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By Christine Peterson, on July 28th, 2010
Nanowerk describes a recent advance toward the “e-nose” by an international team of researchers. Team member Andrei Kolmakov explains:
Our approach demonstrates the potential of combining bottom-up nanowire fabrication protocols with state-of-the art microfabrication methods to design prospective simple sensing arrays which, in principle, might be scaled down to the size of few micrometers and thus become the smallest analytical instrument…
Time for open source sensing! I’ll be speaking on this Friday at the Open Science Summit which starts tomorrow. Attend in person or watch the webcast. Hope to see you there. (Image: Dr. Kolmakov, Southern Illinois Univ. at Carbondale) —Christine Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 27th, 2010
We’ve received an update on work by our friend Anirban Bandyopadhyay at the National Institute for Materials Science in Tsukuba, Japan. Here’s the abstract of his recent Nature Physics paper:
Modern computers operate at enormous speeds—capable of executing in excess of 1013 instructions per second—but their sequential approach to processing, by which logical operations are performed one after another, has remained unchanged since the 1950s. In contrast, although individual neurons of the human brain fire at around just 103times per second, the simultaneous collective action of millions of neurons enables them to complete certain tasks more efficiently than even the fastest supercomputer. Here we demonstrate an assembly of molecular switches that simultaneously interact to perform a variety of computational tasks including conventional digital logic, calculating Voronoi diagrams, and simulating natural phenomena such as heat diffusion and cancer growth. As well as representing a conceptual shift from serial-processing with static architectures, our parallel, dynamically reconfigurable approach could provide a means to solve otherwise intractable computational problems.
He explains:
…we have realized 700 bits parallel processing using cellular automaton for the first time in the world. This is a significant advancement from our 16 bit parallel processing which you highlighted in your website (http://www.foresight.org/nanodot/?p=2687)…This invention may be in coherence with the Feynman’s vision…We can solve some problems which computers will take more than the age of this universe. We did it in 6-10 minutes (in the Nature Physics paper).
Some coverage:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36788441/ns/technology_and_science-innovation/
http://www.natureasia.com/asia-materials/highlight.php?id=708&utm_source=NPG+Asia+Materials&utm_content=Research+Highlights
Anirban writes, “Hope you may like this.” We do indeed! —Christine Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 20th, 2010
 Foresight Research Analyst and Technical Editor James Lewis has tracked the careers of those receiving Foresight’s student award. Here are his findings on the careers of a few of these gifted young researchers:
We at Foresight find it gratifying to track the subsequent careers of those who have won our nanotechnology-related prizes and awards, in this case the Foresight Distinguished Student Award, last made in 2007 to a Rice University graduate student, Fung-Suong Ou. Mr. Fung joins a distinguished group of winners who have launched impressive careers in nanoscience and nanotechnology. [ http://www.foresight.org/about/fi_spons.html#StudentAward ]
The Foresight Distinguished Student Award was established in 1997 and is given to a college undergraduate or graduate student whose work is notable in the field of nanotechnology. Typically, the nominations are made by the most prominent researchers in nanoscience and nanotechnology from among their most promising and productive students. The significance of the award is best exemplified by the distinguished careers of previous awardees. To cite only five spanning a wide area of nanoscience and the first eight years that the award has been made:
The first award was made to Phil Collins, then of the Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, and the Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and currently Associate Professor, Physics & Astronomy, School of Physical Sciences, University of California at Irvine. He maintains an active research group in nanoelectronics, carbon nanotubes, and molecular electronics including sensors and bioelectronics. [reference http://www.physics.uci.edu/~collinsp/ ] more: Foresight’s student award-winners go on to great things
By Christine Peterson, on July 19th, 2010
The Open Science Summit on July 29-31 in Berkeley is looking better and better.
Topics include OpenPCR, DIY biology, open source hardware, brain preservation, synthetic biology, gene patents, open data, open access journals, reputation engines, crowd-funding and microfinance for science, citizen science, biohacking, open source biodefense, cure entrepreneurs, open source drug discovery, patent pools, tech transfer, and much more.
Here’s some advance media coverage:
http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2010/07/07/the-open-science-shift/
http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2010/07/diy-biotechnologists-go-looking-for-a-bigger-garage/59701/
If you can’t attend in person, watch the webcast live at:
http://fora.tv/live/open_science/open_science_summit_2010
Put it on your calendar now! Or we’ll hope to see you in person, especially for the session where I’m speaking: “Safety and Security Concerns, Open Source Biodefense” at 5:15 PM on Friday. –Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 15th, 2010
We can get a hint of the power coming from longer-term nanotech by seeing what is being discovered today on how to use some of the new materials becoming available. Many of us have been intrigued with graphene, a one-atom-thick planar sheet of bonded carbon atoms. It’s no surprise that exciting applications are being found already, such as Nanotechweb’s report on work in South Korea:
…Kwang Kim, In-Cheol Hwang and colleagues at Pohang University of Science and Technology have synthesised a new type of magnetite composite based on reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The hybrid material, which is superparamagnetic at room temperature, can remove over 99.9% of arsenic in a sample, and reduce its concentration to below 1 ppb – as measured by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) techniques.
The magnetite-RGO composite can be dispersed in water. Once it has adsorbed arsenic, it can quickly be removed from a sample using a permanent hand-held magnet (with a strength of 20 mT) within a fraction of a minute.
Probably you already known that arsenic is a natural contaminant in water in parts of the western U.S. and in south Asia. This is a huge problem and causes very serious health problems. Let’s hope this helpful use of graphene is just the start of a great career for this nanomaterial, first in simple applications like this one, and later as part of more complex molecular machine systems. (HT to Meridian Nanotechnology and Development News) —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 12th, 2010
If you’re having trouble remembering to stop by Nanodot (this blog), and also having trouble keeping up with your RSS feeds (as I am), there’s an easier way to keep up with Nanodot news, albeit a bit delayed.
Once a month we compile all the most recent Nanodot posts — plus other news such as upcoming conferences and their related discount codes — and ship it out free to thousands of readers using the old but tried-and-true technology called “email”.
So if you’d like to get these emails, just stop by our home page and click on the “mailing list signup” link at upper right.
Or if you know you are already in the Foresight database, just drop a quick note to foresight@foresight.org and tell us to start sending you the emails. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 9th, 2010
Finishing off the week on a fun note, we see that robotic firm Willow Garage — of special interest to Foresight due to their emphasis on open source — has achieved an important milestone in robotics: namely, the ability for a robot to fetch a beer from the fridge and deliver it.
It’s worth seeing the video.
Note that some of the video is speeded up by 5X or 6X, but these parts are clearly indicated, and it’s an interesting achievement in any case. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 7th, 2010
The nomination/submission process for the 2010 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology is now open. Two $5000 prizes are offered, one for theory and one for experimental achievement. These prizes recognize progress toward the goal of atomic-level control in the construction of macroscale 3D objects: an ambitious goal but one toward which physicist Richard Feynman pointed as early as 1959. Please nominate those whose work most impresses you as moving in the direction of this goal, and all its medical, economic, and environmental benefits. Thanks! —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 6th, 2010
Nanotechnology Now brings news of a recent Atom Technology workshop in Singapore featuring dual Foresight Institute Feynman Prize winner Christian Joachim, Feynman Prize founder Jim Von Ehr of Zyvex Labs and Zyvex Asia, and Foresight Roadmap participant Damian Allis of Syracuse University:
Atom Technology is IMRE’s flagship program led by well known scientist Prof. Christian Joachim from France and world leading nanotechnology company Zyvex in the USA. Atom Technology in IMRE focuses on molecular electronics device research headed by Prof. Joachim and atomic precise manufacturing (APM) in partnership with its industry partner Zyvex Asia (sister company of Zyvex Labs in the United States which is leading the DARPA funded APM program. The workshop is to showcase IMRE’s effort in scientific and technological frontier of the ultimate electronic device and manufacturing R&D. The Atom Technology program has a very interesting balance between basic research and industry application which was nicely presented at the workshop specially by Prof. Joachim, First Class Director of Research at the France Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)) and Mr James Von Ehr (Founder and President of Zyvex Corporation and a visionary of nanotechnology).
Prof Christian Joachim, who is also a visiting scientist under the A*STAR Visiting Investigator Programme (VIP) attached to IMRE, presented his vision and progress on the ultimate atomic and molecular transistors. Mr Jim Von Ehr presented his vision and his industry “making things and sell” approach towards atomic precise manufacturing, the ultimate manufacturing with digital design and atomic precision that will revolutionize how we make things today, like the way how semiconductor manufacturing has transform our lives.
If Singapore’s nanotech interests you, you might want to get on the mailing list for their email newsletter; see signup at the bottom right of SingNano’s home page. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on July 1st, 2010
Small investors who want to invest in nanotech startups have for years turned to publicly-held venture group Harris & Harris Group, which has focused on private companies in nanotech and microsystems.
With the economy down, and initial public offerings (IPOs) more rare, this strategy is changing. Brian Gormley of the Wall Street Journal’s Venture Capital Dispatch explains:
In a June 28 letter to shareholders, Chief Executive Douglas Jamison said many of its private holdings are maturely nicely. Even so, volatility and risk aversion in the public markets are making it difficult for these companies to go public…
“With the lengthening time between investment and return on investment in private venture capital-backed companies, we need to find a way to generate returns with greater frequency,” Jamison said in the letter.
“As a public company, we should not count on investors to wait five years between liquidity events. We will seek to position our investments so that we can demonstrate positive returns on investments on an annual basis.”
The firm is therefore turning its attention to public companies with market capitalizations below $50 million. Many of these companies have exciting products enabled by nanotechnology and microsystems, Jamison wrote, and several are a year or two ahead of comparable venture-backed companies.
This means less investment will be available to pre-IPO nanotech companies, at least for now. Not good news, but near-term nanotech can’t be expected to escape the economic downturn. Sigh. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 29th, 2010
Frequent Nanodot readers know that our main interest is longer-term nanotech, but sometimes what’s happening today gets pretty exciting as well. A quick summary of recent advances in nanotech used to fight cancer appears in a Computerworld piece by Sharon Gaudin; some excerpts:
Rice University said yesterday that when the nanoparticles deliver dye to the cell, a small bundle of fiber-optic cables attached to a US$400 Olympus E-330 digital camera are used to capture images. The dyes cause the cell nuclei to glow brightly when lighted with the tip of the fiber-optic bundle…
“The dyes and visual techniques that we used are the same sort that pathologists have used for many years to distinguish healthy cells from cancerous cells in biopsied tissue,” said study coauthor Mark Pierce, Rice faculty fellow in bioengineering, in a statement. “But the tip of the imaging cable is small and rested lightly against the [patient's] inside the cheek, so the procedure is considerably less painful than a biopsy and the results are available in seconds instead of days”…
Scientists have been putting a lot of focus on nanotechnology in recent cancer research.
This past January, teams of researchers from three universities jointly developed a nanotechnology cocktail that should target and kill cancerous tumors. The mixture of two different-sized nanoparticles work with the body’s bloodstream to seek out, stick to and kill tumors, according to MIT.
And Stanford University researchers last October announced that they had used nanotechnology and magnetics to create a biosensor designed to detect cancer in its early stages, making a cure more likely. University scientists reported that the sensor, which sits on a microchip, is 1,000 times more sensitive than cancer detectors used clinically today.
A month earlier, researchers at the University of Toronto said they had used nanomaterials to develop a microchip that is sensitive enough to detect early stage cancer. The chip is designed to detect the type of cancer and its severity.
Good news for everyone who might get cancer, which is…everyone. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 28th, 2010
For years we’ve watched academic degree programs in nanotechnology being announced piecemeal, or in partial lists. Now it looks like Nanowerk has stepped up to the task of keeping a complete list, sorted by level of degree and country. See it here: http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology/nanotechnology_degrees.php
A handy chart allows users to click through to see all the programs at a given level in a particular country.
From their press release announcing the new database:
Only three years ago, there were no more than 150 programs worldwide – now there are over 250 in more than 25 countries.
Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of nanosciences and nanotechnologies, these specialized academic degree programs span many disciplines ranging from biology, chemistry, and physics to medicine, engineering, and electronics; even MBAs are offered as dual degree options for nanotechnology students.
While there is an emphasis on Master’s programs, with almost half of all degree offerings, roughly one half of all programs can be found in Europe and one third in North America.
The UK is the country with the most Master’s programs (30) and the U.S. by far has the most dedicated Ph.D. programs (24).
Not surprisingly, with 61 offerings the U.S. is the country with the single most nanotechnology degree and certification programs, followed by the UK (38) and Germany (30).
I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for keeping this database current! —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 24th, 2010
Nanowerk brings us news of advances at Singapore’s Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology:
Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) in Singapore have now successfully demonstrated, for the first time, a lithography-free, direct-write technique for fabricating discrete field-effect transistors, as well as digital logic gates on a single nanowire…
| “Our single-step fabrication technique obviates the time-consuming and labor-intensive lithography process, and enhances the fabrication accuracy and yield,” says Roy. “With a higher level of precision and throughput, it can offer a powerful method for rapid prototyping of futuristic nanoelectronic circuits.” |
I like that word “futuristic” and hope it’s not just a translation error. –Chris Peterson |
By Christine Peterson, on June 22nd, 2010
Tihamer Toth-Fejel let us know that the public can comment online today, right now, our views on nanotech:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ostp/pcast
President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)
President’s Innovation and Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC)
Golden Triangle1 Workshop
1 Golden Triangle: Research Encompassing Information Technology — Biotechnology — Nanotechnology.
June 22, 2010
Webcast at: http://www.tvworldwide.com/events/pcast/100622/
Goal of Workshop: The information from this workshop will provide guidance that will inform the implementation of the President’s Innovation Strategy as outlined in the following document: “A Strategy for American Innovation: Driving Towards Sustainable Growth and Quality Jobs,” and identify possible studies that might be conducted under PCAST’s overarching activity entitled “Creating New Jobs Through Science, Technology, and Innovation.”
Workshop Question: What are the critical infrastructures, that only government can help provide, that are needed to enable creation of new biotechnology, nanotechnology, and information technology (bio/nano/info) products and innovations that will lead to new jobs and greater GDP? more: Webcast and comment online to President’s Council on nanotech
By Christine Peterson, on June 21st, 2010
Not able to attend the Open Science Summit on July 29-31 in Berkeley, California?
We’ll miss you, but you can watch the conference live at:
http://fora.tv/live/open_science/open_science_summit_2010
Put it on your calendar now! Or we’ll hope to see you in person, especially for the session where I’m speaking: “Safety and Security Concerns, Open Source Biodefense” at 5:15 PM on Friday. –Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 18th, 2010
Those of you with a background in organic chemistry will recognize the venerable name of Beilstein, originally a handbook of organic chemistry which evolved into a database, later combined with Gmelin inorganic data to form the Crossfire database.
So the Beilstein brand is a powerful one in chemistry. Nanowerk brings to our attention that Beilstein is starting an open-access nanotechnology journal, to include ‘Theoretical aspects and concepts of nanotechnology’, with 2007 Feynman Prize winner Fraser Stoddart on the Advisory Board. From the Beilstein site:
The most important key facts for the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology are:
- Open Access
All articles published in the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology are freely and universally accessible for everyone immediately upon publication: no user registration is required.
- No Publication Fee
The publication of articles in the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology is free of charge. The journal is published and financed by the Beilstein-Institut and therefore publishing in the journal is offered without the imposition of any author fees or other publication charges.
- General Publication Criteria
The main criteria for acceptance of an article for publication in the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology are high quality, originality, novelty and importance.
- Peer Review
All articles published in the journal are fully refereed prior to acceptance. Detailed information about the review process is given in the Instructions for Referees. The Editor-in-Chief or an Associate Editor makes a final decision on the manuscript based on the referees’ recommendations.
- No Page Limit
There is no page limit for articles in the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology. Authors should provide enough background information to support the aim of study and the main claims of the paper, but unimportant or trivial information should not be included. The article length should be commensurate with its scientific content.
- Authors Retain Copyright
Authors retain copyright of their articles. The articles of the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
- Detailed Experimental Data
It is the intention of the Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology to publish articles with detailed descriptions of experimental data and procedures.
The Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology offers scientists the unique opportunity to publish their research free of charge in an Open Access scientific journal that is freely available online 365 days a year to any user worldwide.
Between journals such as this, and the University of California’s recent action against the Nature group of publications, the world of scientific publishing is being upended. What do *you* think? —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 16th, 2010
Many Foresight leaders and members will be gathering at this year’s Singularity Summit in San Francisco, expected to draw up to 1100 participants. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s for a good cause and there are student and referral discounts plus discounts on the hotel rooms. I can testify that this is a fun and stimulating event, and if a particular talk is not in your area of interest, just go out into the hallway and meet lots of interesting people. Here’s the press release:
Singularity Summit 2010 in San Francisco to Explore Intelligence Augmentation
Speakers include Futurist Ray Kurzweil, Magician-Skeptic James Randi
Will it be one day become possible to boost human intelligence using brain implants, or create an artificial intelligence smarter than Einstein? In a 1993 paper presented to NASA, science fiction author and mathematician Vernor Vinge called such a hypothetical event a “Singularity”, saying “From the human point of view this change will be a throwing away of all the previous rules, perhaps in the blink of an eye”. Vinge pointed out that intelligence enhancement could lead to “closing the loop” between intelligence and technology, creating a positive feedback effect.
This August 14-15, hundreds of AI researchers, robotics experts, philosophers, entrepreneurs, scientists, and interested laypeople will converge in San Francisco to address the Singularity and related issues at the only conference on the topic, the Singularity Summit. Experts in fields including animal intelligence, artificial intelligence, brain-computer interfacing, tissue regeneration, medical ethics, computational neurobiology, augmented reality, and more will share their latest research and explore its implications for the future of humanity. more: Join us at Singularity Summit, Aug. 14-15 on intelligence augmentation
By Christine Peterson, on June 15th, 2010
Our friends over at Singularity University are described in some detail in a long article in the New York Times. An excerpt, with names familiar to Nanodot readers as speakers at Foresight conferences:
Some of Silicon Valley’s smartest and wealthiest people have embraced the Singularity. They believe that technology may be the only way to solve the world’s ills, while also allowing people to seize control of the evolutionary process…
Peter A. Thiel, a co-founder of PayPal and a major investor in Facebook, is a Singularity devotee who offers a “Singularity or bust” scenario.
“It may not happen, but there are a lot of technologies that need to be developed for a whole series of problems to be solved,” he says. “I think there is no good future in which it doesn’t happen”…
[Peter Diamandis] is also a firm believer in the Singularity and is a technocelebrity in his own right, primarily through his role in commercializing space travel. At a recent Singularity University lunch, he hopped up to make a speech peppered with passion and conviction.
“My target is to live 700 years,” he declared.
The students chuckled.
“I say that seriously,” he retorted.
Read the whole thing. (Full disclosure: I am an SU Advisor.) —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 9th, 2010
If you can’t make it to Harvard this weekend, June 12-13, you’ll want to catch the live webcast of the H+ Summit: “Rise of the Citizen Scientist”. No link yet, but presumably they’ll be putting it on the event homepage before it starts. Also presumably they will post the videos somewhere for longer-term viewing. UPDATE: HERE’S THE URL FOR STREAMING: http://hplussummit.com/streaming.html
The H+ Summit is a two day event that explores how humanity will be radically changed by technology in the near future. Visionary speakers will explore the potential of technology to modify your body, mind, life, and world.
What will it mean to be a human in this next phase of technological development? How can we prepare now for coming changes?
We foresee the feasibility of redesigning the human condition and overcoming such constraints as the inevitability of aging, limitations on human and artificial intellects, unchosen psychology, lack of resources, and our confinement to the planet earth. The possibilities are broad and exciting. The H+ Summit will provide a venue to discuss these future scenarios and to hear exciting presentations by the leaders of the ongoing H+ (r)evolution.
I was at their December 2009 conference in southern California and it was great. They’re planning another one for December 2010, again in southern California. —Chris Peterson
By Christine Peterson, on June 7th, 2010
Here at Foresight, we’re always trying to help those looking to move their careers in the direction of nanotechnology.
Now the Wall Street Journal is predicting that this should pay off:
Kelley McDonald has always loved exploring new terrain. In home videos as early as age 3, “I’m always off by myself, looking under rocks or catching and studying bees,” she says. Today, at 18, the Apple Valley, Minn., college student is studying for a science career in the fast-growing field of nanotechnology—working with materials at the molecular or atomic level.
That makes her one of the lucky ones—a young adult whose career passion is in sync with one of the hot jobs of the near future…
Ms. McDonald found her passion through a community-college nanotechnology program funded by the National Science Foundation, where one official foresees hundreds of thousands of job openings in the field in the next five years.
In 1967, the future was “plastics”, according to the movie “The Graduate”. If that movie were made today, the line could instead be, “I just want to say one word to you — just one word — ‘nanotech’.” —Chris Peterson
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