own amusement. And your generous donations via my Amazon Honor System and PayPal links are always welcome. By the way, all proceeds from ad sales go directly toward costs associated with an important, cutting-edge nanoscience experiment. This concludes this commercial announcement. Discuss

Nano Virtuoso

From the blog of musical prodigy Chloe Trevor: "Hmm... well there isn't much to write about. Practiced until 9-5 and then went to the Omni hotel in Richardson. I played a concert there for some banquet in honor of this scientist that deals with.. nano particles or SOMETHING haha I don't really know I just play lol." The event honored Vladimir Agranovich, a spintronics virtuoso who celebrated his 75th birthday. According to the program, Chloe played Tchaikovsky's "Violin Concerto in D, I: Allegro moderato," and I'm sure she performed perfectly. Congratulations to both brilliant artists, young and old!

Nano makes it 'interesting'

Another review of Ratchet and Clank 2: Going Commando: His use of Nano-Tech, as the game calls it, certainly makes for a far more interesting experience and some of the weapon upgrades are great, especially the mini-Nuke. Nothing like some Mushroom Cloud shaped destruction to liven things up." Related Posts Why the Nano Generation doesn't need us Nanomation Nano by any memes necessary Blood-sucking Nanomachines Nano Goes 'Commando' 'When Pants Attack' Discuss

A Sad Jab at the 'Bad Rad Lab'

There were only 20-30 people at Thursday's "Bad Rad Lab" protests against the Molecular Foundry groundbreaking at Berkeley, but it bugs me, nevertheless. The contrarian in me understands the power of protest to make a point, but the journalist in me winces when the protests are based on uneducated assumptions. As I've written before, though, if the people are uninformed about science and technology policy issues, we in the niche media should be held partially responsible. The entire idea of the $85 million Molecular Foundry is to help scientists discover how things behave on the nanoscale, so that we can all make informed decisions on what to do with the technology, and where we need to worry. Unless the protesters know something the scientists don't know, let them do their work. A while back, I spoke to University of California, Berkeley, researcher Steven Louie, who is using carbon nanotubes to create the building blocks of molecular electronics and new types of sensors. Louie, who is also an adviser to nanotube startup Nanomix,was practically giddy last fall when he talked to me about the foundry, which broke ground last week and will be fully functional by 2006. Inside, he said, there are going to be engineers, chemists, biologists, even a place for theorists like him, to toss ideas around clear across different disciplines and departments. That's one thing about working on the nanoscale: Everybody is almost equally clueless, so they can make discoveries together. "It's a really fantastic opportunity for the next 5-10 years, for many disciplines getting together at this same scale," Louie said. "Foundry," though, was probably an unfortunate name for a research laboratory, since it creates an image of smokestacks belching out nano-who-knows-what. What's really happening now is that scientists are only beginning to ask the question of what the environmental impacts of nanomaterials might be, yet just the fact that the question is being asked in a public way is an invitation for some to reach a conclusion based on their own preordained world view. "Aha! See? Even the scientists are asking the questions!" The young superjournalists at the Berkeley Daily Planet have been doing an heroic job of keeping us all informed here and here and here. And more background on the foundry can be found here and here and here. Related Posts Lost and Foundry The Sequel Discuss

Nanotech and Tikkun

In my previous post, I made light of the "human enhancement" portion of the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act (PDF, 56.1 KB), and I'm not the only one who's a bit puzzled by its safeguards against "potential use of nanotechnology in enhancing human intelligence and in developing artificial intelligence which exceeds human capacity." In all seriousness, I believe it's one of the few passages of the bill that looks far into the future and demands that we begin to think about what exactly it is we're trying to do here. It also presages a debate that is growing in not only environmentalist circles, but in religious ones as well. Take a look at a few paragraphs from this interview with C. Ben Mitchell, an assistant professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity International University, in the January 2004 issue of Christianity Today magazine. The Bible does not address nanotechnology, but does it offer any principles that should guide Christians as they think about it? The Bible's message is about redeeming that which has been lost and about caring for those who are in need and those who are suffering. It seems to me that the biblical obligation is to care for those who are the least of these, rather than make an effort to advance our species. Does the Bible prohibit enhancements? I don't know of a specific prohibition that says we ought not to try to enhance human beings. I find a number of cautions. The tower of Babel story is a powerful cautionary tale against trying to usurp God's authority. It's a warning that at least ought to give us pause. I'm curious as to where bionanotech scientists believe their limits should be. Ultimately, though, it's not even the scientists who will set those limits. It's those who will fund and commercialize the technologies, the market that demands them and the governments that will decide where to clamp down and say, "no further." The question is, who is doing the informing, and ultimately what will guide the governments' decisions? These questions will become increasingly important over time, and I'll have more to say on them soon. I approach these issues, by the way, as one whose belief system is grounded in both science and religion. There is a concept that is overused these days among believers in my particular faith, yet it brings me to an intellectual and spiritual place where science and religion can be reconciled: In Hebrew it is called "Tikkun Olam," or "repairing the world." It's a Kabbalistic concept that is often co-opted by individuals and organizations that stretch its meaning to fit their own particular missions. At its center, though, is the idea that creation has been shattered from its original pristine state, and that it is only through the actions of humankind that the shards, the sparks – the atoms, if you will – that were scattered from this once-perfect universe can regain their perfect order. Discuss Related Post The Golems of our Era