X-Message-Number: 22399 From: "Gina Miller" <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Thu, 21 Aug 2003 13:41:49 -0700 The Nanogirl News August 21, 2003 Nanoparticles Keep Brain Cells Alive. Nanoparticles originally developed for industry have an unexpected effect: They triple or even quadruple the life of rat brain cells, suggesting that they could help extend human lifespan and decrease age-related health problems. (Betterhumans 8/15/03) http://www.betterhumans.com/News/news.aspx?articleID=2003-08-15-5 See Also: http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_340534,00040007.htm Nanomaterial Overcomes Weather Woes in Bid to Save Scorched Land. A nanomaterial-based compound designed to reclaim land lost to forest fires is getting its first major workout in challenging weather. "We're dodging thunderstorms every day," said Richard Maile, president of Sequoia Pacific Research Co. LLC, speaking on a mobile phone in the mountains near Taos, N.M., last week. "That presents a certain obstacle but other than that, it's going pretty much as planned." (SmallTimes 8/21/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6540 Activists pounce on nanotech scare. Being an activist means always having to find something new to complain about...A recent 72-page report from Greenpeace warns of the dangers of nanotechnology. An introduction from Greenpeace's Doug Parr sets the tone for the piece, claiming that nanotechnology-created "materials should be considered hazardous until shown otherwise." Huh? Abandoning technologies that can protect the environment is hardly the most logical stance for a pro-environment group to take. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for instance, is already looking into and funding the development of nanomaterials that can reduce harmful emissions, aid recycling and filter gaseous pollutants...Greenpeace goes on to invoke the tired rhetoric of class struggle, arguing: "Is the future of nanotechnology then a plaything of the already-rich? Will the much talked about 'digital divide' be built upon, exacerbating the inequities present in current society through a 'nano-divide?'" In reality, all new inventions--from air conditioning to clothes dryers to automobiles--initially are the playthings of the wealthy. Then, as production costs fall over time and economies of scale take over, those products become available to more and more people. Still, Greenpeace seems almost reasonable when compared to organizations such as the Canadian environmentalists at the ETC Group, which published a communique that calls for an "immediate moratorium on commercial production of new nanomaterials." (ZDnet 8/11/03) http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1107_2-5061966.html Support Growing for Federal Push Toward Nanotech Energy solutions. In Washington, they liken it to the Manhattan Project. In Houston, they prefer an Apollo Program metaphor. But the strategists behind two movements to make energy a priority agree on the need for an all-out commitment akin to efforts to build an atomic bomb during World War II and the space race that followed. Both the research branch of the Department of Energy and a consortium of scientists, industry leaders and policy-makers attending a summit at Rice University identified nanotechnology as a keystone to clean, efficient and affordable energy. (Small Times 8/13/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6493 Purdue researchers expose 'docking bay' for viral attack. Imagine a virus and its cellular target as two spacecraft - the virus sporting a tiny docking bay that allows it to invade its victim. Purdue University researchers have taken a close-up picture of one virus' docking bay, work that could have implications for both medicine and nanotechnology. (Purdue News 8/18/03) http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/030818.Rossmann.baseplate.html UNT, TI team on nanotechnology. Researchers at Texas Instruments and the University of North Texas in Denton received $2.2 million this summer to find a way to build computer chips half the size of those currently in use. The new chips would be about 500 atoms across, said Phillip Matz, a TI researcher working on the project. By comparison, a human hair is about 100,000 atoms across. The goal is smaller, more powerful chips. About half the money is a National Science Foundation grant. The other half comes from contributed services from TI and UNT. Most of the grant money will go to support the graduate students who will work on the project. The grant is part of a nationwide push to help scientists deliver on the promise of nanotechnology, an emerging discipline geared toward making smaller and smaller devices. (Star Telegram 8/10/03) http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/6503939.htm Microscope sketches quantum circuits. Physicists at Cambridge University in the UK have developed a new way to make quantum electronic devices using an atomic force microscope. The technique, known as erasable electrostatic lithography, allows researchers to create and change quantum devices and circuits during an experiment - a feat that was hitherto impossible. (Physics Web 8/14/03) http://physicsweb.org/article/news/7/8/9 (VIDEO-RealPlayer) InformationWeek Tech Talk - Phillip Bond, Dept. of Commerce. Start preparing for the incredible shrinking computer: Uncle Sam is spending hundreds of millions of research dollars on nanotechnology. Commerce Under Secretary Phil Bond and InformationWeek's Stephanie Stahl discuss the phenomena of nano-science. (ABC news) http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/business/BusinessNow/BusinessNow.html# Science Transforms the Battlefield. Advances in materials technology provide troops with ever-improving combat capabilities and levels of protection. Comic-book authors a turning green with envy. For years, superheroes and their futuristic special powers were exclusively the stuff of fantasy. But now, science and technology are beginning to enable ordinary humans to acquire some of the abilities of fictional superheroes. Once make-believe, these special powers are being conferred by advanced materials specially designed for military applications. (C&E 8/11/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8132/8132science.html Europe announces more nano creations. As discussions regarding the potential applications of nanotechnology become more frequent, research results from around Europe are bringing some of these possibilities to life. German researchers have announced their development of a nanofilter capable of removing toxins from blood, while a UK-Italian partnership has succeeded in building the first nanomotor. The nanofilter, made from hollow fibre membranes, removes specific toxins from blood quickly. The pores in the walls of the hollow fibres, themselves only nanometres thick, allow only contaminated blood plasma through. A consortium involving the company Gambro Dialysatoren, the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and the University of Stuttgart is preparing to conduct the first clinical trials using the new filter. (CORDIS 8/14/03) http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=& RCN=EN_RCN_ID:20725 Nanolitho effort harnesses self-assembly. Nanoscale patterning of silicon substrates with regular, repeatable, atomically perfect application- specific templates could enable manufacturable nanoscale chips within the decade, according to scientists at the University of Wisconsin's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (Madison). The work "has the potential to become an inexpensive and routine step for semiconductor manufacturers," said team leader Paul Nealey. "Now we hope that semiconductor manufacturers will adopt our techniques to build real nanoscale chips." (EETimes 8/5/03) http://www.eet.com/at/n/news/OEG20030805S0035 Roboblood...Back in June 1996, Chris Phoenix, a former student of nano-guru Eric Drexler's at Stanford University, posted a question on the Foresight Institute message boards: "What about replacing blood with a complex robot?" This innocent inquiry led to a lengthy collaboration with Robert Freitas Jr., author of Nanomedicine, the first book-length technical discussion of the medical application of nanotechnology and nanorobotics. (Volume II is coming out in hardcover next month.) The result was a 100-page paper in 2002 on what the duo termed a "vasculoid"-essentially a nanomachine that would replace the human blood supply. Instead of having red and white blood cells floating through your veins, some 500 trillion (it's not often I get to type the word "trillion" when it's not in the same sentence as "national debt") nanobots would fill the entire vasculature of the body, some lining the blood vessels and some swarming through them. (USA news 8/8/03) http://www.usnews.com/usnews/nycu/tech/nextnews/archive/next030808.htm?track =rss (Part 1) The mind of an American specialist in nanotechnology. The word "nanogram" means one billionth of a gram. Nanotechnology penetrates within nanograms, and rearranges atoms. If the atoms in coal are rearranged, it becomes diamond (a mediaeval alchemist's dream). Such are its civilian uses. As for its military uses, Mark Gubrud of the University of Maryland has posted on a website his 18-page paper, "Nanotechnology and International Security," for the Fifth Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. At the beginning of his paper (p. 2) Dr. Gubrud says: "Indeed, it is plausible that a nation which gained a sufficient lead in molecular nanotechnology would at some point be in a position to simply disarm any potential competitors." (August 1,03) http://216.26.163.62/2003/lev8_01.html (Part 2) On 8/7 I spoke on "The Bert Lee [Radio] Show" in Arizona about the expected ability of nanotechnology, developed in China since 1986, along with at least six other post-nuclear fields, to destroy the Western means of nuclear retaliation and thus to eliminate Mutual Assured Destruction, that is, to disarm the West. (World Tribune 8/15/03) http://216.26.163.62/2003/lev8_15.html Small matter, big impact. In this little town, in the basement of a house at the end of a dirt road, sits a large laser that will make really tiny bubbles, that might just be the next big thing. The house, laser and patent on the process to make the bubbles all belong to Mark LeClair, founder of NanoSpire. His company is one of a few in Maine playing in the world of nanotechnology, a field that involves building or manipulating matter on the scale of anything smaller than one micron - one-millionth of a meter, the thickness of a typical bacteria. LeClair, a Scarborough native, has theories on how to work with matter at the atomic level that have drawn interest from some big names in the world of super-small technology. If LeClair's theories hold - and he'll be testing them out using the laser over the next few weeks - he'll have created a platform technology, a device with which new technologies can be created and traditional industries can be advanced. (Pressherald 8/15/03) http://www.pressherald.com/business/entrepreneur/030815nanospire.shtml Big questions for tiny particles. From clear sunscreen to self-cleaning cars, nanotechnology seeps into daily life and starts to raise tough ethical issues. In the days when the Beach Boys ruled the radio and bikinis were the rave, beaches were populated by noses: big and slathered white with zinc oxide to avoid sunburn. Today the big white noses are gone. Instead of relying on thick goo, many manufacturers now use titanium-dioxide particles so small the sunscreen looks invisible but still reflects away ultraviolet light. Chalk it up to an early use of nanotechnology, where "big" is defined as 1/1000th the width of a human hair and the possibilities look potentially limitless. Yet even as nanotech goes commercial, environmental groups worry about its effect on health and safety. Long term, analysts say, society will have to confront a broad set of ethical and social issues as it deals with humanity's growing ability to manipulate atoms, molecules, and biology's genetic code. The real crunch may come if researchers manage to merge nanotechnology and biotechnology. (csmonitor 8/15/03) http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0814/p11s02-stss.htm Researcher attempts to become a cyborg. Imagine a world where people make lunch plans via telepathy, acquire genius-level mathematical skills in an instant, and learn to golf by downloading the neural impulses of Tiger Woods. According to Kevin Warwick, professor of cybernetics and researcher at England's University of Reading, all of these things might be possible. And that's why the 47-year-old researcher has chosen to become a cyborg: part human, part machine. (The News Sentinel/Fortwayne 8/15/03) http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/6541921.htm Tiny nanotubes set new record. A team of scientists claims to have produced the smallest free-standing single-walled carbon nanotube to date. The researchers, from Shinshu University and CNRI Corporation, Japan, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, made a tube around 0.43 nm in diameter using an improved floating-reactant method. (nanotechweb 8/7/03) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/8/5/1 Leaders to Discuss Trillion-Dollar Nanotechnology Market at NASA Ames to discuss the trillion-dollar nanotechnology market that experts believe will be born from research at the molecular scale, 250 leaders from industry, academia and government will converge Aug. 19 at NASA Research Park at NASA Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley. NASA is co-hosting the Bay Area Nanotechnology Forum with U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, co-sponsor of the Boehlert-Honda Nanotechnology Bill, H.R. 766. During comments at the forum, he will describe the current outlook for national competition for federal R & D dollars and the international competition for nanotechnology leadership. (SpaceRef 8/16/03) http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=12340 3-D Printing's Great Leap Forward. Rapid prototyping is a concept straight out of Star Trek. Feed an RP machine a 3-D blueprint of an object and it will carve a model of that object out of metal, paper, plastic or starch, just like the replicator aboard the USS Enterprise. Now, these RP devices, also known as 3-D printers, are about to get even better. Engineers are giving the machines the ability to build moving parts, not just block models. (Wired 8/11/03) http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59648,00.html Scientists tout the potentials of nanoscience. Some scientists think the world will be fundamentally altered within 20 years. To get to that new world, they'll need powerful microscopes. Nanoscience - the study of the infinitesimally tiny - incorporates chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, engineering, ecology and national security. And it's poised to change the way we conduct our lives. From preventing stains from sinking into our pants to making sports equipment lighter and more durable to giving our computers more oomph, nanoscience is already out there...And the federal government will spend close to a billion dollars during fiscal year 2004 to ensure its progress. (Aberdeen News 8/18/03) http://www.aberdeennews.com/mld/aberdeennews/news/nation/6559281.htm Sandia researchers create nanocrystals nature's way. Diatoms, seashells provide lessons for development of complex nanomaterials. Sandia researchers are developing complex nanomaterials that look strikingly similar to the microstructures of diatoms and seashells. The materials may have potential for a wide range of applications. (EurekAlert 8/18/03) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-08/dnl-src081803.php Techsploitation: Nanophobia. Ever since I read Greg Bear's weird-ass book Blood Music back in the early 1990s, I've been pretty excited about nanotechnology. Bear imagines a future in which nanobots take over the world by rebuilding humans on a molecular level and turning them into raw materials for their bizarre, mystical new society, the noosphere...Luddite pundit Bill McKibben seems to have bought into Bear's vision. In April he published a nonfiction book called Enough, in which he argues (among other things) that nanotechnology threatens us with dissolution as a species...ETC etc. (AlterNet 8/20/03) http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16629 Breakthrough: Nanotechnology. The Fantastic Use of Atoms, One at a Time. Ah, the last doesn't seem so extraordinary. But they're all built on the new nanotechnology that is using microscopic inventions to interact with the human body, to transmit information in and out, to give it strength or comfort. Ian Hunter and Lynette Jones, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who are also husband and wife, work in nanotechnology. Nano is Greek for dwarf. This "molecular manufacturing" involves the manipulation of individual atoms. Small is not only sometimes better, it is extraordinary. Hunter runs the Bioinstrumentation Lab at MIT which builds scientific instruments and nanorobots required to generate objects that are even smaller. (The American Reporter 8/21/03) http://www.american-reporter.com/2164/6.html Giant helium molecules, containing only two atoms but assuming a size as large as a small virus, have been created by researchers at the cole Normale Sup rieure in Paris. At sizes ranging from 10 to 100 nanometers, these helium molecules are the largest diatomic (two-atom) molecules ever created by a factor of 5 (and comparable to the size of viruses, which vary in length from 5-300 nm). What's more, helium is an inert gas that does not normally form molecules. (Physics News Update 8/20/03) http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2003/split/650-1.html 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=22399