X-Message-Number: 21030
From: "Gina Miller" <>
Subject: The Nanogirl News~
Date: Sat, 1 Feb 2003 02:41:35 -0800

The Nanogirl News
February 1, 2003

London's little idea. Nanotechnology may be the science of the small, but it
is surely destined for bigger things. The new London Centre for
Nanotechnology (LCN), due to open in 2004, is a joint venture between
University College London and Imperial College, designed to put British
science at the centre of this emerging field. Based in a new building with
purpose-built clean rooms and laboratories, the centre is funded by a
 13.65m higher education grant under the Science Research Infrastructure
Fund. (BBC 1/27/03)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2698649.stm

Jefferson Lab's Free-Electron Laser explores promise of carbon nanotubes. A
research team led by Brian Holloway, an assistant professor at the College
of William & Mary's Department of Applied Science, used Jefferson Lab's
Free-Electron Laser to explore the fundamental science of how and why
nanotubes form, paying close attention to the atomic and molecular details.
Already, in experiments, the William & Mary/NASA Langley collaboration has
produced tubes better than those at other laboratories or in industry.
(EurekAlert 1/27/03)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-01/djna-jlf012703.php

Nanotech can be tragedy or triumph, says new group. A new non-profit
organization has been formed to advance the safe use of molecular
nanotechnology. The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN) was founded
by Chris Phoenix and Mike Treder in December 2002. The vision of CRN is a
world in which nanotechnology is widely used for productive and beneficial
purposes, and where malicious uses are limited by effective administration
of the technology.
(Center for Responsible Nanotechnology 1/17/03) http://www.CRNano.org

Very small solutions. One of the biggest names in the field of teensy
science was a huge hit with students at Dutch Hill Elementary School Tuesday
morning. Viola Vogel, director of the Center for Nanotechnology at the
University of Washington, wowed a roomful of curious students with her
expertise in the revolutionary field of nanotechnology. "We were so lucky
she came," said sixth-grader Anna Boll. "She knows the most, and it's going
to help us sound smarter in the competition." Boll and her classmates are
working to qualify for a state problem-solving competition. This year's
topic is nanotechnology. (Herald Net 1/29/03)
http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/03/1/29/16433363.cfm

Watchdogs say stop nanotech, start worldwide dialogue. An advocacy group
that helped quash efforts to introduce genetically modified products in
Europe, Africa and elsewhere intensified the spotlight on nanotechnology
Wednesday with a report recommending a halt to some nanotech activities.
Nanotechnology officials and observers said the report raises important
questions, but is flawed and its recommendations are misguided.-ETC Group-
(Small Times 1/31/03)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5417

Nanowires form nanoelectronic devices. Scientists from Lund University in
Sweden have created one-dimensional heterostructure electronic devices based
on nanowires. They made the resonant tunneling diodes by bottom-up assembly
of different III/V semiconductor materials. (nanotechweb.org 1/21/03)
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/1/12/1

Nanotechnology, Coming Soon. There is currently a race in progress to
commercialize nanotechnology disk drives. The companies involved are IBM,
Hewlett-Packard, Philips, Seagate and Nanochip, and possibly others. Disk
technology based on a moving head that hovers over a spinning disk is
reaching its physical limits and if greater density of storage is to be
achieved then a different mechanism is required. Research in nanotechnology
has unearthed a mechanism that fits the bill.
(IT-Director 1/27/03)
http://www.it-director.com/article.php?id=3501

Devil in the details? The molecule-size machines long promised by
nanotechnology now seem menacing to some. Nanotechnology, touted as
promising supermaterials and molecule-size robots, is starting to know
sin-or at least some bad PR. In his new techno-thriller, Prey, author
Michael Crichton presents supersmall, supersmart nanobots as itsy-bitsy
baddies. And in some corners of the real world, environmental groups and
arms control advocates are raising questions about possible health effects
of nanotech's tiny particles and the weapons potential of its tiny machines.
Sean Howard, a British political scientist and editor of Disarmament
Diplomacy, believes it threatens "some very dangerous developments, some
globally shattering things" and favors an "inner space" version of the 1967
Outer Space Treaty banning weapons of mass destruction there. (U.S. News
1/27/03)
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/030127/misc/27nano.htm

Bucky Diamonds In The Rough. Nanometer-size diamonds could have a
buckyball-like shape, prompting researchers to coin a new term: "bucky
diamonds." Both diamonds and the soccer ball-shaped cage molecules called
buckyballs are made of pure carbon, and according to the 24 January print
issue of PRL, nanoscale diamonds could surround themselves with buckyball
shells. But several experts in the field are not convinced by the data. If
the work is confirmed, this new family of carbon clusters may provide new
insights for the development of optoelectronics--futuristic devices that
process both light and electrical signals. (Physical Review Focus 1/30/03)
http://focus.aps.org/story/v11/st4

(Join the discussion at Geek.com) The nascent field of nanotechnology is
attracting increasing attention from electrical engineers. The field of
nanotechnology, which at this point is really only nanoscience, has only
recently gained legitimacy. All signs indicate, however, that it is poised
for robust growth during the coming decade. One of the problems with this
subject, however, is that there is little agreement on what constitutes
"nanotechnology." Some (including Intel) refer to nanotechnology as any
technology that utilizes components smaller than 100 nanometers. Others have
more radical visions of nanotechnology. These proponents foresee molecular
assemblers building computers that are millions of times faster than current
computers. User discussion: what jobs are there, Crichton's book Prey, and
education. (Geek.com 1/28/03)
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Jan/bch20030128018378.htm

Ultra-High-Density Data Storage May Become Practical with Breakthrough in
Nanoscale Magnetic Sensors. A simpler and more reliable manufacturing method
has allowed two materials researchers to produce nanoscale magnetic sensors
that could increase the storage capacity of hard disk drives by a factor of
a thousand. Building on results reported last summer, the new sensors are up
to 100 times more sensitive than any current alternative technology. Susan
Hua and Harsh Deep Chopra, both professors at the State University of New
York at Buffalo, report in the February issue of Physical Review B on their
latest experiments with nanoscale sensors that produce, at room temperature,
unusually large electrical resistance changes in the presence of small
magnetic fields. (NSF 1/30/03)
http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/news/03/pr0316.htm

Rice University Announces Nanotechnology Research Agreement with IBM. CBEN
Supercomputer Helps Decipher Quantum Phenomena of Carbon Nanotubes. Rice
University today announced a research agreement with IBM that will provide
nanotechnology researchers at Rice's Center for Biological and Environmental
Nanotechnology (CBEN) with a supercomputer powerful enough to decipher the
quantum phenomena of carbon nanotubes and other nanomaterials. CBEN
researchers plan to use the supercomputer to find new ways to use
nanomaterials to treat and diagnose disease and to clean pollutants from the
environment. (Rice University 1/29/03)
http://www.rice.edu/projects/reno/Newsrel/2003/20030129_cbenibm.shtml

Disruptive technologies. Now is the time to prepare for two coming
disruptors: open-source software and nanotechnology. Two potentially
disruptive technologies watched closely by integrators today are open-source
software and nanotechnology. Each holds the promise of radically changing
the landscape of information technology. The concept of open-source
software, for example, challenges many notions about how software should be
created and sold. Linux, developed under the open-source license, is already
provoking turmoil in the market for operating systems. "If you are an
entrenched proprietary software vendor, this paradigm shift can be
alarming," said John Weathersby, chairman of the Oxford, Miss.-based Open
Source Software Institute. However, integrators and vendors that exploit the
growing open-software movement in government can crack new markets,
especially in the Department of Defense, where numerous offices are using
open-source solutions as low-cost alternatives to commercial software. The
same holds true for nanotechnology. Although still a few years out,
nanotechnology can greatly expand the role of integrators as small, cheap
computational devices are placed in everything from shoes to unmanned aerial
vehicles. (Washington Technology 1/27/03)
http://www.washingtontechnology.com/news/17_20/cover-stories/19859-1.html

(Event) Announcing the World Nanotechnology Summit 2003. Emerging
Technologies Limited is proud to announce that it will hold the first World
Nanotechnology Summit (WNS2003) in New York on April 7-10, 2003...bringing
together leading executives, investors and advisors from around the world to
discuss the next 3-5 years of opportunity.  It is a major opportunity to
hear about the latest developments worldwide and to make important new
contacts.
http://www.nanotechsummit.com/

Tiny particles, enormous future. Government, industry rally to turn Bay Area
into nanotechnology center. The Bay Area staked its claim to the hot new
high-tech arena of nanotechnology Thursday as two dozen movers and shakers
in industry, government and finance converged for a combination networking
session and pep rally in San Francisco. The same killer combination of
research universities, early-stage investors and pioneer companies that put
the Bay Area ahead of the pack in biotechnology and the computer revolution
could also make it a nanotechnology front-runner, said Scott Mize,
co-founder of San Francisco's AngstroVision Inc., which creates 3-D imaging
devices in the nanometer range.
(San Francisco Chronicle 1/31/03)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/01/31
/BU52571.DTL&type=business

Fighting hazards from a computer. If we are attacked with nerve gas or
anthrax, we'll need to know what's coming our way as quickly as possible.
Nanotechnologists are working on new sensors that are both small and
sensitive enough to work anywhere that we are threatened with biological or
chemical weapons. At Purdue University, chemist Jillian Buriak has come up
with a detection lab on a chip. She uses extremely tiny pieces of gold that
can connect from a computer to natural sensors found in living cells to pick
up traces of biochemical agents.
This article includes a video, to the right. (ScienCentral 1/29/03)
http://www.sciencentral.com/news/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=ar
ticle&article_id=218391873

Also on the above website is an article and video from January 16, 2003.
Nanodesigner video, Silicon chips have made everything electronic smaller,
faster, and cheaper. As this ScienCentral News video reports, scientists are
working hard to make circuits so small, we won't see them at all.
(ScienCentral 1/19/03)
http://www.sciencentral.com/news/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=ar
ticle&article_id=218391865

Campus Research Review. The color of cancer: nanoparticles offer new
detection method. Associate professor Shuming Nie is trying to dramatically
improve clinical diagnostic tests for the detection of cancer through the
use of quantum dots, a type of nanoparticle. Quantum dots glow and act as
markers on cells and genes, thereby allowing scientists to rapidly analyze
biopsy tissue from cancer patients. (Georgia Tech 1/31/03)
http://nique.net/issues/spring2003/2003-01-31/19.html

Scientists See Progress in Untangling Nanotubes. Scientists at the
University of Pennsylvania claim they have made progress toward a solution
for one of the biggest obstacles against implementing carbon nanotubes in
electronics, materials and healthcare applications. Carbon nanotubes have
frustrated researchers in every field with their stubborn and unhelpful
tendency to clump together in solution. According to the Penn scientists, a
readily available chemical, a surfactant called sodium dodecylbenzene
sulfonate (NaDDBS), disperses nanotubes in water with remarkable efficiency.
The discovery is described in a paper published this month in the journal
Nanoletters. "Scientists have suggested many possible applications for
carbon nanotubes, but tube aggregation in solution has obstructed progress,"
said lead author Mohammad Islam, a postdoctoral researcher in Penn's
Department of Physics and Astronomy. "This new approach improves our ability
to manipulate single tubes. Single nanotubes can now participate in
controlled self-assembly, form fibers and composites, and serve as
microfluidic sensors in water." (Nanotech Planet 1/30/03)
http://www.nanoelectronicsplanet.com/nanochannels/research/article/0,4028,10
497_1576841,00.html

Braille-like system shrinks storage. A team of European scientists is
experimenting with a molecular-scale storage device that can be read like
Braille and could lead to systems that hold nearly 100 gigabits of data per
square inch. The researchers from the chemistry departments at the
University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Bologna in Italy
said they have discovered a class of materials that when gently nudged, form
bumps in a predictable pattern that could be used to encode data. (MSNBC
1/23/03)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/863373.asp

Nanoscale waveguides provide view of single molecules. A group of
researchers at Cornell University here perforated the top layer of a chip
with two million "holes" that serve as nanoscale waveguides for a
488-nanometer laser, allowing them to film individual molecules during
chemical reactions. Professor Watt Webb's group put 40-nanometer holes in
the aluminum top layer of a 25 millimeter square chip. "Conventional wisdom
would tell you that this is not a single- or multimode waveguide, since its
size is ten times smaller than the light going through it. Rather, we call
it a zero-mode waveguide," said postdoctoral fellow Michael Levene. (EETimes
1/31/03)
http://www.eetimes.com/at/news/OEG20030131S0022

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."

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