A 2004 National Nanotechnology Initiative declaration:
"Such creatures do not exist and many scientists believe they never will, saying nanoscale materials are simply too small to manipulate for such purposes – and if someone wanted to create something destructive, there are many easier ways to do so. "... Today—and as far as scientists can see—anything resembling nanobots remains in the realm of science fiction." An 1895 declaration by Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society:
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Thursday, March 11, 2004
NNI in illustrious company
QuoteBot
"If you listen to a lot of the VCs, they'll say (nanotechnology) is still a science project. A lot of them say it's 10 years in the future. They're nuts. It's not 10 years."
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Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Cave Capitalist Part III: Neanderthal Alliance
To: Two-Grunts & One-Cluck
Dear Mr. One-Cluck,
Thank you for your request to join the Neanderthal Alliance. We here in the superior side of the species have been following, with great amusement, your attempts at cave capital and public funding for your so-called "Wheel" and "Fire" projects. And while we are convinced that homo erectus (tee-hee, we still snort with great humor when we hear those words) is destined for the dirt pile of history, we cannot help but agree with our upright cousins that what you are pursuing is nothing short of an elaborate fantasy.
"Tools," indeed. "Spears," "Fishing Nets," scraping skins off of animals to "wear" during the coming of a great "long period of cold things." Clearly being an educated homo sapien, I can hardly even fathom how you take these fantasies and turn them into reality in your round head.
I can see why you've turned to the Neanderthal Alliance to fund your far-fetched ideas. You must recognize that we Neanderthals will win the Evolutionary War and will inherit this great world, and the giant turtle shell on which it rests. We were likely your last resort. It seems that with your most recent rantings, you've managed to anger your own council of elders – especially when you grunted accusingly that they "oppose not only research on tools and clothing manufacturing, but open dialog on its scientific basis and potential consequences. In a competitive, round earth, the denialist policies of the elders place us on a path to unilateral extinction."
Mr. One-Cluck, let me make this perfectly clear. We here at the Neanderthal Alliance believe in only one thing – and that is our immediate, short-term survival and hording of existing resources. That is what "technology" is all about. This alliance was created solely for that purpose. I would suggest that you and other Neander-pretenders and Neander-incompetents take your strangely unsquare faces and go back to your own people, where you can ponder these issues with your fellow cave-loggers, Ice-Age-arians and denizens of your moms' cave holes.
Our reason for existence is our own happiness, and "science" has nothing to do with it. The truth is written by those in power, and they have rarely been cave tinkerers, nonprofit cavemen or cave futurists.
Famed Neanderthal statesman Ug von Two-Clucks once noted that the two things no one should have to suffer through seeing made are laws and animals ground up into little tubes, as you and other homo erectuses (grunt-tee-hee-grunt) have suggested.
Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against you sapiens. Some of my best friends are …
Well, let me just grunt this. At one time I, too, chiseled markings on rock that predicted Neander-amputees would someday grow new limbs, but then I realized that this prospect frightens your average, voting Rock-Kicker Mom and Run-Far Dad, and does not aid in short-term enrichment of my tribe. Believe me. I'm an experienced cave relations specialist, and I believe in a "reality strategy." I don't promote nor spend much time worrying about made-up science stories about the coming "cold."
My suggestion to you, Mr. One-Cluck, is to join your brethren in gazing upon that strange black monolith near the rock quarry – and keep fighting the strange, if not good, fight for your lost cause.
Evolutionarily Yours,
Three-Squeaks
Neanderthal Alliance
Nano in the 'Pour' House?
Are venture capitalists really pouring money into nanotech, as this story says?
Well, as an ex-president might say, depends on what your definition of "pour" is. Small Times' David Forman tracks the numbers, and he found that investors put $241 million into 29 small tech companies in the fourth quarter of 2003. Small tech accounted for 4.9 percent of the $4.9 billion in venture capital invested in the United States during the quarter. These are not pure nano numbers, though, since Small Times also tracks MEMS (microelectromechanical systems), an industry that is not only a bit larger (microns vs. nanometers), but also slightly more mature. As for nano, Forman reports:
- On the nanotech front, notable fourth-quarter rounds included the $17.5 million funding of ZettaCore Inc. (News, Web) and the $18 million funding of Molecular Imprints of Austin, Texas. ZettaCore, a molecular memory developer, brought top tier venture firm Kleiner Perkins on board. Molecular Imprints, a maker of nanoimprint lithography tools, brought on strategic backers such as Japan's Hakuto Co. Ltd. along with distribution agreements.
CNet reports that nanotech VC kings Draper Fisher Jurvetson "will look to invest in about 15 additional companies per year. Among some of its requirements for investment: a business must be able to establish a large market within five years and avoid tangling with a well-established company such as Intel, DuPont or Dow Chemical."
Forman reports that customer- and product-focused companies were rewarded with VC money in 2003, and I'd expect that this trend will continue in 2004.
Steve Jurvetson told me in an interview last fall that he's attracted to nano companies that "integrate within the existing industry standards, and then slowly but surely infuse from within." In other words, hang on to your long-term vision, but have a short-term plan to sneak your technology into an existing product or process. Your average VC on the street, Jurvetson said, would have never heard of a molecular assembler, and once it's explained to them, their reaction would be, "Are you out of your mind? I'd never invest in something like that."
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
National Nanotechnology 'Disarmament' Initiative
A source tells me that a National Nanotechnology Initiative official tried, unsuccessfully, to uninvite Eric Drexler from a conference at the University of South Carolina on "Imaging and Imagining Nanotechnology." No matter what your position on Drexler and his vision of molecular nanotechnology, you have admit that he's certainly an expert on the conference topic.
However, this report quotes Drexler "grossly out of context," the "Engines of Creation" author told me. So, Drexler gave me a quote in context and asked that if I use it, I leave it in its entirety. Here it is:
- Molecular manufacturing will bring a revolution in military affairs greater than the transition from hand-made spears to mass-produced guns. It is unwise to be on the wrong side of such a technology gap. NNI policy today opposes not only research on molecular manufacturing, but open dialog on its scientific basis and potential consequences. Given its current military superiority, terrorists cannot disarm, conquer, or destroy the United States. However, in a competitive world, the denialist policies of the NNI place us on a path to unilateral disarmament. Continuation of those policies thus poses a grave threat.
It's about vision, not nanobots
2003: The Year of the Straw NanoMan
The Money, the Politics and the Politics
News in a NanoSecond
- George W. Bush Is Getting Brain-jacked
- '... nanotechnology ... may form the foundation for new technologies that will be used to improve sustainable agricultural production and protect ecosystem functions
- Nano underwear
- Tagging Faulty Genes with Fluorescent Nanodots
- 'Nano sensors in order to monitor, predict and detect human physiological states'
- NanoLab knows that profits are not made on nanotubes alone
- EU invests millions in nanotech research
- The antichrist will use nanobots
- Nano novels: The Bohr Maker and Tech Heaven
- King Neptune: Bell Labs physicist can make water droplets work, from cooling microchips to streamlining torpedoes
- Nanotechnology's Debut on the Cereal Box! (More nanofood for thought here)
- An alternate mathematical model for single-wall carbon nanotubes
Monday, March 08, 2004
'Prey' fans' dream cast
Quite a varied list of fan-picked "Prey" actors for the movie version of the Michael Crichton novel. Everyone from Robert DeNiro to Catherine Zeta-Jones to "the chick from Pearl Harbor." More |
Ted Williams' son, cryonics believer, dead at 35
From the St. Petersburg Times:
- "'He believed in technology,' said Kerensky. 'He talked to me about nanotechnology and how we could regenerate living things and mechanical things. . . . I got the impression that (cryonics) might be a part of the plan. When he passed away he might do the same thing and if things worked out, he'd be reunited with his dad. I just never thought he'd be gone this young.'" More
Related Posts:
Cryonics running hot and cold
Nanodays on Ice
Unfrozen Cave Men
Nanotech and Nanotox
From the spring issue of Science in Society:
The science is fascinating, and the possibilities enormous, but that's precisely why it raises a host of new safety concerns. It seems that all kinds of substances acquire entirely new properties when shrunk to the nanoscale (about a billionth of a metre). They become super-efficient catalysts, they concentrate light energy enormously, acquire new electrical properties, and so on. But the first evidence of the hazards has already emerged. Nanotubes could be worse than asbestos, and both nanotube and other nanoparticles can accumulate in organs and tissues. Fortunately, at least some scientists involved in developing the technology are much more willing to consider and discuss the safety concerns openly and engage in real dialogue with the public; in contrast to those scientists involved in exploiting GM. More Related Posts:
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News in a NanoSecond
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Friday, March 05, 2004
Nano Interviews on Biotech Today
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Dear Howard:
I'm the producer host of BioTech Today and a regular, inconsistent reader of "Howard Lovy's NanoBot". Need to be more consistent. :-) I just saw your post on "The Amazing Montemagno". BioTech Today interviewed Dr. Montemagno last week at NBIC 2004 in New York. The interview aired yesterday and is archived at http://64.78.53.214/archive.asp?aid=1257. I'd be delighted if you would post a link to the NBIC 2004 interviews. We also spoke with Dr. Mike Roco and Dr. James Canton (of the Institute for Global Futures). If you post a link, please link to BioTech Today at http://www.biotechtoday.net. The Brain Waves BLOG on CORANTE referenced the show in the 3/3/04 post (http://www.neurosociety.net). Thanks, Howard, for your time and kind attention. Best regards, David Lemberg, D.C. Happy to help, David. Keep up the great work. HL |
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News in a NanoSecond
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Deletion in coverage of nanotech deletion
I've never met the editors of The New Atlantis, so I'm not sure why there's such a huge omission in an otherwise accurate and reasonable commentary on recent political decisions and bizarre bluster in the nanotech world. Here's an excerpt, with boldface type added by me:
- The deletion of the molecular manufacturing study came as a major blow to those who hoped the Drexler version of nanotech was on the verge of getting a fair hearing. Several of them took to the Internet to blame the study’s deletion on the NanoBusiness Alliance, the industry organization that represents the companies now engaged in mainstream nanotechnology. In response to the online criticism, F. Mark Modzelewski, the president of the Alliance, wrote an article mocking the “bloggers, Drexlerians, pseudo-pundits, panderers and other denizens of their mom’s basements” who had developed “an elaborate fantasy about how molecular manufacturing research work was pulled from the bill by some devious cabal.” In fact, another NanoBusiness Alliance official had already admitted to a reporter that the Alliance had approached the staff of Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, to have the study removed from the legislation.
It's like a Where's Nano Waldo game. The "online criticism" was centered around my commentaries and those who contributed to my discussion boards. The article Modzelewski wrote appeared in Small Times Magazine, where I'm news editor, and the "reporter" to whom the NanoBusiness Alliance official had given the background on the McCain staff meeting was, yes, me.
Not that my pride is hurt, or anything.
This Just In: My wife tells me that I'm sounding just a bit whiny and egomaniacal here. Point well taken, Honey. But, gghhheeeeeeezzz! What about me, me, me, me?
Peres, Peace and Purification
Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres is taking his nanotechnology-enabled "water for peace" mission to Hong Kong. I've written about this issue before here and here, and devoted my next Small Times Magazine column to the subject. It'll be posted online sometime near the end of the month. Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from the City University of Hong Kong's coverage:
... Mr Peres sees nanotechnology playing a vital, global role in the future. His primary concern, at present, is the potential benefit nanotechnology offers Israel's for water purification, building in the Negev desert, and homeland security. Related Posts Related Small Times Stories Turning Water into
Politics: The Water Issue in the Palestinian-Israeli
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Thursday, March 04, 2004
News in a NanoSecond
- Nanophase's Small Step Back (Motley Fool)
- A couple of years back, when I lived in Romeoville, Ill., I thought it was just a pleasant conglomeration of strip malls and rapidly expanding family-housing developments. Little did I know that a future nanotech superstar was just a quick SUV ride away. More
- Putting the excitement back in (Guardian)
- Faced with a big drop in science students, some universities have devised innovative courses, writes Rebecca Smithers, including a physics degree with no exams at all
... Another area likely to be popular in the future is nanotechnology, the RSC says. Leeds is starting a nanotechnology BSc this year, while Sussex started a nanoscience and nanotechnology BSc last year. More
- After years of promise, nanotubes can deliver (Houston Chronicle)
- Three years ago, carbon nanotubes made gold look like dirt. A pound of gold at the time cost just $3,500, a pittance compared with the going rate of half a million dollars per pound of nanotubes.
With 100 times the strength of steel at a fraction the weight, electrical conductivity and high heat resistance, a carbon-based nanotube is certainly the Superman of the polymer world. But its prohibitive cost precluded any practical use.
One Houston company is now beginning, however, to deliver on the vast promise of nanotechnology. More
- Bond adventure leaves players shaken, stirred (The Plain Dealer)
- 007: Everything or Nothing
Format: PlayStation 2 ( ), Xbox ( )
Grade: A-
Bottom Line: Pierce Brosnan stars as spy James Bond. In an adventure that takes place on four continents, Bond must use all of his MI-6 knowledge to track down a scientist (played by Heidi Klum) who specializes in nanotechnology and thwart the plan of a former KGB officer (played by Willem Dafoe). Other Bond mainstays such as Judi Dench and John Cleese also are involved. More
- Tears of rage wept in France (New Scientist)
- Open-Source Biology And Its Impact on Industry (KurzweilAI.net)
- Fish or foul? DNA chip can detect 33 species of animals in food (Small Times)
- Holograms to sort, steer nanotubes, cells (United Press International)
- The Junk Science of George W. Bush (The Nation)
- S. Korea to Spend 180 Billion Won on Nanotechnology (Yonhap News)
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Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Developers: Go Get GLOO-ed!
Not
nano, but my bro! GLOOLABS'
CTO is this Dan Lovy
character.
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Developers can check out the special edition GLOO-enabled HomePod
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freedom to do what they do best: innovate.
MMR/autism link loosens
Childhood
Vaccine-Autism Study Retracted (Associated Press)
Update: The New York Times covered the story today. Related Posts Advertisement When Your Doctor Is Wrong: Hepatitis B Vaccine & Autism |
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Mendocino voters fire warning shot
Nanotech industry: Pay close attention. California County Bans Planting of Biotech Crops (Reuters) Calif. County Votes to Ban Biotech Crops (AP) Related Posts: Advertisements
Market Development for Genetically Modified Foods
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Howard Lovy's NanoDog
My dog, Thurston, is now online at Dogster. He
only pretends to be interested in nanotechnology, since it helps pay
for his treats.
Update: Apparently, Thurston's site is down now. Not sure what the problem is. Could have been that his potty mouth violated Dogster's Terms of Service, but I suspect our cat might be behind this "malfunction."
Further Update: He's back!
Update: Apparently, Thurston's site is down now. Not sure what the problem is. Could have been that his potty mouth violated Dogster's Terms of Service, but I suspect our cat might be behind this "malfunction."
Further Update: He's back!
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