X-Message-Number: 20217 From: "Gina Miller" <> Subject: Nanogirl News~ Date: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 02:11:21 -0700 The Nanogirl News September 30, 2002 Interview: Wyden eyes nanotech. As legislation to ensure the nation's continued progress in studying nanotechnology heads to the Senate floor, its co-author sees nearly unlimited potential for the field. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., introduced the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act Sept. 17, co-sponsored by Sens. George Allen, R-Va., Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and Mary Landrieu, D-La. Even though the public has yet to grasp idea of nanotech, the science of manipulating matter at the atomic or molecular level, the country must ensure its abilities in this area, Wyden said. The legislation builds on the existing National Nanotechnology Initiative, a multi-agency program started during the Clinton administration. President Bush's 2003 budget proposal would devote $679 million to NNI activities in basic nano research, and Wyden's bill covers $446 million of NNI activities focused on non-Department of Defense agencies. (United Press 9/22/02) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020920-030036-4843r Senate Committee Passes Nanotech Bill. The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously passed on Thursday legislation to promote nanotechnology research and development. Introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act would create the National Nanotechnology Research Program. The bill is co-sponsored by Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Sen. George Allen (R-Va.). The proposed program would be a coordinated interagency effort that would support long-term nanoscale research and development and promote effective education and training for the next generation of nanotechnology researchers and professionals...The bill would place coordination and management of the nanotechnology program under the National Science and Technology Council. It would also create a Presidential National Nanotechnology Advisory Panel and National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, which would provide administrative and technical support for the Advisory Panel and the Council. (dc.internet.com 9/20/02) http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/10849_1467121 New DNA separation method could bring faster gene sequencing and DNA fingerprinting. Cornell University researchers have demonstrated a novel method of separating DNA molecules by length. The technique might eventually be used to create chips or other microscopic devices to automate and speed up gene sequencing and DNA fingerprinting. The method, which uses a previously discovered entropic recoil force, has better resolution -- that is, better ability to distinguish different lengths -- than others tried so far, the researchers say. They separated DNA strands of two different lengths, using their own nanofabricated device, and demonstrated that modifications would make it possible to separate strands of many different lengths. (Cornell News 9/23/02) http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Sept02/entropicSeparation.ws.html Lightning Rods for Nanoelectronics. Electrostatic discharges threaten to halt further shrinking and acceleration of electronic devices in the future. On a dry winter day, walking on a new carpet can generate a whopping 35,000-volt discharge. We are not harmed by this high voltage, because the amount of charge that flows is puny. Still, it is large enough to destroy sensitive micro-electronic components. Researchers have come up with clever ways to prevent such damage. But as circuits get smaller, they become more sensitive to electrostatic discharge (ESD) and the old tricks no longer work. Can we continue to find new ways to prevent electrostatic damage and thereby maintain the pace of innovation? -5 pages- (Scientific American October 2002 issue) http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=0005EE17-BE00-1D7F-9 0FB809EC5880000 'Ballistic' gives nano a bad name. Calm down, all you conspiracy theorists who just saw "Ballistic: Ecks v. Sever" and think governments just might have that nanorobotic assassin upon which the movie hangs its tissue-thin plot. Considering how excrementally bad the movie is, getting the science wrong is no surprise, but what a shame it decided to impart such a dangerously misguided view of nanotechnology. The premise in "Ballistic" is some German research group created a killer nanorobot. If injected into a victim, it would float through the bloodstream until the assassin hits the proverbial little red button, triggering the injection of something to cause a heart attack or stroke. We can start with the matter of scale. One scene has Lucy Liu's character, Sever, examining some computer files about the robot. The image zooms in on a single blood vessel and finds the little killer. (United Press 9/21/02) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020921-032850-1512r NanoBusiness Alliance to open Albany, N.Y., hub. The NanoBusiness Alliance, an industry association formed to drive the development of nanotechnology and small technology industries, is opening a hub in the same building where International Sematech North will be located. And a New York City company, Nanocs International Inc., decided to relocate to the same site instead of move to Texas. Alain Kaloyeros, Albany NanoTech executive director, said the alliance's decision to open a hub in Albany, N.Y. was significant. (The Business Review 9/20/02) http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2002/09/16/daily62.html Can Nanotubes Be Engineered to Superconduct? Study Suggests Promising New Avenues for Nanotube Research. Superconducting nanotubes may lie on the technology horizon, suggests a theoretical study recently published by researchers from the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the University of Pennsylvania, and Bilkent University in Turkey. The intriguing possibility is the team's most recent finding in a spate of studies showing how changing the shape of tiny single-walled tubes of carbon may open a potential mother lode of technologically useful properties. The theoretical investigations are pointing out productive paths for other researchers to follow in experiments that pursue opportunities to make new materials and technologies with nanotubes. (NIST 9/20/02) http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-17.htm A Little Impurity Goes a Long Way. smattering of impurities might be the key to more efficient light-emitting diodes (LEDs) made from plastics. Researchers report that palladium atoms present at parts-per-million quantities in a polymer LED cause the material to phosphoresce. The effect, described in the 14 October print issue of PRL, could serve as a sensitive probe into the physics of polymers and lead to improved organic optoelectronic devices. (Physical Review Focus 9/26/02) http://focus.aps.org/v10/st14.html (Also -nanometer sized- impurities) How Oxidation Gets A Foot Up. STM images reveal surface impurities as nucleation sites for metal oxides. http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8038/8038notw4.html Startup aims at intersection of neural nets and nanotech. A startup company led by Alex Nugent as president and chief technology officer, is attempting to combine innovatively two leading edge technologies to secure its future position. Nugent and KnowmTech LLC are focused on the reconfigurable assembly of neural networks constructed using nanometer-dimension conductors, such as carbon nanotubes, suspended in a dielectric solution. The basis of KnowmTech's efforts is a concept referred to as a "Knowm" [pronounced "gnome"], with which it should be able to build and reconfigure very high complexity artificial neural networks... (EETimes 9/19/02) http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020918S0012 Physicists thrown for a loop. Experimental results released this year by the Department of Energy's Jefferson Lab in Newport News, Va., have upturned the normally placid world of nuclear physics with the suggestion that protons, the positively charged particles found in the center of every atom, aren't round. Instead, they seem somewhat elliptical. The round proton has been a staple of textbooks for 40 years, tied to the theory that protons and neutrons are built of three smaller particles called ''quarks'' slowly bubbling inside their interiors. What difference does it make whether protons are round or elliptical? Plenty, physicists say. Adjustments in protons and neutrons could affect scientific understanding of the magnetic ''spin'' of atoms. Scientists hope to use ''spintronics'' in future computers and tiny ''nano-scale'' devices. Understanding the fundamental shape of particles will affect those application's success. (Yahoo! News 9/23/02) http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020923/en_usatoday /4470983 Inventor Foresees Implanted Sensors Aiding Brain Functions. Using deliberately provocative predictions, speech-recognition pioneer Ray Kurzweil said that by 2030 nanosensors could be injected into the human bloodstream, implanted microchips could amplify or supplant some brain functions, and individuals could share memories and inner experiences by "beaming" them electronically to others. (EETimes 9/26/02) http://www.eet.com/at/news/OEG20020926S0013 Famed Nanotech Researcher Axed. A star researcher in electronics at Bell Labs has been fired after an outside review committee found he falsified experimental data. The committee concluded that Jan Hendrik Schon, 32, made up or altered data at least 16 times between 1998 and 2001, the first case of scientific fraud in the 77-year history of the Nobel Prize-winning laboratory, Lucent said Wednesday. Bell Labs, which used to be part of AT&T, is the research arm of Lucent Technologies. (Wired 9/25/02) http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,55391,00.html (Movie) Using Nanotechnology to Increase Bandwidth. Bandwidth 9 Nanotechnology and lasers converge to drastically increase bandwidth in optical networks. Bandwidth 9 is a relatively small company whose innovations are making a big impact on telecommunications. (free to view, click the arrow, make sure you have Real Player, if not, they provide the download button to get it) Go to this url and click the "Bandwidth 9" link to open the movie. http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/BusinessNow/BusinessNow.html SOI sharpens the leading edge as silicon scales to 90 nanometers. Over the last 40 years, the electronics industry, a major economic contender weighing in at the $1 trillion range, has relied on a single raw material - silicon - as the foundation for all electronics-based products. Now considered a commodity, thanks in part to its global pervasiveness, silicon has been the key ingredient used in the manufacture of semiconductors that power today's advanced electronics devices. Major innovative breakthroughs in the semiconductor industry, however, are no longer expected to come solely from silicon material. Silicon wafers are highly perfect and this is critically important for achieving high device yield. The introduction of 300-mm diameter wafers reduces the cost per chip, while the new generation of equipment needed to implement the larger wafers further improves their quality. (EETimes 9/23/02) http://www.eetimes.com/in_focus/silicon_engineering/OEG20020923S0065 Saarbr cken, Hertfordshire, Frankfurt, 18th of September. Nanogate Technologies GmbH [profile] from Saarbr cken, Germany and Far cla Products Limited, Hertfordshire UK, leading supplier of finishing systems for automobile paints, announced at the Automechanika trade fair in Frankfurt that the companies have signed an international cooperation agreement. Far cla, a specialist in automobile care and service systems, will enhance its activities by adopting nanotechnology-enhanced products. The company plans to enhance its business portfolio in a phased manner by offering products with water and dirt-resistant properties and anti-fog systems for the automobile, home equipment and gardening segments. (NanoInvestor 9/28/02) http://www.nanoinvestornews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=818 GaN nanowire laser emits first light. Researchers develop the first GaN nanowire laser and report their findings in a recent issue of Nature Materials. US researchers have observed lasing in gallium nitride (GaN) nanowires for the first time. The team from the University of California says that its tiny UV-emitting lasers may find uses in lab-on-a-chip systems and in high-density data storage. (Nanotechweb 9/24/02) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/9/17/1 Millionaires Lining Up to Buy Personal Gene Maps. A service to map a person's entire genetic code is being offered by America's genome entrepreneur Craig Venter, according to the Sunday Times. The newspaper said that for 400,000 (US$621,500), a person would get details of their entire genetic code within 1 week. "Armed with such information, the individual would be able to check for mutations linked with illnesses such as cancer and Alzheimer's," the Sunday Times reported. (ABCnews 9/23/02) http://abcnews.go.com/wire/Living/reuters20020923_392.html Accelerators for nano- and biosciences. Practical, affordable yet unique and exciting new accelerator facilities could advance vital research capabilities for nano- and bioscience, says Swapan Chattopadhyay. From a historical perspective, large particle-accelerator facilities entered the scientific arena as grand instruments that enabled us to understand the fundamental workings at the heart of matter. Ever since Ernest Orlando Lawrence's invention of the cyclotron in 1930, we have witnessed the scientists' obsession with increasingly higher-energy particle beams to probe deeper into the nucleus, the nucleons and the elementary particles to understand the fundamental forces and processes at work. (Cern Courier) http://www.cerncourier.com/main/article/42/8/22 (Interview) Questions by Sander Olson. Answers by James Talton. Dr. James Talton, PhD, is a researcher and businessman who has founded four companies to date. His latest company, Nanotherapeutics, is aiming to develop novel techniques for using nanotechnology to aid in the delivery of hard-to-deliver drugs and proteins. (Nanomagazine.com 9/15/02) http://www.nanomagazine.com/2002_09_15 9-11 drives advances in nanotechnology. Demand increases for devices that monitor water, air. The events of Sept. 11 have focused awareness, increased funding and accelerated the commercialization of micro- and nanotechnology devices that can sense minute traces of chemical, biological and nuclear agents in the air or water, according to business leaders and researchers. Homeland security will not be viable unless without microsystems. Microsystems will enable homeland security," said Marion Scott, director of microsystems, science, technology and components at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M. "We're really looking at the commercial sector to provide the large volumes we need." (Detroit news 9/27/02) http://www.detnews.com/2002/technology/0209/27/b02-598145.htm Review: 'Tuxedo' a nano showcase. It's becoming more and more apparent nanotechnology has nearly unlimited potential but come on -- morphing Jackie Chan into a virtual singing, dancing copy of James Brown? That spot of artistic license in "The Tuxedo," along with antigravity, are about the only things completely out of reach for nanotech, the science of manipulating matter at the atomic or molecular scale. The movie's premise revolves around a set of jacket and pants whose fabric is computerized and packed with nanotech, capable of turning the most unassuming man-on-the-street into a super spy. The idea of having clothing actively impart special abilities is real -- the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies, funded by the U.S. Army, is among those researching these concepts. (United Press International 9/28/02) http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020928-011648-5340r Imago Scientific Instruments, US, has won $7 m (Euro 7.16 m) to develop its LEAP microscope. The company claims that the local electrode atom-probe device can collect data 1000 times as fast as previous atom-probe designs, enabling its use in process monitoring. "Imago has a working prototype of the LEAP microscope and we've been able to demonstrate applications in our target markets," said Thomas Kelly, Imago chairman. "Our investors recognize the value of having a product ready for market and potential customers lined up for first sales." Imago says that the LEAP microscope has a resolution of 0.5 nm in three dimensions and provides 3D atomic-scale topographic imaging and 3D atomic-scale compositional and structural information. (Nanotechweb 9/02) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/9/19/1 Study Shows BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s (BTPH) CAP Nanoparticles Induce Immunity And Protection From Herpes. BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results of a study that found its patented calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CAP) vaccine adjuvant to be an effective mucosal adjuvant capable of inducing mucosal immunity and protection against herpes infection. The study was published in the September issue of the journal Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology. (NanoInvestornews 9/28/02) http://www.nanoinvestornews.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=817 Diamond used to break the mould. Japanese team has developed a technique to build diamond moulds for what it calls nanoimprint lithography (NIL) to try to print rather than image features on chips. As chips shrink, resist patterning on silicon wafers becomes increasingly critical. The team says NIL offers nanometre features over large areas with high throughput. The combined team of researchers from the University of Tokyo and a Japanese Electrotechnical Laboratory in Ibaraki has developed a fine patterning technique for diamond that makes it a suitable candidate for use as a NIL mould. (SiliconStrategies 9/18/02) http://www.siliconstrategies.com/story/OEG20020918S0003 Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Extropy member http://www.extropy.org "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=20217