New nanotech applications may be made possible by the demonstration of a force generated from light that does not require a reflective surface.

Dr. David Baker, who with Dr. Brian Kuhlman was awarded the 2004 Foresight Nanotech Institute Feynman Prize for Theory, will be one of three winners of the 2008 Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics. Dr. Baker has been featured on Nanodot posts this year for inviting online gamers to aid in protein design [...]

A new multi-disciplinary collaboration will focus on developing computing technology that mimics the human brain in being able to solve a wide variety of problems.

A new microscope may facilitate nanotech developments by combining nanometer scale spatial resolution with temporal resolution in the millisecond to femtosecond range.

A “Call for Participation” for the first post-US election Prediction Markets Summit and Collective Intelligence Conference of 2009 has been announced.

A startup company has now received a $3.5 million grant from the state of Texas to commercialize the nanotech delivery of a drug for cancer treatment.

Arrays of atomic force probe tips are promising nanotech approaches to denser, faster, cheaper memories.

It has not been tested experimentally yet, but if a proposal to use graphene as a nanotech method to sequence DNA very rapidly and inexpensively pans out, the “wonder material” of nanotechnology could find yet another use.

British scientists are investigating telescoping carbon nanotubes as a nanotech replacement for current computer memory technologies.

Recently announced results of a US national survey on nanotech applications for “human enhancement” show widespread public support for enhancements seen as promising an improvement in human health, but little support for other uses.

If you are unable to attend the Convergence08 Unconference this weekend, you can follow some of the developments on FastForward Radio. Christine Peterson and Stephen Gordon pass along this information: This weekend The Speculist will be presenting not one, but two editions of FastForward Radio, both coming to you live from the Convergence 08 Unconference [...]

The report concludes that nanotech products are coming to market without adequate tests for safety based upon the unique properties of the nanomaterials.

Today we have a nanotech nod to last week’s historic election for US President and an example of the artistic possibilities of nanotechnology.

Nanotech membranes made of nanoporous alumina coated with diamond-like carbon films promise to minimize problems with medical implants.

The publication of a method to mass produce graphene has opened the way to further study of this remarkable nanomaterial.

A patch consisting of three layers of polymers can be loaded with nanoparticles and attached to living cells to give them nanotech backpacks.

Re-engineering a simple nanotech device to make it more functional, Chinese scientists have developed an improved DNA tweezers that is able to capture, hold, and release a target molecule in a controlled manner.

Robert A. Freitas Jr. brings to our attention a major step on the road to advanced nanotech, published a couple weeks ago in Science (abstract). He writes: This paper reports purely mechanical-based covalent bond-making and bond-breaking (true mechanosynthesis) involving atom by atom substitution of silicon (Si) atoms for tin (Sn) atoms in an Sn monolayer [...]

By nearly eliminating the light lost to solar cells by reflection, a nanotech coating promises to increase solar cell efficiency.

A better understanding of how biomineralization converts ordinary minerals to biological mineral structures with extraordinary hardness and fracture resistance may lead to superhard materials for nanotech applications.