from the now-we-can-abuse-our-livers-with-confidence dept.
University Science News reports: "The first successful demonstration that liver cells can function at an elevated level outside the human body has been achieved…Her [UCSD Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia's] work could lead to the creation of an external artificial liver device able to effectively hold patients over until transplantation. Of the individuals dying from liver disease each year, most are on a waiting list for a new liver. A full-functioning device would also assist patients requiring another transplant due to a second liver failure, keeping them alive in between livers. Finally, according to Bhatia, 'The third application of this technology, which is the real Holy Grail, is to utilize a functional extracorporeal artificial liver to keep patients alive long enough for their liver to recover, thus avoiding an expensive and risky transplant. The liver is one of the only organs in the body that can actually regenerate itself.' " For more on this work, see the researcher's website.

from the worth-paying-for dept.
The Asian Technology Information Program in Tokyo has a Nanotechnology Project of great use to those attempting to track what is happening in that part of the world. Much of the material listed is available only to subscribers, but lots of useful info is free, including abstracts of all reports and at least some presentations. Serious nanotechnology organizations will want to subscribe, but much can be gleaned from the free Nano News headlines, e.g. Japan's urgent effort to catch up with the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative.

from the now-we'll-really-see-who's-so-smart dept.
Senior Associate John Gilmore of EFF brings to our attention this item from BBC News. Excerpts: "US researchers believe they have identified the parts of the human genome involved in developing a person's intelligence. This means scientists could soon test the potential intelligence of new-born babies…The researchers, working for the US National Institutes of Health, analysed the DNA of 200 of the brightest kids in America and compared them with the genetic material from ordinary children. The results are due out next year, but the BBC Newsnight programme has learned that key differences have been found. In other words, the scientists are homing in on the genes for genius…[According] to Jeremy Rifkin…'Every parent wants the best for their child,' said Rifkin. 'In the future, the parent could become an architect and each child the ultimate shopping experience.' "

from the he's-our-hero dept.
Credit goes to Brian Berg for spotting this San Jose Mercury News article on Foresight advisor Doug Engelbart's new honor. Excerpts: "On one hand we have instant gratification — the shiny, happy kids at bigfatjackpot.com who went from zero to seven figures of net worth in a matter of months before things cooled off. On the other hand we have delayed gratification — in the noble personage of one Douglas Engelbart. Friday at a black-tie dinner in Washington, D.C., Engelbart will be one of two individuals to receive the National Medal of Technology, to be bestowed by President Clinton. The award, the nation's highest honor for technology, comes more than 30 years after he developed many of the basic tools that define today's digital world…Engelbart is more than just a great technologist. He's a humanist who sees computer-assisted communications as just a means to achieving far loftier goals. What he envisioned more than 30 years ago was comprehensive systems that would augment human decision-making. The big picture, which he continued to flesh out over the years, boiled down to this: Better tools led to better collaboration processes, which in turn led to more innovation, better decisions and better organizations. And to better chances of managing nanotechnology well, which is why Doug is an advisor to Foresight. Congrats to him!

from the Who-said-the-Robot-Age-is-far-in-the-future? dept.
Waldemar Perez writes "The latest developments in Robotics are truly impressive! This article found in EETimes shows some of the models presented at Robodex 2000. We are only years or months away from watching widespread robot use in entertainment and specialized tasks that are dangerous to humans. Labor unions should be worried in my opinion. Verbal command computers are not far away and robots could take over many human tasks for a fraction of the cost. Check out the Honda website for the latest Quick Time movies of the Honda prototype tightening nuts shaking hands, walking and standing."

from the glass-with-designed-holes dept.
Waldemar Perez brings to our attention Eurekalert news coverage of a Nature cover story: "The creation of three-dimensional 50-nanometer-size glass micropores have enormous implications for electronics and biotechnology. The new material could be used (according to scientists) to selectively package biomolecules like proteins or DNA, sense and remove biotoxins or toxic metals from the environment, and as 3-D biochemical enzyme factories." Excerpt from the Eurekalert story, which includes graphics: "The nanotechnology, the chemistry, and the processing make possible many different three-dimensional patterns, shapes and forms that can be organized at multiple-length scales in numerous ways…"

from the early-cyborg dept.
Waldemar Perez writes "The first truly bionic hand was tested at Nottingham Hospital, UK. The development of the hand, that took more than 20 years, created the first 'self-contained' bionic hand. The unit is operated by nerve signals to the brain. The user sends a signal to the muscle where electrodes and sensors pick up the signal to execute the desired motion. http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/health/newsid_1035000/1035304.stm"

from the chemists-in-hot-pursuit dept.
Foresight chairman Eric Drexler calls our attention to a review in the 9 November issue of Nature "In Control of Molecular Motion" by chemist Ben Feringa of Univ. of Groningen, The Netherlands: "Nature [he means Mother Nature, not the journal --CP] leads the way when it comes to motors on a molecular scale. But chemists are in hot pursuit, designing controllable structures that can mimic muscles or rotary motors."
Read more for excerpts, see the paper journal in your library, or buy the article online for US$10.

from the better-late-than-never dept.
In November 1991, Science did a special issue on nanotechnology. Here's their next one. The 24 November Science special issue on nanotechnology includes:
* Is Nanotechnology Dangerous?
* Powering the Nanoworld
* Cantilever Tales
* NanoManipulator Lets Chemists Go Mano a Mano With Molecules
* Strange Behavior at One Dimension
* Nanoelectromechanical Systems
* From Micro- to Nanofabrication with Soft Materials
* Microfabricating Conjugated Polymer Actuators
* Powering an Inorganic Nanodevice with a Biomolecular Motor
* Atom-Scale Research Gets Real
* Coaxing Molecular Devices to Build Themselves
Free login will get you an overview page on this special issue. Excerpt: "…Robert Service surveys nanotechnology's near-term prospects: the role of funding infusions, such as the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative and its European and Japanese counterparts, and the real promise of new materials and devices. He also takes a jaundiced view of some of the prophecies of boom and doom made by the field's boosters and critics. Meanwhile, amid the nanohype, researchers are forging ahead on several exciting fronts."

from the let's-put-these-machines-to-work dept.
About the 24 November Science special issue on nanotechnology [some parts accessible with free login], Foresight's Tanya Jones writes "Check out the article on Carlo Montemagno's efforts to build a molecular motor at http://partners.nytimes.com/2000/11/25/science/25NANO.html" Excerpts: "Writing in Friday's issue of the journal Science, scientists at Cornell University report that they hooked up a tiny motor to a metal propeller and spun the propeller around at up to eight revolutions a second. 'This is the first true nano machine,' said Dr. Carlo D. Montemagno, professor of biological engineering at Cornell and senior author of the Science paper…Since the motor draws its energy from the same organic molecules that power living cells, Dr. Montemagno suggests that scientists may one day be able to build robots much smaller than bacteria that will be able to repair cellular damage, manufacture medicines and attack cancer cells. 'This opens the door to make machines that live inside the cell,' Dr. Montemagno said. 'It allows us to merge engineered devices into living systems…We're going to have the device self-assemble inside the human cell,' he said. "That's what we're working on now.' " CP: You can download a video clip.

from the you-heard-it-first-at-the-Foresight-conference dept.
Bryan Hall writes "An article in BBC news reports that nanotechnology researchers have created computer simulations of the mini subs and some believe prototypes are less than a year away. The article elaborates: 'As the bacteria swam through the bloodstream they could push or pull a tiny disc, sealed within a liquid-filled cylinder. These discs could be drugs to treat tumours or break down the material lining blocked arteries. Speaking at the Foresight conference on nanotechnology in Maryland, [Eldrid Sequeira of Utah State] said: "Depending on the design we implement and with recent advances in nanoscale fabrication techniques, we could conceivably have micro-organisms power nanomachinery for extended periods of time." Eventually, the Utah team believe they could build biomotors using only the flagella from the bacteria which would mean the biomotors would be even smaller – around 100 nanometres (billionths of a metre).'
The article itself has a graphic of their computer simulation."
CP: Thanks also to coljac, whose submission pointed out that according to the article, prototypes may be only one year away.

from the complexity-of-complexity dept.
smythe writes "Stuart Kauffman's latest book, Investigations speaks eloquently to what I believe will soon become the central issue in Nanotechnology. Namely, the(self-)organization and management of complexity of collections of atoms, molecules and molecular scale devices. The design of nanoscale devices and materials is about 'organizing atoms'. The Atomasoft coined phrase 'matter will become software' alludes to this but thoroughly underestimates it at the same time. Kauffman collects many ideas from Biology, Mathematics, Complexity Science and Physics proper and provides us with what he suggests what might be an 'adequate description of life itself'.
"Fourth Law" (the lecture)
Investigations (the book)
Investigations (online notes)"

from the he-knows-if-you've-been-bad-or-good dept.
EddieWehri brings our attention to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle: "Yep, yet one more SF concept from books like The Diamond Age make it into prime time. MEMS science is producing dust sized surveillence devices that are lighter than air and float around collecting data and reporting back to the mother base." Excerpt: "Each mote contains a solar cell to generate power, sensors that can be programmed to look for specific information, a tiny computer that can store the information and sort out which data is worth reporting, and a communicator that enables the mote to be 'interrogated' by the base unit…'This is a technology of total surveillance' "

from the nauseatingly-small dept.
As if nanotechnology won't be enough to deal with, it's looking increasingly as though quantum computers will play a big role in our future. Waldemar Perez writes "Interesting article on patent that could affect Quantum Dot-based electronics and non-linear optical devices for satellite shield protection against laser attacks, from Nebraska University. http://www.unl.edu/pr/science/111400ascifi.html"

from the we'll-have-wings-in-cyberspace dept.
Waldemar Perez writes "Scientists at Duke University and MIT tested the first ever neuro-implant in a monkey's brain for a brain-machine control interface. The monkey controlled a robotic arm 600 miles away performing such tasks as reaching for food. It holds great promise for prosthetic implants. http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/duke-mca111000.html" Excerpt: " 'One most provocative, and controversial, question is whether the brain can actually incorporate a machine as part of its representation of the body,' [the researcher] said. 'I truly believe that it is possible…If such incorporation of artificial devices works, it would quite likely be possible to augment our bodies in virtual space in ways that we never thought possible,' Nicolelis said."

from the MEMSdot dept.
For the MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems) fans among us, Jonathan Desp brings to our attention MEMS Center, a new MEMS portal based, as is Nanodot, on the Slash news-and-discussion software. Read More for his full post.

from the only-ten-years-to-get-ready dept.
Patrice Clement writes "Just to mention that there is a pretty nice "overview" article about NanoTechnology in BusinessWeek [Nov. 27 issue]…I like the introduction stressing how important "material technology" is. Once this point is made, it becomes "naturally clear" why NanoTech is going to have such a big impact on our lives. The rest of the article goes into giving examples of what kind of researches are being made in the NanoTech field. From what I can tell, the article seems to be pretty accurate." The article ends: "the Nano Age should be in full swing around 2010."

from the bad-guys-shall-always-be-with-ye dept.
From India, Sharad Bailur writes "Frankly I am quite overwhelmed by what I have been reading these last few days beginning with Ed Regis's book, Nano just a few days ago. I had read the Feynman speech of 1969 [CP: make that 1959] some years ago and it seemed an interesting if far out idea and now this. I have ordered for the original Drexler bible Engines of Creation and expect to get it in another three weeks or so. I am interested in how absolute human evil can be dealt with in the nano age. I have a feeling that this is a problem that could turn out much more difficult than the optimistic assessment of most nano scientists."Read More for the rest of Sharad's post.

from the can-we-make-the-space-elevator-now? dept.
Bryan Hall writes "An article in Scientific American reports that scientists have developed a new process for spinning continuous carbon fibers and then tie them into tight knots without breaking. The article elaborates: 'Scientists used single-wall carbon nanotubes, in the form of bundles of a few nanotubes, as the raw material in their novel manufacturing process….And because the tubes were all aligned in the direction of flowing solution when they again stuck together, they formed a nanotube mesh. Slowly pulling the mesh from the bath made it collapse into a high-density ribbon. Nanotechnologists have suggested a number of potential applications for such materials over the years, ranging from tethers connecting satellites to Earth to nanotube-based supercapacitors and electrochemically driven artificial muscles. Now they have a seemingly reliable, readily scalable method for producing them.'
The full article shows photos of the process." CP: Thanks also to Robert Trombatore who also submitted this story.

from the let-the-machine-figure-it-out dept.
The nanotechnology design process can seem overwhelming in its complexity. Fortunately, efforts are already underway to automate the identification and resolution of design conflicts in today's systems, such as work by Shimon Nof at Purdue: "The aim is to create software tools that not only identify conflicts in advance but also describe fine details about the nature of those conflicts to better pinpoint a resolution. So far, experimental results have shown that such software tools are capable of eliminating the 'dependency on humans to execute critical design tasks' needed to resolve conflicts that arise in facility design, Nof says in a research paper about the work."