Roland Piquepaille writes "Molecular computing is a fascinating subject that I already covered several times (check here or there for example). Now, researchers from France and England are going further computing. They want to make logic circuits by linking individual molecules. They even think that they can build these logic circuits within a single one, according to this article from Technology Research News. But challenges remain and practical applications will not appear before at least ten years. This overview contains more details and references about these findings. It also includes an amazing diagram showing a benzene molecule configured as an XOR logic gate."

WillWare writes "Articles at New Scientist and EurekAlert discuss a finding that a single mutated gene may account for the larger size of human brains relative to those of other primates. The gene involved appears to influence or control the muscle mass used by the jaw in biting. In humans the bite muscle is weak, and consequently the skull is permitted to grow larger and permit the brain to do likewise. This might affect the feasibility of the Open-source Bonobo project."

Dr_Barnowl writes "The Register has printed this article quoting Nanotechnology Linked to Organ Damage – Study in the Washington Post reporting that Buckyballs are toxic in concentrations around that typically found of other pollutants. While this is not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal, the reported toxic effects are severe enough to provoke concern." Instapundit Glenn Reynolds comments on the Washington Post story and what it means for the nanotechnology industry PR strategy with respect to MNT. Reynolds also provides links to comments on the story from bloggers Howard Lovy and Phil Bowermaster.

Roland Piquepaille writes "After the ages of DRAM and SRAM memories, is this time for nanotech memories? ExtremeTech says that "molecular memories" as well as memories based on carbon nanotubes are emerging. With these nanotech memories, several startup companies are envisioning future chips mixing logic, memory and reconfigurable computing elements. One of these promising startups is ZettaCore, which was mentioned several times here more for its investors than for its technology. The company has built a prototype of a molecular memory designed to replace both SRAM and DRAM kinds of memories. These molecules, which are about 1 nanometer in size, are also self-assembling, meaning that they can be manufactured with existing equipment used in the semiconductor industry. This overview contains more details about the technology and includes a diagram of these molecules in a memory array."

Foresight Institute and Working In Ltd., an employment and education web company, launched a comprehensive resource website, Workingin-Nanotechnology.com, on March 19, 2004. This site is designed to meet the increasing demand for career, education and training information in the emerging field of nanotechnology.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Until now, the fabrication of nanocrystals implied to inject various chemicals into heated solutions. As the solution concentration changed during the reaction, the process was hard to control and the results were somewhat unexpected. But now, researchers at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) have found an easy way to control the architecture of nanocrystals. They simply use electricity to control the nanocrystals shapes in a reproducible way. This opens the door to new applications such as using ferromagnetic nanocrystals as components in ultra high-density storage media. More details and references are available in this overview. It also includes illustrations of different shapes of nanocrystals obtained by applying different voltages."

Foresight Vision Weekend "Putting Feynman's Vision Into Action"
Senior Associates Gathering, May 14-16, 2004 in Palo Alto
Welcome Reception Friday, May 14, at 7 pm
http://foresight.org/SrAssoc/spring2004/index.html
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE: http://foresight.org/SrAssoc/spring2004/program.html

JamGrrl writes "Using AFM technology in a way never initially intended, researchers at UCLA have discovered that cells make sounds. Living yeast cell walls rise and fall three nanometers on an average of 1,000 times a second. Amplified through an AFM like a record needle, this produces sound. Yeast cells play between C-sharp and D, just above middle C. Dying cells make a higher pitched tone, and dead cells continue to vibrate, albeit in very low tones. If tones are found to be consistant between types of cells and cell condition, this technique may be used in the future to diagnose diseases, possibly before the onset of symptoms."

qftconnor writes "I just noticed that IoP has launched a new journal called the Journal of Neural Engineering. According to the Editorial in the first issue, 'The scope of Journal of Neural Engineering encompasses experimental, computational and theoretical aspects of neural interfacing, neuroelectronics, neuromechanical systems, neuroinformatics, neuroimaging, neural prostheses, artificial and biological neural circuits, neural control, neural tissue regeneration, neural signal processing, neural modeling and neuro-computation.' All articles are available without subscription through December 2004. Perhaps the first conference on neuroengineering, held last year in Capri, and the formation of this new journal are signs that the field is becoming mainstream."

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers in Iowa have used nanotechnology to develop a very small silicon chip to catch and help identify viruses, according to Technology Research News. The device, dubbed the ViriChip, is used in conjunction with an atomic force microscope (AFM). The prototype is already able to identify several viruses and should be in labs in less than two years. A particular application could help save lives by enabling doctors to check a donor heart for potential infections before transplanting it to a patient. This overview contains more details. It also includes references to other articles about the ViriChip and images showing how it looks and a virus it detected."

Roland Piquepaille writes "Killing cells affected by cancer while leaving healthy ones alone is not a new idea (check here or there for example). But, in "Ultra-fast shocks scramble cells," Nature describes a new approach based on electrical nanopulses. These electric shocks last only a few billionths of a second while reaching during this very short amount of time power levels of terawatts. They also are very intriguing, apparently forcing cancer cells to commit suicide. For this reason, "there is plenty to be worked out before the human body is zapped with nanopulses." This overview contains more details and references. It also includes images showing how cells are affected by these electric nanopulses."

NNI confused by SciFi: Howard Lovy's blog Nanobot brings to our attention this item under "Nanotech Facts" on the NNI website (your tax dollars at play): What are nanobots? And are they fantasy or reality? (near bottom of page).

RobertBradbury writes "Science is reporting (here) that using a special STM scientists at Berkeley and LBL have selectively added potassium atoms to buckyballs. A public summary is available from Science Daily here. This may cause some of the naysayers with regard to real MNT to begin to wonder why the chairs they are sitting in are becoming so uncomfortable."

Roland Piquepaille writes "German researchers at the Max Planck Institute are using nanotechnology to take movies of cellular processes. They used Quantum Dots (or QDs) as nano-sized markers to visualize DNA sequences. This new approach is crucial for the development of new cancer drugs. "These Quantum Dots are nano-sized semiconductor crystals a mere ten millionth of a millimeter in diameter that fluoresce in several different colors upon excitation with a laser source. These crystals enabled the researchers to deliver real-time video-clips of signal transmission in the so-called erbB receptor family, important targets for many anti-tumor drugs such as antibodies directed against breast cancer." More details and references are available in this overview including some isolated shots from a movie showing live cells activation."

WillWare writes "Nature reports that Alan Windle and colleagues at the University of Cambridge, UK, have created unusually long nanotubes. "The team mix ethanol ó the carbon source ó with a catalyst called ferrocene and another chemical called thiophene that helps the threads to assemble. The mixture is squirted into a hot furnace in a jet of hydrogen gas. Nanotubes form as a tangled mass, rather like candyfloss, and are then wound onto a spindle to form strands… So far, the fibres aren't outstandingly strong ó they're no better than typical textile fibres. But Windle thinks that there's still plenty of scope for improving the process to make stronger fibres, for example by finding ways to make the nanotubes line up better. In Kevlar it's the good alignment of molecules that generates the high strength.""

Gina Miller writes "Tired of re-reading those same old boring statistics on your cereal box, well I bet you would have loved to have this one on your breakfast table this morning! The German division of the Kellogg company has afforded room for nanotechnology on the entire backside of their 'Toppas' cereal. Now you see it … (PDF file)."

The New Atlantis looks at the debate between MNT advocates and mainstream nanotechnologists, like Richard Smalley and the NanoBusiness Alliance, who maintain that MNT "is bunk." They conclude that the government feasibility study of molecular manufacturing, which the NanoBusiness Alliance managed to have removed from last year's Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, should be reinstated. "The Nanotech Schism: High-Tech Pants or Molecular Revolution?"

The New Atlantis looks at the debate between MNT advocates and mainstream nanotechnologists, like Richard Smalley and the NanoBusiness Alliance, who maintain that MNT "is bunk." They conclude that the government feasibility study of molecular manufacturing, which the NanoBusiness Alliance managed to have removed from last year's Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, should be reinstated. "The Nanotech Schism: High-Tech Pants or Molecular Revolution?"

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center have devised a new programmable biochip which can manipulate nanoliter droplets. In this article, Technology Research News says that this biochip "uses an array of electrodes to place water droplets on a surface, insert substances into the droplets, and move and merge the droplets." The device, which has no moving parts, could help to identify pathogen agents in the field. Even if the researchers plan to have a protoype ready by the ned of the first half of 2004, they don't expect to have a miniaturized, fully-automated device available for field testing before two years. This overview contains more details and a picture of the biochip."

Roland Piquepaille writes "Do you want to know if the chicken you just bought at the supermarket contains bits of pork or beef? Or would you like to know if the vegetarian meal you just ordered contains some fish or meat? If your answer is yes, you might get some help from a DNA chip which can recognize 32 different species of fishes, birds and mammals, including humans(!!), in a single test. Both Small Times and New Scientist carry a story of this DNA chip, which will likely be used first by food regulators. The FoodExpert-ID biochip is the first high-throughput gene chip for testing food and animal feed. But it doesn't come cheap. The cost of all the equipment needed to perform the tests is around $250,000, but each test would cost only $350 to $550. This overview contains more details and references. It also includes illustrations showing how the technology works."