NanoEngineering Puts On A Happy Face

A great deal has been written about Nokia's nanotech-inspired Morph concept on display at New York's Museum of Modern Art and online at MOMA'S Design and the Elastic Mind.

But I am more interested in another item in the MOMA display: DNA Origami, featured here in Scientific American.

The smiley-faced DNA above (and, yes, looking at it does put me in a better mood) is the work of Paul Rothemund of CalTech. In March 2006, Rothemund achieved what became known in the science world as "DNA origami." He discovered how to synthesize one DNA strand that acts as a "scaffolding" for hundreds of other short strands microscopically "stapled" to it. The result is a 3-D shape that can be formed into literally anything.

Mark Sims, CEO of the nanotech computer-aided-design company Nanorex was so inspired by the breakthrough that he decided to change his company's mission to focus his company's first product, NanoEngineer-1, on designing DNA structures for research and education. I wrote about his company for a Detroit-area tech magazine (PDF 158 KB) a little while ago.

Mark recently contacted me to let me know that the first public release of NanoEngineer-1 is only about a week away. You can see some screen shots here.

I first met Mark on the plane ride home from a Foresight Institute Conference in Washington back in 2004 (when I won the Dork of the Year Award) and we have been in touch on and off ever since.

I know this achievement has been a long time coming for Mark and his little company-by-the-lake, so I wish him all the best as more users take his DNA design CAD for a test ride.

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DNA's Fellowship of the Nanorings

Be a little CAD

Attention CAD designers: So, you want to become a molecular engineer? Take your software, and nanosize it. Machine Design magazine has the scoop in an article by Mark Sims, CEO of Nanorex Inc.

(Full disclosure: I was a communications consultant for Nanorex when the Machine Design article was written.)

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Images of the possible

Can we build it?

NanoBot friend Richard Jones (friend to the blog, that is, but not necessarily to 'bots), is in charge of a challenge placed before British scienists for "software control of matter at the atomic or molecular scale." Applications are being accepted until Nov. 6 for participation in "a five-day sand-pit to look for innovative ways to explore whether we can design and construct a tool or method to arrange atoms or molecules to a blueprint." Just remember to play nice, boys and girls, and don't throw sand. Safety first.

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Collaborative NanoBot Blueprint
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Tag-teaming with nature to build nanomachines

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Nanorex Inc., the world’s first developer of tools for the design, simulation and analysis of atomically precise molecular machine systems, will launch its educational outreach program by placing an early pre-release version of its powerful molecular modeling software at the fingertips of some of California’s brightest high school students.

Students who report for the Nanotechnology and Robotics class at the California State Summer School for Mathematics and Science (COSMOS) on July 9 at UC Santa Cruz will begin testing NanoEngineer-1, the first computer aided design (CAD) program for the nanotech age. Scheduled for release this fall, NanoEngineer-1’s 3-D, interactive environment and molecular physics engine will enable the students to invent and test new kinds of molecular machines and devices, designed atom by atom exactly to their specifications.

The students will be helped by a team of "virtual" teachers, the NanoKids and "nanocar."

And, full disclosure, I am doing some work for Nanorex now, helping CEO Mark Sims and his band of creative geniuses promote the unveiling of this quite cool, useful (and open source) software. Read all about it.

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The revolution will be indeed be televised, most likely on the monitor of a Dell laptop running nanoENGINEER-1

Appropriately, this atomically precise nanoscale driveshaft was designed by the Motor City's Mark Sims, the driving force behind nanotech computational modeling company Nanorex Inc.

I paid a visit to Sims just a couple of days ago in suburban Detroit. I found him sitting in his captain's chair, designing the engines that will create the future – a future that is totally open source and runs on Windows, Mac or Linux, by the way.

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Dirty little models

Nanotechnology Used to Study Environment (The Daily Californian)

Nanotechnology, normally used for work with the crystal structures of silicone chips and pure oxides, is being used for something a little more dirty at the Lawrence Berkeley Lab, like learning how to clean up environmental contaminants like nuclear waste.

Researchers Glenn Waychunas and Carl Steefel are using techniques that allow them to study the environment at the nanoscale as part of the new Center for Environmental Kinetics Analysis (CEKA) program, based at Pennsylvania State University.

The goal of the program is to gain insight into the kinetics, or rates, of reactions that occur at the earth’s surface using a nanoscale approach that better models what happens in the real world as opposed to in the lab. More here

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Nano's got the look

Nanotech's not-so-hot models
Drug-discovery company Accelrys and a host of startups are staking claims in the emerging nanotech modeling sector. Are customers ready for the products? (Red Herring)

Billions in government, venture capital, and corporate R&D dollars are pouring into nanotechnology projects worldwide, and, for the foreseeable future, nano-related companies will be spending much of that money on research. San Diego, California-based Accelrys – one of the top businesses in modeling software for drug discovery – and several smaller software modeling companies are pitching their products to businesses working on materials at the nanoscale.

Industry analysts say this software increases return on investment (ROI) for those nanotech companies who can afford it, but most businesses aren’t ready to spend big money on modeling – yet.

Nanotech innovators are searching for tools to aid in rational materials design, and molecular modeling software will be one, allowing researchers to visualize graphically and understand mathematically the interactions of atoms within structures, down to the molecular level. Traditionally, this software has been the domain of university and laboratory scientists, but Accelrys and others are working to make functional programs that can be used by engineers with little specialized training. More here

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Buckytube goes modeling
Insights gained from molecular modeling may lead to better insecticides (Eurekalert)
DoE, EPA in MOU

Buckytube goes modeling

Found this on Froogle, on my way to looking up something else. This Fullerene Buckytube-Nanotube Molecular Model Kit will build a nanotube consisting of eight alternating five-  and six-member rings (other combinations possible). This comes courtesy of Indigo Instruments. And, no, this is not an advertorial. I've never spoken to the company and I get no proceeds. Just thought it looked cool.