I’m out in DC for the Public Participation in Nanotechnology Workshop (pdf), just completed. The group of 150 was a mix of academics, government officials, some miscellaneous stakeholders (such as me on behalf of Foresight), a few researchers, and a small number of businessfolks including Jim Von Ehr of Zyvex. It was a two-day conference [...]

From Joanne Shatkin of Cadmus Group: “The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), has found that nanoparticles were not the cause of the respiratory problems experienced by users of Magic Nano, in fact, the product does not contain nanoscale particles. Magic Nano was labeled as such because it forms a “wafer thin film” on [...]

Earlier I reported that the National Press Club meeting on nanotech sponsored by IIT’s Center on Nanotechnology & Society would be webcast. It’s now up, in four parts, at the meeting’s web page (requires Real Player). Particularly colorful: Andrew Kimbrell (who opposes nanotech) and Congressman Brad Sherman. Sean Murdock and John Sargent give pro-tech views. [...]

MIT now has a series of mini-documentaries over at Technology Review online. Check out the 5-minute film “Nanogates” describing a new sub-nanometer valve that is small enough to channel individual molecules. Currently it is the last film on this page. (Requires Flash player)

Yesterday at the IFTF meeting (pdf) “Beyond the Horizon: Science and Technology in Ten, Twenty and Fifty Years” we heard from a leading synthetic biologist. In addition to describing this fascinating and potentially powerful new technology, he made a plea that it not be “re-militarized” (as biology was formerly, he said) and that we needed [...]

This week I’m attending the Institute for the Future’s meeting titled Beyond the Horizon: Science & Technology in Ten, Twenty & Fifty Years. Overall, it’s great and I recommend it. Reminds me of Foresight’s Vision Weekends. Tomorrow I’ll be presenting our Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems project at one of the breakouts. The meeting was [...]

Given the increasing protest from U.S. voters over the growing problem of “pork” spending by Congress, it behooves us in the nanotech field to develop criteria for nanotech projects. Here’s an example from the May 2006 Forbes/Wolfe Nanotech Report (similar report in Milwaukee Business Journal): “Department of Commerce Funding: Chippewa Valley Technical College Funding Announced: [...]

In addition to the May 30 webcast on nanotech for space elevator applications, see this Wednesday a webcast from the Wilson Center on Green Nanotechnology policy: “What policy incentives can they put in place to encourage a ‘green’ nanotechnology industry that uses energy efficiently and produces minimum waste? What can government do to promote development [...]

As described — briefly, as one would expect — in the May 2006 Nanotech Briefs (subscription only), the EU is funding a nanomotor construction kit project. From their press release: “A promising interdisciplinary approach combines research methods of biology, physics, chemistry, computing, system theory and engineering into a “synthetic biology”. The EU has also recognised [...]

Upcoming on Tuesday, May 30, 2006, at 12:30 PM Eastern time (9:30 AM West Coast time in U.S.) is a meeting and webcast at the prestigious Wilson Center on the topic of using nanotech to build a space elevator. Michael Laine, founder and president of Liftport, Inc., who spoke on this topic at last fall’s [...]

The leading semiconductor equipment industry association has taken a strong stand (one-page pdf) against new U.S. nanotech export controls: “SEMI is concerned about possible new export controls on nanotechnology products and cautions against further controls until this technology is better defined. “Nanotechnology should not be controlled simply because it is nanotechnology. This label is often [...]

Nanofilm president (and Foresight participating member) Scott Rickert writes in Industry Week of the changes taking place as nanotechnology moves into the automobile. A couple of excerpts: “What about getting more mileage out of the fuel itself? Nano-lubricants can reduce friction, converting engine power to motion instead of heat. In fact, some predict that nanocoatings [...]

Here at Foresight we get continual requests from students for advice on which schools to attend to pursue nanotechnology. Small Times has generously posted their second annual survey of U.S. universities’ abilities in nano and micro work. (Or, download the whole May/June issue in pdf, 5.5 MB — this is easier to read.) It’s a [...]

From PhysOrg.com, coverage of work published in Advanced Materials [abstract]: “A team of chemists from France, Italy, Spain, the UK, and the US are working together to bridge the gap between nanoscience and nanotechnology. They have now devised a method that could allow them to organize tiny molecular machines on a surface and so build [...]

Judy Conner here at Foresight points out that today is Richard Feynman’s birthday — he would have been 88. Sadly, he died at age 69 instead, of cancer. I was fortunate enough to have heard him lecture and interact informally with students at Caltech; he made you understand physics, or at least feel that you [...]

Foresight member John Faith brings our attention to an achievement at IBM Almaden here in Silicon Valley: they have found a way to separate and then “write” very small deposits of specific molecules — as few as 10 molecules — onto a substrate: “IBM researchers have demonstrated a new nanoscale method that both rapidly separates [...]

We’ve written twice now about the nanocar (post 1, post 2) built at Rice University by James Tour and team. Now Dr. Tour will be on Internet radio, at Science and Society, a talk radio site focusing on nanotech and similar topics. He’ll be on sometime during the hour of 1 to 2 PM on [...]

Another batch of eleven essays on molecular manufacturing brought to you by CRN: “Nanoethics and Technological Revolutions: A Précis” – Nick Bostrom “From The Enlightenment to N-Lightenment” – Michael Buerger “What Price Freedom?” – Robert A. Freitas Jr. “The (Needed) New Economics of Abundance” – Steve Burgess “Economic Impact of the Personal Nanofactory” – Robert [...]

The May 2006 issue of Popular Mechanics has a number of articles on the theme: Redefining the Human: The Upgradable You. Some excerpts: “Evolution has done its best, but there’s a limit to how many plug-and-play neural implants, supercharged blood cells, strong-as-steel bone replacements and mind-controlled PCs you can expect from randomly colliding natural forces. [...]

From Popular Science, an article by Sarah Webb on a humorous educational nanotech video called When Things Get Small, “an irreverant, madcap, comically corny romp into the world of things ‘nano’ “: “The 30-minute flick—a collaboration between physicist Ivan Schuller of the University of California at San Diego and producer Rich Wargo—is a corny romp [...]