Washington DC was the place to be today, for the Center on Nanotechnology and Society’s 1st Annual Conference on Nanopolicy and the Human Future held at the National Press Club. Much learned nanopunditry from both sides of the big issues. Sean Murdock of the Nanobusiness Alliance and John Sargent of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce [...]

In the Journal of Nanoparticle Research is a review by David Guston of the (expensive) book Nanotalk: Conversations with Scientists and Engineers about Ethics, Meaning, and Belief in the Development of Nanotechnology, by Rosalyn Berne. Some excerpts from the review (172 KB pdf): “It provides a modest stage for the researchers Berne interviewed to rehearse [...]

From The Business Review (Albany), news of possibly important work on anthrax defense: “Researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., and the University of Toronto have collaborated on a successful design of a nanoscale assembly of molecules that counteracts anthrax toxin in animal and lab experiments. “The inhibitor works by preventing the assembly of [...]

Over at the Nanotech Briefs’ Nano Test Blog is a post on work by UIUC physicist Paul Selvin showing that myosin VI can act as a molecular transporter: ” ‘We found that, at high enough concentrations, some of the myosin molecules would find one another, they would dimerize, and they would start walking,’ Selvin said…’And, [...]

The IEEE Virtual Museum, targeted at the general public, has opened its nanotech exhibit. An excerpt: “Even with these real-world applications, the current uses of nanotechnology (other than nano-size particles of various materials) remain very limited…However, researchers are rapidly making progress toward what some think of as true nanotechnologies—self-assembling, molecule size machines to perform all [...]

From New Scientist, we learn of the modeling by UCSD physicists of 100,000 atoms to test the design of a silicon nitride nanopore reading DNA 200 times faster than doable today: “The system could process the human genome in hours, researchers claim, compared with the 6 months it would take in today’s best labs. ” [...]

From a conference brochure for Nano Tech Taiwan 2006: “Taiwan’s pioneering Nano Mark campaign links industry, academia, and government to promote the development and marketing of quality products employing nanotechnology and protect consumer rights. Directed by the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Taiwan, ROC), it is the world’s first such national-scale [...]

From Livescience: “In another feat in the effort to truly downsize Detroit, the researchers have now installed a miniature, light-powered motor in their diminutive automobile. “The nanocar is about as wide as a strand of DNA. Roughly 20,000 of them could park side-by-side in a lot no wider than a human hair. “Such small devices [...]

Sorry for the late notice, but I just learned about the live webcast tomorrow at 10:30 AM U.S. East Coast time by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Wilson Center (ignore typo “Apr 11, 03:20 PM”): How “Green” is Nanotechnology? A Corporate Perspective “Nanotechnology has the potential to be doubly ‘green.’ It promises to [...]

I’ve mentioned this MIT work before, but there’s a more technical summary available over at Nature.com (free reg req’d): “Ellis-Behnke and colleagues have now taken things a step further by demonstrating the regeneration of functional brain tissue in live animals. They made cuts in the part of the midbrain of hamsters that processes vision, rendering [...]

Kevin Bullis of TechnologyReview.com brings us word of an MIT/Harvard collaboration on treating prostate cancer in mice just published in PNAS: “A single treatment of drug-bearing nanoparticles effectively destroys prostate cancer tumors in mice, according to experiments by researchers at MIT and Harvard Medical School. This approach could lead to powerful treatments without the side [...]

Reservations are now open for the Singularity Summit at Stanford, and based on the booking numbers I’ve just heard, we should expect the event to fill early. If you want to attend, it would be wise to reserve your seat right now. Eric Drexler will speak on productive nanosystems, Ray Kurzweil on how fast change [...]

InsideBayArea.com brings us news of an electronic nose coming from UC Berkeley and Nanomix: ” ‘What we like about the concept of the E-Nose is that you can design it and train it through algorithms to go after and detect pretty much anything that can be found in breath,’ said Bradley Johnson, a postdoctoral researcher [...]

Now available over at e-drexler.com, a new article from the Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, Toward Integrated Nanosystems: Fundamental Issues in Design and Modeling (2.2 MB PDF), by Foresight founder K. Eric Drexler of Nanorex, Inc. Though it sounds intimidating, the article is actually quite accessible and should serve as a good introduction to [...]

The German government has issued a product advisory and the manufacturer involved has recalled a product called “Magic Nano.” This has caused a bit of fuss regarding nanoparticle safety, with the ETC Group renewing their call for a moratorium. ICON, on whose Editorial Board I serve, has issued a more moderate statement (pdf). Gossip via [...]

On April 28, the Center on Nanotechnology and Society at Illinois Institute of Technology — which has a great nanomachine by Damian Allis featured on its home page currently — will sponsor a one-day event titled NanoWorld: Toward a Policy for the Human Future at the National Press Club. The keynote is by Mihail Roco [...]

Now in its sixth revision, the lastest version of the Foresight Guidelines for Responsible Nanotechnology Development was released today (HTML or 116 KB PDF), just in time for a presentation this morning by Foresight Research Associate Dr. David Forrest to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ meeting for nanotechnology stakeholders. Excerpt: “Version [...]

Readers who know me personally know that I’m usually pro-free enterprise and pro-nanotech. But I was surprised to see on the market a face cream containing buckyballs, with little mention (either by the producer or in the press) of the obvious question of safety. The March 2006 Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report called such concerns “alarmist.” Now, [...]

From RIA Novosti: “President Vladimir Putin Monday announced support for plans to develop nanotechnology and said the government would choose a body to oversee a federal program… “Education and Science Minister Andrei Fursenko said his ministry was drafting a medium-term program until 2015 in a bid to step up efforts in development of nanotechnology… ” [...]

In their Medical Products industry section, Accenture analysts Roland Hengerer and Martin Illsley describe what we can expect from nanotech for medicine: “To give just a sense of the possibilities, scientists and engineers are experimenting with ways to ‘nanostructure’ matter in such a way as to create industrial materials that are 100 times stronger than [...]