from the What's-in-it-for-ME? dept.

In an interesting article in the ASME journal Mechanical Engineering, ("A Frontier for Engineering," January 2001), Mihail Roco suggests that focused education and training, and collaborative research and development programs offer a pathway for mechanical engineering to enter into the developing nanotechnology "industrial revolution."

Roco is a senior advisor for nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation's Directorate for Engineering, and was a key figure in the formulation of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative.

According to an accompanying editorial by John G. Falcioni, Editor-in-Chief, Roco's article is the first in a year-long series that will "invite leaders in the field of nano-technology to explore scientific and engineering issues influencing research, testing, development, manufacturing, and commercialization."

Note: These URLs may change. You can access the Mechancial Engineering Magazine site at http://www.memagazine.org.

Read More for excerpts from Roco's article and Falcioni's editorial.

from the nanopork-for-New-Mexico dept.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) has introduced legislation to boost federal funding for nanoscience research performed at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, and at New Mexico universities. In a press release issued by his office, Sen. Bingaman's bill is described as "legislation designed to direct millions more dollars annually into research and development of nanoscience ñ the science of manipulating materials on an atom by atom basis."

Bingaman's bill (S.90), called the "Department of Energy Nanoscale Science and Engineering Act" lays out a five-year plan to boost the authorization for research and development of nanoscience from $160 million in fiscal year 2002, and rising to $330 million by fiscal year 2006. Research would be funded through the Department of Energy's Office of Science. For fiscal year 2001, the Office of Science was appropriated $84 million for nanoscience research as part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The entire NNI is funded at about $420 million for FY2001, so Bingaman's proposal amounts to a near doubling of federal nanoscience research funding.

from the limited-vision dept.

An interesting report on the impact of robotics and advanced automation (read: semi-autonomous AI) appears in the October 2000 issue of the IPTS Report, published by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, which is part of the Joint Research Center of the Eurpean Commission (think of it as the EC equivalent of the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy).

While it doesnít anticipate nanotechnology or strong AI, the article presents some interesting scenarios on how governments and societies might respond to the displacement of workers from industrial and service sector jobs by intelligent robotic systems, and discusses socio-economic tensions that might arise as we move toward a knowledge-based economy.

from the billions-of-billions dept.
David Coutts writes "I enjoyed reading the recent CNN article about Stephen Hawkings' predictions for the human colonisation of our solar system in the next 100 years. In particular, he narrows it all down to 2 possibilities: (1) either we destroy ourselves )2) we engineer one or more species which surpass us… [About] option 2, at least I wrote an article recently with a similar view, called The Cassandra Prophecy. This is only the second draft, so I would appreciate constructive criticism: http://www.bnbg.com.au/~bnbgames/6billionZPG.htm" CP: Read more for an excerpt from Engines of Creation pointing out that space colonization postpones but does not solve the problem.

from the read-fast-or-pay dept.
Stan Hutchings brings to our attention that the new journal Nano Letters is free of charge through June 30, 2001. The editor writes: "This convergence of the top-down and bottom-up approaches at the nanometer scale marks the first time in history when it appears within reach to design a macroscopic functional material by controlling the composition of matter on every length scale from the atom up. Many important properties of materials are controlled or limited by behavior on the nanometer scale, and so there is great opportunity in this area [excellent understatement --CP]…While there is great excitement about the possibilities opening up before us, it is also clear that we should be cautious and patient. Many of the great things we as a community want to accomplish are very hard to do and will take a great deal of effort and perhaps also a great deal of time." First issue looks good, including work by Seeman and Montemagno.

from the realtime-attempt-at-foresight dept.
Recently the Association of Internet Professionals in San Francisco invited five Foresight folks to discuss the future of the Internet. Naturally, we discussed nanotechnology as well. Meet advisor Stewart Brand, member James Canton, Senior Associate Dan Gillmor, media advisor Ed Niehaus, and moi (president) as we debate the future in MP3 format, including challenging audience questions.

from the white-hats-must-move-fast dept.
Senior Associate Ralph Merkle has an opinion piece in IEEE Spectrum on preventing nanotech abuse. Excerpt: "Deliberate abuse, the misuse of a technology by some small group or nation to cause great harm, is best prevented by measures based on a clear understanding of that technology. Nanotechnology could, in the future, be used to rapidly identify and block attacks. Distributed surveillance systems could quickly identify arms buildups and offensive weapons deployments, while lighter, stronger, and smarter materials controlled by powerful molecular computers would let us make radically improved versions of existing weapons able to respond to such threats. Replicating manufacturing systems could rapidly churn out the needed defenses in huge quantities. Such systems are best developed by continuing a vigorous R&D program, which provides a clear understanding of the potential threats and countermeasures available."

from the early-nanovisuals dept.
From a San Francisco Chronicle article on work published in Nature: 'Using some extraordinary camera tricks, scientists at the University of California at Davis have produced Lilliputian action shots of molecular "motors" unwinding strands of DNA…The images underscore recent dramatic advances in the field of nanotechnology, a discipline that scientists hope will allow precise control over the very fabric of matter.' The story links to the 2.4 Meg MPEG movie.

from the nanonews-everywhere dept.
Senior Associate Brad Hein posts nanonews at his nanosite, e.g.: "The Motley Fool has a discussion board on nanotechnology at http://boards.fool.com/Messages.asp?bid=113628. The Fool is a web site for education and news on investing. Generally, I've found their message boards to be pretty civil with a fairly good signal to noise ration." CP: Read More for an excerpt on the Foresight Conference from the discussion board.

from the good-news-bad-news dept.
Robert Trombatore writes "ZDNet's UK edition has an interesting article about AI. It's fairly well balanced and makes mention of Foresight Institute and its role in raising public awareness of emerging technologies."

CP: Here's an excerpt: "Minsky agrees that extinction at the mechanical hands of a robot race may be just around the corner, but says that developments in the field of artificial intelligence call for considered debate. He says he is encouraging artificial intelligence experts to participate in the work of the Institute." You can do that here on nanodot, and at the upcoming Senior Associate Gathering.

from the what-do-you-mean-replication-is-illegal? dept.
Senior Associate John Gilmore of EFF has written this item on the problem of copy-protection including the connection to nanotech. John prefaced it with: "My latest missive about copy-protection. I tie in the big nanotech angle toward the end. I have to sneak them up to it because they think I'm crazy if I lead with it. Feel free to reproduce this. If you publish it far and wide, let me know so I can feed you corrections as they come in from the critics…" Sounds like John would appreciate feedback, so add your comments below.

from the reactionary-media dept.
Martin Archer writes "Here's another myopic treatment of tranhumanists, from the LA Weekly, Jan 19-25, 2001. Say what you will about Natasha Vita More and Max More, but personally, I just don't understand the journalist's viewpoint: '…Perhaps one day we'll all be transhumans, or posthuman cyborgs, but since we're not cyborgs now, it's hard to get too worked up about it…' It's difficult bringing the subject of the impending technological life extension 'tsunami' even to close friends. How do you do it without coming across as a weirdo?" CP: Fortunately, with the web we can judge for ourselves, without intervening media bias: see Extropy.org and Extrodot.

from the there's-plenty-of-room-at-the-top dept.
David Coutts writes "I'm a big fan of the Living Universe Foundation, and a member. I agree with their goal of the human civilisation of space, starting with our own solar system (they call this phase "Solaria", the equivalent of Kardashev Level 2) and then on to the Milky Way galaxy ("Galactica", or K-3). Until recently, they don't appear to have taken nanotechnology seriously, so I was delighted to read the following article on nano fibers in the online "Distant Star" magazine: http://www.distant-star.com/issue13/jan_2001_nanofibers.htm Personally, I would like to see Foresight Institute and the Living Universe work together to ensure that there is a place for humanity in space, starting with our own solar system." CP: One point of disagreement would be that LUF wants to colonize the ocean surface first.

from the changing-software dept.
JohnPierce writes "Efficient 'shape shifting' of complex Fractal Robots will require optimized logistics. On-the-fly Evolutionary Computation may be the answer. A Discover article describes Evolutionary Computation for logistical optimization of a large warehouse distribution system. This technique may also find uses in design and operation of Nanosystems."

from the oops dept.
VAB writes "Australian GE researchers accidentally created a more virulent version of the mousepox virus which proved fatal in 100% of mouse infections by adding the IL-4 gene. BBC Article: "Professor John Oxford says he would not have expected this result. He adds though that while rare, it is inevitable that unpredictable events will occur which is why experiments are closely monitored and performed in isolated laboratories."

Researcher Ron Jackson: "It would be safe to assume that if some idiot did put human IL-4 into human smallpox they'd increase the lethality quite dramatically… Seeing the consequences of what happened in the mice, I wouldn't want to be the one who'd want to do the experiment".

The Australian Department of Defense was consulted before publication of the research because of its potential impact in the ability of terrorists and outlaw states to develop biological weapons. Precipitant Research"

from the sounds-right-to-us dept.
Senior Associate Steve Jurvetson brings to our attention the meVC annual report, which includes coverage of their interest in investing in nanotechnology. meVC's website states that it is "the first venture capital investment management firm to provide all investors access to venture capital, a top-performing asset class previously open only to high net worth individuals and institutional investors.". The fund is connected with Draper Fisher Jurvetson, a corporate sponsor of this spring's Foresight Gathering. Read More for the excerpt from CEO John Grillos.

from the megabucks-for-nanogoals dept.
Senior Associate Ralph Merkle, Principle Fellow at Zyvex, notes that Forbes.com has an article on the company: "Zyvex, billing itself as the first molecular nanotechnology company, is aiming for nanoproducts that are at least ten years from realization, if they are even possible. Von Ehr started up in 1997, buying ten powerful microscopesóone for $350,000óand building a chemistry lab, machine shop and clean room in a 20,000-square-foot factory that hasn't shaken its new-car smell. Zyvex grew from 15 people in 1999 to 29 last year, and Von Ehr plans to double in size annually for the next several years. What started out as a plan to spend $2 million to $3 million a year for ten years has evolved into an ambitious effort to raise and spend $300 million over eight years."

from the getting-oriented dept.
A well-done brief overview of molecular nanotechnology by University of Georgia chemist Dennis Rouvray is available at chembytes: "[Most] scientists were persuaded that nanotechnology was an unobtainable objective. Indeed, it was not until the second half of the 20th century that a few intrepid individuals risked raising their head above the parapet to question entrenched authority on the subject…Even with our current rudimentary chemical nanotechnology, it has been possible to fabricate a surprising range of simple nanomachines. These include abacuses, batteries, brakes, gears, plugs, rotors, ratchets, sensors, shuttles, sockets, switches and wires."

from the U.S.-anxiety dept.
Senior Associate davesag writes "There's an article in the chinese People's Daily headlined 'China Sets up First Nanometer Technology Industrial Base in Tianjin': 'Its long-term focus is to develop and produce nanometer parts and nanometer machinery. Officials said as a joint effort of the State Administration of Petroleum and Chemical Industries, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qinghua University and Beijing University of Science and Engineering, the base would use the talented personnel and the existing labs in the universities, research institutions and enterprises to accelerate nanometer technology industrial development in the country.'

The full article has a few interesting links."

from the funding-difficult-goals dept.
Senior Associate WillWare writes "Ronnie Horesh, an economist in New Zealand, has recently published a book on his notion of social policy bonds. The government issues bonds at a low price, redeemable at a high price when a social goal has been accomplished. This allows the government to set and fund social agendas while leaving the details of implementation to the free market."