Christian Joachim (who shared the Foresight Nanotech Institute Feynman Prize in the Experimental category in 1997 and won in the Theoretical category in 2005) is heading a group of researchers working to bring about atomic-scale computing. ScienceDaily led us to this European Commission ICT Results feature “Computing in a molecule“, which describes their on-going efforts: [...]

Polishing teeth with silica nanoparticles produces much smoother surfaces than does polishing with larger silica particles, making it easier to remove harmful bacteria.

One of the main reasons that we are confident in the overall predictions of molecular manufacturing is that there are many pathways to it from current technology and using currently understood science. It is thus something of a milestone that we have arrived at a fork in the road about which there is room for [...]

If you have a proposal on how nanotech could address a critical national and societal need, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) wants to hear from you.

Nanowerk News reports that an international nanotech collaboration of American and Korean scientists, funded by the Korean government, has developed multifunctional gold-coated nanowires that are designed to swim through the blood stream and attach to cancerous cells via antibodies against the cancer cells. Exposure to an electromagnetic field should heat the nanowires and destroy the [...]

A new nanotech method of DNA sequencing is 30,000 times faster than current DNA sequencing methods.

The following is an edited and revised version of the talk I gave at the Global Catastrophic Risks conference that was held in conjunction with Convergence 08 (and which I reprised for Convergence). I’m posting it here because it seems to me that this is exactly the kind of thing Foresight was founded for: to [...]

A method of depositing dense arrays of highly aligned carbon nanotubes on either rigid or flexible substrates promises transparent nanotech transistors for a variety of electronic applications.

A recent paper from Feynman Prize winner James Tour’s group at Rice relates an interesting new form of memory based on a bistable 2-terminal graphitic switch. Once developed, the switch could form the basis of a high-density non-volatile storage which might replace flash devices (which are already beginning to replace magnetic disks). Rice press release

The Allen Institute for Brain Science is using nanotech methods to map in which cells in the brain which genes are expressed.

Computational nanotech studies have shown that deliberate introduction of structural defects at specific sites in carbon nanotubes can guide electrons along specific paths, providing a way to fabricate complex electronic circuits from nanotubes.

Using a promising nanotech approach to deliver the RNA molecules, a type of nanoparticle described as a neutral liposome was administered to mice bearing melanoma tumors and found to cause a significant decrease in tumor growth and in the number of metastatic tumor colonies.

Previously unknown spectral properties of carbon nanotubes functionalized with DNA have been exploited to create nanotech sensors that can simultaneously detect several different substances, in real time, within living cells, to single molecule sensitivity.

How well prepared is the FDA to regulate nanotech products? Perhaps not very well, at least in the area of dietary supplements.

Molecular dynamics simulations show that electron tunneling through nanoscale rotary motors based on carbon nanotube shafts may enable nanotech motors to rotate more than a million times faster than their biological counterparts.

The effectiveness of treatment with multifunctional nanoparticles was studied using human breast tumors grown in rats lacking an immune system so that the variation in the effectiveness of treatment could be compared among individual breast tumors.

In an interesting coincidence and counterpoint to Jim’s Nanophobia post this morning, I ran across the following on Nature News: Fearing the fear of nanotechnology. It is, surprisingly perhaps, by our old friend Richard Jones. The thrust of the article is that a study in Nature Nanotechnology seems to show that the public’s reaction to [...]

It is not clear that there is any real danger from the nanotech products currently in use, but neither is there convincing proof that all are safe.

Josh Hall, author of Nanofuture: What’s Next for Nanotechnology, sends this message to Nanodot readers: Dear Foresight members & friends, It’s the time of year when many of you are renewing your Foresight memberships, and helping us meet our $30,000 goal for our Challenge Grant by December 31: http://www.foresight.org/challenge I believe that the next decade [...]

A nanotech technique that can coat any number of common fabrics with a layer of silicone nanofilaments appears ready to produce durable, completely waterproof clothing.