from the ask-and-ye-shall-receive dept.
Chris Healey pointed out a Slashdot article about the Folding@Home client for distributed protein-folding computations, much like that recently called for by Foresight Sr. Associate Robert Bradbury.

from the you-can-get-there-from-here dept.
PatGratton writes "I've put together a map of transformational technologies and some of their consequences. If I'm missing an important technology or consequence, please let me know." This continues the discussion of the white papers project mentioned earlier.

(Click Read More… for notes on the diagram and the technologies mapped.)

from the poke-n-prod dept.
Will Ware pointed out on slashdot that two phenyl (C₆H₅) radicals have now been pushed together to form a molecule of biphenyl.

Saw-Wai Hla, Ludwig Bartels, Gerhard Meyer, and Karl-Heinz Rieder, writing in [Phys.Rev.Lett. 85:2777-2780 25Sep2000] describe forming phenyl radicals from iodobenzene, pushing two radicals together mechanically, and forming a bond between them to yield a biphenyl molecule. All of this was done with an STM.

from the chin-strap-for-your-thinking-cap dept.
PatGratton writes "As Chris Phoenix previously described, four Senior Associates got together and began to outline an approach that would take us to the next level of work in resolving the issues raised by transformational technologies.

As one of our first steps, we sat down and tried to list all of the major questions facing us. The result is two sets of questions: one addressing technology, politics and ultimate goals, and the other addressing Foresight Goals. "

(Click Read More… to continue.)

from the what-the-well-dressed-virus-is-wearing-this-season dept.
Sentharus pointed out an article at ScienceDaily entitled "Discovery Of Armored Viruses May Inspire New Designs For Nanotechnology," on research reported in the September 22 Science (registration required): "Now scientists have discovered that one type of virus actually comes equipped with an armored coat made of interlocking rings of protein…. remarkably similar to chain mail suits worn by medieval knights…. The armored virus was detected by an international team of scientists from Stanford, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Uppsala in Sweden."

from the every-party-has-a-pooper dept.
SeanMorgan wrote to point out a Salon article on the Turning Point Project and their anti-technology ads in the New York Times .

"A mostly sympathetic [to Turning Point] article, but it does include some comments from Foresight Sr. Assoc. Eric Raymond.

They even have a problem with social software:

'Everyone should think different together,' quips the copy, suggesting that huge conglomerates rushing toward globalization are more likely to benefit from 'global computer networks' than individuals."

from the keeping-the-little-ones-in-line dept.
alison writes "Scientists at the University of Bielefeld in Germany have come up with a new electromagnetic method of controlling the motion and orientation of polar molecules simultaneously. Control of the motion of Bose-Einstein condensates along wires had already been demonstrated by a group in Austria. Ewan Wright of the University of Arizona tells me that arbitrary hard-to-condense atoms can now be B-E condensed by placing them in a trap with an easy-condensing species to which they transfer energy. This is not unlike a common scheme in lasers where an easy-to-pump molecule transfers energy to another molecule with a desirable transition, e.g. N₂ gas in with CO₂ in a CO₂ laser.

I'm convinced now more than ever that a potential 'assembler' will be a vacuum system with interwoven laser beams, electric and magnetic fields that energy-select species, orient them and transport them to a surface."

from the how-many-bits-on-the-head-of-an-electron dept.
Michael Dale noticed this in EETimes. "Interesting development in the quantum computer realm. '…Bucksbaum used a laser to encode parallel phase reversals along the waveform of an atom's electrons – a pulsating stream of 8-bit phase reversals. A second reference stream enabled the researchers to read back out the original bits by decoding the phase reversals, thereby recovering the stored information like a data register…'

Bucksbaum claims there is no 'theoretic limit to how long a string of 1s and 0s you can store in one'. "

from the gigahands-make-nanowork dept.
ChrisPhoenix writes "(This was written as a letter to Foresight leadership; Chris Peterson asked us to get Nanodot feedback.)

In a spontaneous group that formed Sunday night after the recent Foresight Senior Associates Gathering, four of us discovered that we all felt similarly: that the time has come to build on the suggestions and issues produced by previous Foresight work and gatherings. Having attended several Gatherings and heard several issues from multiple perspectives, we are ready to start filling in the details. Although large and random groups are great for brainstorming, they are perhaps not the best structure for producing detailed, focused, mature work on specific issues. Small working groups or think tanks would be useful at this point, to begin processing the excellent suggestions that have flowed from the Gatherings." (Click Read More… for the rest.)

from the a-singularity-is-coming dept.
Robin Hanson gave an informal talk titled "The Next Really Big Enormous Thing", which argues that there are reasons, based on historical models to expect that the pace of change may increase soon. He seems to be trying to convince economists and social scientists to take our concept of Singularity seriously, and to start doing active research into what the effects might be.

from the really-tiny-scrubbing-bubbles dept.
GinaMiller (and others) wrote "Simulation shows that liquid jets a few nanometers in diameter might have the potential to produce ever-smaller electronic circuitry, inject genes into cells, or etch tiny features. Writing in the August 18 issue of Science, Georgia Tech researchers suggest that jets as small as six nanometers in diameter may be possible — though they will require special conditions to operate and be sensitive to effects not of concern to macroscopic jets. As a next step, the researchers would like to create nanojets experimentally and use them to apply patterns that could replace current lithographic processes in the manufacture of nanoscale miniaturized circuits. They could potentially also be used as "gene guns" to insert genetic materials into cells without causing damage. The researchers produced some nice graphics "

Multiple alert Nanodotters wrote in about the Chicago Tribune article describing Dieter Gruen's work at Argonne National Laboratory leading to ultrananocrystalline diamond film. Gruen was honored by the Materials Research Society with the MRS Medal Award. EddieWehri writes, " Preliminary tests show that ultrananodiamonds are 1,000 more wear-resistant than silicon, and 1 million times denser than conventional crystals. This makes them a practical base material for micromachines and other devices that had only been theoretically possible before. Maybe this will mark the real beginning of Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age."

from the garden-of-pure-ideology dept.
Found on Slashdot: A not-so-fantastic extrapolation of current IP trends called "Letter From 2020" by Mark Summerfield. "The saddest subversive I met claimed to be a programmer. He said that he was writing a program using Basic.NET. He must have been insane. Even if his program worked he wouldn't be allowed to run it. How could one person possibly check every possible patent infringement in a program they wrote? And even if he hadn't infringed he couldn't sell it without buying a compatibility license from Microsoft.NET and who could possibly afford that?"

from the "a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing" dept.
Saturn Graphix writes "In Daily Telegraph Full Article Here
'Why science may bring curse of immortality' by Roger Highfield
Better treatment of disease could lead to 'generational cleansing' as people live longer, an ethical expert warned last week [in the journal Science]. The elderly could be condemned to death by suicide or euthanasia after an allotted lifespan as medical advances raise the maximum age beyond 120, according to Dr John Harris, professor of bioethics at Manchester University. Professor Harris said a side-effect of research to treat the diseases of old age, such as dementia, cancer and arthritis, could be to extend the maximum age to immortality…He said it was unlikely that we could stop the progression to longer lifespans and even immortality. 'We should start thinking now about how we can live decently and creatively with the prospect of such lives.' " CP: Some of us are already doing so.

from the where-oh-where-is-good-software dept.
Senior Associate Michael Butler writes "At the just-past Foresight Gathering, mention was made of extant MEMS fab CAD software packages and how bad they are. Alternatives mentioned include, e.g., recycling mature finite element FORTRAN code and stitching it together with other things. It happens that Matra open sourced a bunch of CAD/CAM code last year. (Slashdot article). I suggest that interested people at Zyvex and elsewhere check out Open Cascade and see if what they're doing can be bent to your purposes. Have any nanodotters worked with this code?

from the your-objection-to-the-lightspeed-limit-is-overruled dept.
Found on Slashdot: A Maryland legislative task force has proposed the creation of "a special court for high-technology cases." The New York Times story does not mention Arthur Kantrowitz's 1967 proposal of what came to be called science courts (a concept advanced in Engines of Creation as "fact forums").

from the name-to-live-up-to dept.
eeex brings to our attention the Nanomechanical Research and Development Center opened in Quebec by NanoWorld Projects Corporation. Staffed by 15 researchers, they plan to commercialize applications of their self-assembling monolayer technology. The company website points out that "We are not at the point of creating some of the fantastic nano-machines that some enthusiasts see as an eventual result of monolayer research. But there are other technological applications of monolayer technologies that seem within our grasp or just around the corner." CP: The enthusiasts cited may be confused; I haven't heard of a monolayer pathway to nanomachines. Also: how are these monolayers "nanomechanical", anyone have thoughts on this?

from the motherhood-apple-pie-and-pure-water dept.
Pat Delany writes "A problem ahead for nanotechnology? The possible backlash from two groups, one the growing number of people mistrustful of science and the changes it brings, and the other bureaucratic institutions that might balk at funding a technological revolution with the ability to unseat them from their position of power. A solution? Turn nano development toward an early and obviously beneficial goal: the desalinization and purification of water, allowing us to use our abundance of saltwater and polluted water for agriculture and consumption…We, the folks at nanospot.com, offer this idea for the nanotechnology community to consider, and would like to help jumpstart such an effort…" Read More for the full post.

from the let's-help-change-Mr-Tom-to-Dr-Tom dept.
Senior Associate Tom McKendree writes "I am wrapping up the last substantive chapter of my dissertation [on space applications of molecular nanotechnology]. After that, I still have the conclusions chapter to finish, and the introduction to write, but there is a lot of content in what is already done. My target is to actually defend and complete this year. So, in the spirit of parallel processing, I am looking once again for people interested in reviewing sections of the dissertation." Read More for the outline.

from the new-challenge-for-hackers dept.
Senior Associate TomMcKendree writes "In what sounds like a bad idea, a researcher in Thailand has hooked up a robot with a gun, that can be controlled over the internet, and that can be set up to shoot automatically."
An excerpt: "[The inventor] has password-protected the 'fire' command for when the robot is operated over the Internet. 'We think the decision to fire should always be a human decision,' he says. 'Otherwise it could kill people.' " CP: How reassuring, a password.