From: Gina Miller (nanogirl@halcyon.com)
Date: Wed Dec 18 2002 - 12:12:27 MST
The Nanogirl News
December 18, 2002
Fractal Magnets May Fracture Old Technologies. Scientists have announced a
precocious new offspring of magnets and plastic -- conveniently embedded in
every card with a magnetic strip -- that could reinvent smart card
technology and yield a dazzling new array of high-tech gadgets. Plastic
magnets, surrounded by unusual magnetic fields shaped like branches and
snowflakes, may one day be the heart of computer hard drives small enough to
power the denizens of nanotechnology: ultra-small surgical robots or tapes
no larger than a molecule that house vast information libraries. (Yahoo news
12/13/02)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=75&ncid=75&e=3&u=/nf/200212
13/tc_nf/20248
(CD-ROM) 'What Is Nanotechnology?' Now available , this 1-hour CD-ROM
production - 'What Is Nanotechnology?' presents developments in key areas
heavily influenced by nanotechnology, including: novel foods, smart
clothing, renewable energy, revolutions in medicine, advanced techniques in
security & crime detection, new approaches to tissue engineering and medical
implants, the latest in sunscreens and cosmetics, as well as
nanotechnologies in space travel and exploration.-Limited amount-
(Institute of Nanotechnology UK) http://www.nano.org.uk/cd.htm
Trouble in nanoland. Plagued by both pessimism and hype, can nanotechnology
grow up? "HUMANITY, get down on your knees", scream the billboards
advertising "Prey", the latest novel by Michael Crichton, author of
"Jurassic Park". The horrible beasties threatening humanity in this new
thriller are not giant dinosaurs, but swarms of minute "nanobots" that can
invade and take control of human bodies. Nanobots are putative machines with
working parts that are smaller than 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre).
A film is, inevitably, in the offing. And to increase the impending
nano-horror, the chief scientist at Sun Microsystems, Bill Joy, is due next
autumn to publish a book fleshing out his own nano-Luddite views. (Economist
12/5/02)
http://www.economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=1477445
(Related to above) How much nano-danger can fit on the head of a pin? The
writer is a public policy scholar at the Smithsonian Institution's Woodrow
Wilson International Center for Scholars. This commentary first appeared in
the Los Angeles Times. It's official. The nanotechnology debate is under
way. Michael Crichton's alarmist novel, Prey, with menacing swarms of
molecule-sized robots, hit bookstores last week, with a Hollywood
spectacular soon to follow. Nongovernmental groups, scientists and industry
are lining up for a major public relations battle over the good and evils of
nanotechnology. One side says nanotech will fill the world with
self-replicating microscopic ``nanobots'' -- 1,000 times smaller than the
diameter of a human hair -- that will wipe out humanity. The other calls
nano a silver bullet that promises a cure for cancer, an end to crop
shortages and the solution to cleaning up pollution.
(The Beacon Journal 12/9/02)
http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/editorial/4699072.htm
Nanotubes line up to make photonic crystals. A team of scientists has
produced photonic crystals by growing aligned carbon nanotubes onto an array
of nickel dots formed by self-assembly nanosphere lithography. The
researchers, from the US Army Soldier Systems Center (Natick), Boston
College, NanoLab and University of Massachusetts, Boston in the US and the
Hahn-Meitner Institute in Germany, reckon the crystals could have
applications in optoelectronics and telecoms. (nanotechweb.org 12/4/02)
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/12/3/1
New Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense transfers knowledge from
universities to industry. The Center for Nanoscience Innovation for Defense
(CNID) has been created to facilitate the rapid transition of research
innovation in the nanosciences into applications for the defense sector.
U.S. government allocations of $13.5 million are being shared equally by
three University of California institutions: Santa Barbara (UCSB), Los
Angeles (UCLA), and Riverside (UCR), and a second increment is anticipated
that will ultimately bring total funding to more than $20 million over three
years. (EurekAlert! 12/10/02)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2002-12/uocs-ncf121002.php
IEDM: Intel, IBM joust at 90-nm. Intel and IBM each came to the 2002
International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) claiming logic performance
leadership at the 90-nm. But the two companies take much different
technology paths: IBM uses partially depleted silicon on insulator, while
Intel has adopted strained silicon technology for its 90-nm process. And the
two companies emphasize different metrics. IBM claims it has the fastest
ring oscillator reported in 90-nm CMOS, while Intel, which said it does not
report ring oscillator results because each company has a different method
of benchmarking that circuit, claims it has the fastest drive currents seen
to date for 90-nm silicon. (EE Times 12/10/02)
http://www.eetimes.com/semi/news/OEG20021210S0049
NRC, Helmholtz of Germany Fund $9M in New Science and Technology Research
Projects. Canada's National Research Council (NRC) and the Hermann von
Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft Deutscher Forschungszentren e.V. of Germany have
recently announced the joint funding of eleven collaborative science and
technology (S&T) research projects worth $9 million over the next 3
years...The eleven projects approved for funding vary in scope from
nanotechnology to genomics and aeronautics research. They are intended to
develop new international science and technology (S&T) alliances that will
benefit partners in both countries, as well as encourage scientific
exchanges between Canadian and German researchers. (NRC 12/10/02)
http://www.nrc.ca/corporate/english/media/news/helmholz02_e.html
Biology aiding nanotech researchers. The latest avenue in nanotechnology,
the science of manipulating matter at the atomic or molecular scale,
involves harnessing biological structures and processes, scientists said
Wednesday at a conference. The National Science Foundation sponsored the
event at its headquarters to highlight ongoing nanotech research the agency
is funding. The work occurs at the nanometer scale -- a nanometer is to an
inch what an inch is to 400 miles. One project, run by the University of
Texas at Austin, looks to improve on natural nanoscale processes such as
those that build seashells out of calcium carbonate, said Angela Belcher, a
professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university. (UPI 12/11/02)
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021211-043234-2067r
Also view the report on the National Science Foundation sponsored conference
"Education key part of nano research". (UPI 12/12/02)
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20021212-042358-9709r
Nanoparticles could aid biohazard detection, computer industry.
Nanotechnology could make life easier for computer manufacturers and tougher
for terrorists, reports a Purdue University research team. A group led by
Jillian Buriak has found a rapid and cost-effective method of forming tiny
particles of high-purity metals on the surface of advanced semiconductor
materials such as gallium arsenide. While the economic benefits alone of
such a discovery would be good news to chip manufacturers, who face the
problem of connecting increasingly tiny computer chips with macro-sized
components, the group has taken their research a step further.
(Cosmiverse 12/11/02)
http://www.cosmiverse.com/news/tech/1202/tech12110202.html
Nanotech. journal credits N.Y. with top breakthroughs. The December issue of
a journal on nanotechnology co-published by Forbes credits researchers in
New York state with three of the top five breakthroughs in nanotechnology in
2002, according to Gov. George Pataki's office. The journal, the
Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report, surveyed more than 30 researchers and industry
experts to compile the list. (The Business Review 12/23/02)
http://www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2002/12/09/daily63.html
The Nanodrive Project. Inventing a nanotechnology device for mass production
and consumer use is trickier than it sounds. Many engineers have had the
thrill of designing a novel product that then enters mass production and
pops up all over the world. We hope-- in fact, we would lay better than 50-
50 odds on it-- that within three years we will experience the rarer
pleasure of having launched an entirely new class of machine. (Scientific
American January 2003 issue)
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID=000CCFEC-C4F4-1DF7-9
733809EC588EEDF
AMD discovers a flash nanowire structure. A novel nanoelectronic structure
has startled researchers at AMD with a sudden show of promise for future
flash memory devices. The structure, called a polysilicon nanowire, was
under investigation as a possible method for fabricating flash cells in
processes below 65 nm. But it caught the attention of researchers by
demonstrating an entirely unanticipated - and quite possible quantum
electronic behavior. AMD believes it can probably scale the existing
stacked-gate flash cell to the 65 nm process node, according to vice
president of technology Craig Sander. But the company is searching for novel
structures that can be fabricated below that level. (EETimes 12/12/02)
http://www.eet.com/semi/news/OEG20021211S0001
Taming The Machine. Too many technologies waste our time rather than improve
it. But next year will see technology get closer to serving man - by
anticipating what we need...Nanotechnology, the science of the super-small,
is also expected to help streamline production, improving the economics of
everything from refining petrochemicals to manufacturing sources of
alternative energy, says Tim Harper, founder of Madrid-based CMP Cientifica.
And nanotechnology is fighting bioterrorism. Dendrimers - tree-shaped
synthetic molecules - have the ability to capture smaller molecules in their
cavities, making them perfect to deal with biological and chemical
contaminants. The U.S. Army hopes to use them to clean up after bioterror
attacks. James Baker, head of the University of Michigan School of
Medicine's Center for Biologic Nanotechnology, wants to use dendrimers to do
everything from zap cancer cells to protect astronauts from radiation. (TIME
Europe Magazine 12/16/02 paper issue-Forecast 2003)
http://www.time.com/time/europe/forecast2003/html/tech.html
MEMS For Masses: Design Centre For Nanotech-based Products On Cards. The
National Programme for Smart Materials (NPSM) is working towards setting up
a industrial centre for design, manufacture and marketing of products based
on micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and nanotechnology devices.
Speaking to eFE, scientific advisor to the defense minister, secretary-
department of defense research and development and NPSM chairman VK Atre
said the plan was to have a corpus fund of Rs 150-200 crore for the
public-private partnership. (Financial Express 12/13/02)
http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?content_id=23709
Dialogue between Ray Kurzweil and Eric Drexler. By Ray Kurzweil and K. Eric
Drexler. What it would take to achieve successful cryonics reanimation of a
fully functioning human brain, with memories intact? A conversation at the
recent Alcor Conference on Extreme Life Extension between Ray Kurzweil and
Eric Drexler sparked an email discussion of this question. They agreed that
despite the challenges, the brain's functions and memories can be
represented surprisingly compactly, suggesting that successful reanimation
of the brain may be achievable. (Kurzweilai.net 12/3/02)
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0533.html
(Non-nano) Primitive Housing: Potential Homes for Earth's First Life Found
in Space Rock. Organic bubbles that could serve as dwellings for primitive
life have been discovered inside a space rock that fell to Earth nearly
three years ago. The frozen chunk of stone and metal was recovered in the
Yukon Territory after eyewitnesses saw it's dramatic breakup in the sky.
Inside the so-called Tagish Lake meteorite, frozen and well preserved,
researchers have now found what they call organic hydrocarbon globules...The
new finding, accomplished after months of investigation with electron
microscopes, does not mean life exists in space rocks. The hydrocarbon
globules are seen as the sort of thing which, once delivered Earth, could
have helped jumpstart life. (Space.com 12/13/02)
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/tagish_organics_021213.html
PopSci's Brilliant 10. Popular Science first annual celebration of
scientists who are shaking up their fields and whose work will touch your
life. Spend a day with- Charles Lieber (Nanotech, Harvard University): A big
player in the world of the super-small turns gold into nanowire. 2 pages.
See the right to click to the other top nine. (Popular Science)
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,12543,364572,00.html
A Nanotech Company That's so Clean, you Could Eat Off It. Consider what you
could do with something that disinfects as thoroughly as chlorine bleach but
is not poisonous. Factories that process cold food such as lunch meat could
constantly clean equipment without risking the safety or taste of the
finished product. Apple cider could stay fresh and cold from the press to
your refrigerator, since the mill would no longer have to boil the juice to
eliminate the chance of botulism. That's the promise of a range of
disinfecting creams, tonics and sprays being developed by NanoBio Corp. in
Ann Arbor, Mich. (Smalltimes 12/13/02)
http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=5187
In the World of the Very Small, Companies Make Big Plans. This may be
remembered as the "Alice in Wonderland" decade for new technology. More and
more businesses are moving into the world of nanotechnology, where particles
of common materials are shrunk to such a minuscule size that they behave in
unexpected - and often useful - ways. Entrepreneurs and multinationals alike
are building on research from the 1980's and 1990's that led to relatively
simple ways to fashion silicon, metals, plastics and even workaday
substances like clay into particles of no more than a few molecules apiece.
(The New York Times 12/16/02)
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/16/business/businessspecial/16NANO.html?ex=10
40706000&en=ebcdf9eef42ae3d7&ei=5040&partner=MOREOVER
Researchers Control Love-Hate Relationship Between Atoms. Research that
makes ultra-cold atoms extremely attractive to one another may help test
current theories of how all matter behaves - a breakthrough that might lead
to advanced transportation systems, more efficient energy sources and new
tests of astrophysical theories. The experiment was conducted by a team led
by Dr. John Thomas, a physics professor at Duke University, Durham, N.C.,
under a grant from NASA's Biological and Physical Research Program through
the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. (JPL News Release 12/11/02)
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2002/226.cfm
BioForce Nanosciences wins breast-cancer research grant. BioForce
Nanosciences, US, has won a grant to develop a nanoscale protein-array
platform that will help researchers to study changes in cellular signaling
pathways that accompany the progression of breast cancer. The cash came from
the US department of defense. (nanotechweb.org 12/12/02)
http://www.nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/12/7/1
Artificial nanopore spots DNA molecules. Scientists at Princeton University,
US, have produced an artificial nanopore by micromoulding
poly(dimethylsiloxane) - (PDMS) - elastomer. The on-chip electronic sensor
was able to detect single DNA molecules. "With our fabrication and
measurement techniques - micromoulding and four-point measurement of the
electrical current - we have shown our ability to easily and reproducibly
create artificial pores that can sense single molecules of lambda DNA," said
Princeton researcher Lydia Sohn. (nanotechweb.org 12/11/02)
http://www.nanotechweb.org/articles/news/1/12/6/1
Nanotech discussion at Slashdot. "Nanotech Assembly One Step
Closer". -scroll all the way down, past the white space to see the
responses. (Slashdot.org 12/4-6)
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/12/05/0325253&mode=thread&tid
134
Loomis tapped to help nanotech group. The Austin office of San
Francisco-based communications agency The Loomis Group Inc. will provide
public relations for New Jersey's new Nanotechnology Consortium. (Austin
Business Journal 12/17/02)
http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2002/12/16/daily23.html
Thinking Big. Teen's nanotechnology project wins $50,000. Apparently Madelyn
Ho is blessed from head to toe. Ho, a cheerful 16-year-old from Sugar Land,
is both a skilled ballerina and one of America's most brilliant young
scientists. But it is her mental pirouettes, so to speak, in the
nanotechnology laboratory (where incredibly small, molecular-sized things at
least 10 to the negative ninth meters in size are studied) that recently
proved quite profitable. (Houston Chronicle 12/18/02)
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1706520
Morristown scientist works on smart paint. The job: Zafar Iqbal is a
research professor of chemistry at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Joined faculty in 2001. Also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses. "I
like the interaction with the students. Teaching freshens your mind . and
provide you with new insights." Nanotechnology research: At NJIT, developed
a new course related to nanotechnology, which is "the fabrication of devices
at the scale of nanometers." (A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter.)
Still in its "early stages," practical applications of nanotechnology are
sensors that could detect anthrax or smallpox and the fabrication of
"extremely strong" composites. (Daily Record Business 12/18/02)
http://www.dailyrecord.com/business/02/12/18/business4-doss.htm
"Merry, Merry, and Nano, Nano!"
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
nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."
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