Foresight Nanotech Institute Weekly News Digest: December 19, 2008
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Top Item of the Week
"I believe that the next decade or two will be the period when nanotechnology and AI, along with some of the other technologies of the kind Foresight was founded to watch, really begin to have major effects on the world outside the labs. Here are some thoughts on the subject…"
In this issue:
Foresight Events – Lectures
Advancing Beneficial Nanotechnology - Join Foresight
More Events
Contact Foresight
A nanostructure called a "gyroid" self-assembled from diblock copolymers provides a scaffold with the proper dimensions so that when light knocks electrons loose from a dye molecule, the electrons and the holes left behind can be separated to obtain an electric current, providing the basis for a more efficient, inexpensive nanotech solar cell…
It is with great sadness that we report the death of Prof. Arthur Kantrowitz, a founding Advisor of Foresight Institute and an early supporter of molecular nanotechnology concepts when they were first developed at MIT in the late 1970s by then-student K. Eric Drexler…
Using a nanotech drug delivery method to target cancer cells is much more effective than using the drug by itself. In laboratory tests, nanoparticles that include a small molecule of nucleic acid that binds to a target molecule on prostate cancer cells were used to carry a lethal dose of the drug into the cancer cells without affecting cells lacking the cancer-specific target…
Nanowires that are superconducting above liquid nitrogen temperature have been produced for the first time, and their properties vary according to the diameter of the nanowires. The fact that they are superconducting over wider temperature ranges than other nanowires may make them uniquely suitable for some nanotech applications…
Michael Berger at Nanowerk has compared the centralized strategy of Russia's new nanotechnology program with the national nanotech strategies of other countries…
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…
The New York Times brings an article by Natasha Singer that sums up the ambiguous status of nanotech in consumer products, particularly cosmetic and personal care products, and the also ambiguous attitudes about nanotechnology…
The thrust of the article is that a study in Nature Nanotechnology seems to show that the public's reaction to nanotech is not as simplistic as technologists seem to think it is, and that there's a significant segment that recognizes nanotech's promise and broadly expects benefits to outweigh risks…
The effectiveness of treatment with multifunctional nanoparticles was studied using human breast tumors grown in rats lacking an immune system (to prevent the rats rejecting the foreign tumors) so that the variation in the effectiveness of treatment could be compared among individual breast tumors…
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…
How well prepared is the FDA to regulate nanotech products? Perhaps not very well, at least in the area of dietary supplements…
—Nanodot posts by James Lewis, J. Storrs Hall, and Christine Peterson
Foresight Events – Lectures
Foresight Lectures
April 2, 2009
Stanford Law, Science and Technology Colloquium
Palo Alto, California
Christine Peterson will speak to LLM students on legal, ethical and public policy issues in nanotechnology.
Click here for conference details
Do you believe that nanotechnology will give society the ability to tackle the hard challenges facing humanity? What's your priority for nanotechnology: cancer treatments and longevity therapies, sustainable energy, clean water, a restored environment, space development, or "zero waste" manufacturing? Or perhaps there are potential nanotech scenarios you would like to prevent.
If you would like to help influence the direction of this powerful technology, please consider becoming a member of Foresight Institute. With your support, Foresight will continue to educate the general public on beneficial nanotechnology and what it will mean to our society.
To join:
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More Events
NanoManufacturing Conference & Exhibits 2009
What's Happening TODAY and Tomorrow!
April 1-2, 2009
Minneapolis MN USA
Call for Speakers
Looking to understand what nanotechnology means for you? Need to understand how and why nanotechnology can improve your products, process and may even cut costs? Interested in learning about the latest applications and trends in top-down fabrication and bottom-up assembly techniques? Then this event is for you!
Contact Foresight
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