The deadline to nominate a colleague to be considered for the prestigious Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology is Wednesday, June 30, 2004. Established in honor of Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, two prizes, one for theory and one for experimental work, will be awarded. These prizes recognize researchers whose recent work have most advanced the achievement of Feynman's vision for nanotechnology: molecular manufacturing, defined as the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.

Roland Piquepaille writes "In "Could laptops run on spinach?," Nature reports that researchers from the MIT have made solar cells powered by spinach proteins. These prototype solar cells which transform light into 'green' energy could be used one day to coat and power your laptop. There is still work to be done before becoming a commercial product. Right now, the prototype delivers current for only three weeks. And they are not very efficient, converting only 12% of the light they absorb into electricity. However, these spinach-powered solar cells are better for our environment than silicon solar cells. And according to Science News Online, in "Protein Power: Solar cell produces electricity from spinach and bacterial proteins," they also have the potential to be self-repairing. The research work has been published by Nano Letters (Vol. 4, No. 6, Pp. 1079 – 1083, June 2004). If you are a subscriber, you may access the paper, named "Integration of Photosynthetic Protein Molecular Complexes in Solid-State Electronic Devices," by going to this page. You'll find more details and references in this overview."

Tim writes "Medical News Today has a short article about some interesting work being done with nanoscale 'shells' at Rice University. The study shows promising results in cancer treatment using near-infrared light to heat these shells once they have accumulated in cancerous tissue. The article can be found at Nanoshells cancer treatment proves effective in first animal test" Also, see similar article at BetterHumans: Nanoshells Burn Up Cancer in Animals.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, you'll see the most beautiful scientific pictures of the year. The winner of a photographic contest recently organized by the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge is Ghim Wei Ho, a PhD student in nanotechnology, for absolutely fabulous pictures of what she calls 'nanoflowers' or 'nanotrees.' In"Physicists reveal first 'nanoflowers'," the Institute of Physics says these nanostructures of silicon carbide are grown from droplets of gallium on a silicon surface. Not only these images are stunning, they also show cutting-edge nanotechnology research. And these nanoflowers will be used in new exciting applications, such as water repellant coatings or new types of solar cells. Several fantastic pictures are available in this photo gallery, which also contains other references to the research project which led to these stunning images."

Roland Piquepaille writes "In this article, the Detroit News says that the adoption of nanotechnology by car manufacturers will produce safer, lighter and cheaper vehicles. While GM is already using nanocomposite materials for several vans, Ford is developing new nanoengineered catalysts to replace platinum. The newspaper gives other examples, such as auto-adaptive suspension systems, scratch-resistant paints or nanocoated windshields which will not crack. In fact, all parts in a car can be improved by using nanotechnology, according to the article. And if automakers are only going to introduce limited amounts of nanotechnology-related products in the next few years, their usage should be widespread within ten years. More details are available in this overview."

Anonymous Coward writes "BBC Radio 4 is currently airing a series called "Small Worlds" which deals with a new nanotechnology issue each Wednesday at 9:00pm. All the programmes are available for download at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/smallworlds.sh tml. Towards the end of the second programme the "Sticky Fingers" argument is used by George Whitesides to dismiss the prospect of Nanoscale machines."

Roland Piquepaille writes "A group of chemists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has developed 'nanodumbbells' — gold-tipped nanocrystals which can be used as building blocks for future electronic devices. These 'nanodumbbells', which are shaped like mini-weightlifting bars, will apparently solve two nanotechnological problems: assembling billions of nanocrystals into a single integrated electrical circuit; and provide good electrical contact. And they will be used to create self-assembling chain structures of nanocrystals. This overview provides other details, pictures and references about this project. [Additional note, totally unrelated to the scientific content: there is not a single reference to 'nanodumbbells' by Google, at least right now when I'm typing this.]"

Senior Associate JohnHeron writes "In an article from NYT Magazine written by Jon Gertner, Bill Joy, of Sun, vi and BSD fame, continued his warnings against the dangers of unfettered research and access to information in nanotech and biotech research. Joy believes that high risk research should be regulated. "He says he believes that businesses doing research in areas deemed risky by their peers should be forced to take out insurance against catastrophes. He also says that science guilds should have the authority to limit access to potentially dangerous ideas. 'Perhaps some knowledge won't be made public,' Joy says. 'Perhaps there would be secrets. You know, you couldn't just get the code to the plague or the flu if you wanted it.' "

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) are using 'lab-on-a-chip' technology for medical testing and are customizing them to use in space to detect bacteria and life forms on other planets. These chips will also be used to protect astronauts aboard a spacecraft by detecting microbes and contaminants. These microarray diagnostic chips are very small. They also are inexpensive because they share the fabrication technology used to print circuits on computer chips. Therefore, a Martian expedition will be able to embark a very large number of these chips to secure the mission. More details and references are available in this overview, which includes a photograph of a NASA biochip."

Jerry Fass writes "Physicists in Germany make atomic force microscope able to image features under 100 picometres (0.1 nanometer) across. New "higher-harmonic" force microscope uses one carbon atom as a probe, resolution is at least three times more than standard scanning tunnelling microscopes. http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/6/6/"

Eliezer Yudkowsky writes "I've posted an update to the Friendliness part of Friendly AI theory. The essay is called Collective Volition and it's currently located on the SL4 Wiki. The essay isn't technical; the update describes my most recent thoughts about the what-it-does of a Friendly AI, the thing that this ultrapowerful superintelligent recursively self-improving optimization process is supposed to do, if the Singularity Institute can get it running. If I don't hear any objections between now and the Singularity, I'll assume the entire human species is okay with this and I can go ahead and do it."

The IOP journal Nanotechnology has published a paper by Chris Phoenix and Eric Drexler titled "Safe exponential manufacturing" that addresses the fear of out-of-control nano-replicators, and analyzes risks, concerns, progress, misperceptions, and safety guidelines for future molecular nanotechnology (MNT) development.

New Scientist reports that three interlocking molecular Borromean rings were self assembled by a team led by Fraser Stoddart. Stoddart told New Scientist his work on Borromean rings was inspired in part by "their potential to be turned into some of the smallest possible machines and switches you can design at the molecular level." Jay Siegel, a chemist at the University of Zurich, agreed that "Chains and links are important for making gears and switching devices".

"Would You Mind?" a Tech Central Station column by Foresight Institute Director Glenn Harlan Reynolds, proposes a framework for thinking about issues related to developing capabilities to manipulate brains — something sure to come with advanced nanotechnology. He distinguishes three different technologies and their problems: mind-reading, mind-control, and mind-copying/mind-editing. "Each of these categories raises questions of its own, and we're likely to run into these problems more or less in this order, with problems of 'mind reading' arising before problems of mind control or mind copying. It's important that we think about them now — while we're still sure that the thoughts we're thinking are our own."

Svidinenko Yuri writes "Dear Colleague! We have new nanomedicine article about medical nanorobot's design and simulation. Article illustrated with several images, which explains nanorobotic design and functions. "Cell Repair Nanorobot Design And Simulation" Link: http://www.nanonewsnet.com/index.php?module=pagese tter&func=viewpub&tid=4&pid=2 Hope, this article will be interesting to your auditory. Sincerely, Svidinenko Yuri, NanoNewsNet analyst."

Scholars Probe Nanotechnology's Promise and Its Potential Problems surveys the widespread interest in applications based upon the novel characteristics of materials structured at the nanometer scale, and the effort that is being invested in studying environmental and health issues associated with using nanomaterials. The goal is to avoid the public relations problems faced by other technologies that did not take seriously risks and public concerns about those risks. However, "The concern that has generated the most attention in the popular press has been gray goo-self-replicating nanobots that could hypothetically get out of control." Rather than addressing this narrow issue specifically, many mainstream scientists have tried to avoid the issue by making unsupported claims that self-replicating nanomachines can't be made. Eric Drexler is quoted defending the claim that nanoscale machinery capable of making atomically precise products can be manufactured. "Through the quirks of politics, the mainstream has rejected the original goal [the vision Richard Feynman described in 1959]. We are raising a generation of researchers who have been told that molecular manufacturing will threaten their careers."

As reported in Smalltimes, a study done for NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts by General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems concludes that a useful self-replicating machine could be less complex than a Pentium IV chip, and uncovered no road blocks to extending macroscale systems to microscale and then to nanoscale self-replicating systems. The study also evaluated adherence to the Foresight Guidelines on Molecular Nanotechnology. The final report for the study can be downloaded from NASA as a PDF file.

Aubrey de Grey Would Have You Live a Really, Really, Really, Really Long Time describes the efforts of Aubrey de Grey (who spoke at the 2003 Foresight Vision Weekend) to bioengineer a nonaging human. "…it seemed that only seven things had to be prevented, mainly toxic byproducts of metabolism that accumulate in the body over time. 'I realized that we could bloody well fix them all,' he says. 'We could go in and periodically clean up the seven deadly things before they cause problems.'" (access to full article requires subscription.)

HLovy writes "Proud papa Luis Mavilla writes that his 13-year-old son, Peter Alexander Mavilla, has caught a bad case of the nanobug. When the Venezuelan youth decided that nanotechnology was just so cool that he had to learn more, the first thing he did was register as a free online member of that notorious purveyor of childhood nanofear, the Foresight Institute."

Benjamin Melki writes "In addition to nanotechnology companies' profiles, Nanovip.com is now listing nano people's profiles (companies' founders, Ceo, Scientists, media.)
Have a look at the profiles that we have registered currently: http://www.nanovip.com/directory/People/index.php
Nano VIP?s are invited to register: http://www.nanovip.com/nanoviptemplate.php?section =vipregister "