X-Message-Number: 22278 From: "Gina Miller" <> References: <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2003 15:21:08 -0700 The Nanogirl News July 31, 2003 Cutting-Edge Science Creates Stain-Free Pants. Scientists are wrestling with individual atoms to develop molecule-sized computers, tiny cancer-fighting robots that travel the bloodstream ... and stain-resistant trousers. Nanotechnology -- the science of manipulating materials billionths of a meter (meter) wide -- has emerged as a promising new field that could lead to stunning advances in years to come. Boosters claim that nanotech-derived products may some day cure disease, slow the aging process and eliminate pollution. But for now, the human race will have to settle for tennis balls that keep their bounce longer, flat-panel displays that shine brighter and wrinkle-free khaki slacks that resist coffee stains. "People are saying, 'Geez, this isn't Star Trek yet; this is just pants that don't stain,' but you've got to start somewhere," said Howard Lovy, news editor of the nanotech industry journal Small Times. "I'm wearing nano-pants as we speak." (CNET 7/23/03) http://news.cnet.com/investor/news/newsitem/0-9900-1028-21342462-0.html Manufacturing technique offers possibilities for electronics industry. Manufacturing the minute may have gotten cheaper and more exact, thanks to a new technique developed by an international team of researchers. The technique, described in the July 24 issue of the journal Nature, marries two approaches to lower the cost and improve the control of producing materials at the molecular level. This hybrid approach, say the researchers, could lead to computers, personal data assistants and cell phones that offer the densest data capacity stored in the tiniest packages. (University of Wisconsin 7/23/03) http://www.news.wisc.edu/view.html?get=8777 (Event) The Accelerating Change Conference will be a forum to explore the paradise of resources, as well as the risks and responsibilities, represented by cascading breakthroughs in computational technologies. Accelerating change is a fact; what to do? - Ray Kurzweil, K. Eric Drexler, Steve Jurvetson, Tim O'Reilly, William H. Calvin, Howard Bloom, Robert Wright, and 17 other world-class minds will present to 300 attendees, focusing on the profound opportunities and risks of business and society's accelerating pace of change.- Special early bird extension: Save $100 (25%) on conference admission until August 4th. - For More info: http://www.accelerating.org/acc2003/press.htm For Registration: http://www.accelerating.org/acc2003/registration.htm Physicists Build World's Smallest Motor Using Nanotubes And Etched Silicon. Only 15 years after University of California, Berkeley, engineers built the first micro-scale motor, a UC Berkeley physicist has created the first nano-scale motor - a gold rotor on a nanotube shaft that could ride on the back of a virus. "It's the smallest synthetic motor that's ever been made," said Alex Zettl, professor of physics at UC Berkeley and faculty scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Nature is still a little bit ahead of us - there are biological motors that are equal or slightly smaller in size - but we are catching up." (ScienceDaily 7/24/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/07/030724084133.htm Image Downloads: http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/download/ Greenpeace issues major report on nanotechnology. It was reported today [Greenpeace Wades Into Nano Debate With Report That Calls For Caution, by Douglas Brown, Small Times Correspondent] that Greenpeace issued a 72-page report, published in the magazine New Scientist, calling on government and industry to do much more to stay on top of the environmental, medical and ethical challenges posed by nanotechnology. The report does not appear to be available on the New Scientist web site as of this writing, but it has already drawn comments as described in the Small Times article and in the following submissions from two Nanodot readers. (Nanodot 7/24/03) http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=03/07/24/2226229 Also see- The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology today announced its conditional support of the Greenpeace report, "Future technologies, today's choices", about the risks, benefits, and current status of nanotechnology. "We've heard from extremists on both sides," said Mike Treder, Executive Director of CRN. "Now it's time for sober discussion and serious research. This report clearly is a step forward." (CRN 7/30/03) http://crnano.org/PR-Greenpeace.htm Starpharma: Human Trials of Anti-HIV Product. Starpharma gets clearance from the US FDA for human clinical trials of a new dendrimer nano-drug.-PDF-(Starpharma 7/30/03) http://www.starpharma.com/docs/030731_IND_Success.pdf Device Measures Femtometers. Nanoscale sensor couples transistor with crystal to approach quantum limit. A new sensor can measure femtometer-sized movements of a single-crystal oscillator, increasing sensitivity about 10-fold over previous nanoscale devices [Nature, 424, 291 (2003)]. The apparatus, developed by scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara, couples a single-electron transistor to a vibrating, 250-nm-wide beam of GaAs. (C&E 7/21/02) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8129/8129notw5.html (Video 1min. 35 secs.Quicktime or Realmedia) Shirts That Stop Bullets. What if you could wear lightweight armor that kept you warm-and let you phone home? As this ScienCentral News video reports, nanotechnologists have come up with a super strong, flexible fiber that can conduct heat and electricity. It could be light as a cotton shirt, but bulletproof. (ScienCentral 7/24/03) http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?language=english&type=article &article_id=218392016 Burns Doane Lands Legal Nanotechnology Pioneer. Just weeks after launching a new nanotechnology practice group, Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis, LLP has successfully recruited a nanotechnology legal pioneer, Kitu Bindra. Mr. Bindra joins Burns Doane as counsel, coming from the law firm of Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly. Mr. Bindra has helped develop nanotechnology companies, including spin-offs from NASA, and works closely with leading industry organizations like the Girvan Institute. (Yahoo Finance 7/24/03) http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/030724/245692_1.html Renaissance potters were nanotechnologists. Artisans glazing pots in fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Umbria were practicing an early form of nanotechnology. Italian researchers have now revealed the full sophistication of this process. (Nature Science Update 6/30/03) http://www.nature.com/nsu/030623/030623-17.html Titania nanotubes make supersensitive hydrogen sensors. Titania nanotubes are 1,500 times better than the next best material for sensing hydrogen and may be one of the first examples of materials properties changing dramatically when crossing the border between real world sizes and nanoscopic dimensions, according to a Penn State materials scientist. ''Historically, we have viewed sensor technology and enhancements from the point of view of surface area,'' says Craig A. Grimes, associate professor of electrical engineering and materials science and engineering. ''The principle in play in titania nanotubes is not surface area, but connectivity of the tiny tubes and we see an incredible change in electric resistance.'' (PennState 7/29/03) http://www.engr.psu.edu/NewsEvents/newsdetail.asp?NewsDate=7/29/2003 (life extension) Fancy living another 100 years, or more? Some experts said on Saturday that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last decades beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span. "I think we are knocking at the door of immortality," said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate." Zey spoke on the sidelines of the annual conference of the World Future Society, a group that ponders how the future will look across many different aspects of society. (Wired 7/20/03) http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,59697,00.html Howard Lovy's NanoBot. Nanotechnology information and commentary from the news editor at Small Times Media. Don't hate me because I'm nano-beautiful. This recent New York Post story had me thinking about beauty. Small Times reported last year that nanomaterials had been used in cosmetics for years (L'Oreal has had them in products since 1995, despite the Post's assertion that, "Even big names like L'Oreal are getting into the act."). So now, with renewed debate surrounding what is not known about nanoparticles, the fact that nanoscale zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are used in some brands of cosmetics and sunscreen are continuously juxtaposed with news reports about the controversy. (Nanobot.blogspot 7/31/03) http://nanobot.blogspot.com/ Ninth- and Tenth-Grade L.A. Science Teachers Come to UCLA to Learn to Teach Nanoscience, New Experiments in Their Classrooms. Two dozen ninth- and tenth-grade science teachers from low-income schools in Los Angeles have come to UCLA to learn how to invigorate their classes by teaching the new field of nanoscience - the science of the tiniest particles that will lead to extraordinary advances in medicine and many other fields and will improve profoundly the quality of our lives. (UCLA News 7/22/03) http://newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?id=4390 Rice's chemical 'scissors' yield short carbon nanotubes. Chemists at Rice University have identified a chemical process for cutting carbon nanotubes that yields short tube segments that are suited to a variety of applications, including biomedical sensors small enough to migrate through cells without triggering immune reactions. The 'chemical scissors' process involves fluorinating nanotubes and then heating them to about 1,000 Celsius in an argon atmosphere. The heating drives off the fluorine and cuts the nanotubes into segments ranging from 20-300 nanometers. (EurekAlert 7/22/03) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-07/ru-rc072203.php (Interview) Vinod Khosla Out Loud. AlwaysOn talks to Sun founder and venture capital veteran Vinod Khosla of VC powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, to find out how he looks at companies, why he loves nano, and whether Google is hot. (Always On - The insiders network 7/28/03) http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=684_0_1_0_C Science of the small poses big dilemma. Campaigners on both sides of the nanotechology divide are calling for more dialogue about the benefits and risks of a field that is beginning to revolutionize science. Nanotechnology is the manipulation of particles at the nanoscale - one-millionth of a millimetre. Supporters in Switzerland say the discipline has the potential to create huge benefits in areas such as medicine, electronics, chemistry and computing. Critics say we need to understand whether it raises new ethical, health and safety or social issues before we go any further. (NZZ 7/28/03) http://nzz.ch/2003/07/28/english/page-synd3994671.html Nanoparticles spy on molecular binding. Scientists at Ludwig-Maximilians University and Roche Diagnostics in Germany say they have created the first single metal nanoparticle sensor based on light-scattering spectroscopy. They demonstrated the technique using a gold nanoparticle functionalized with biotin to detect the presence of the protein streptavidin. (Nanotechweb.org 7/29/03) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/7/14/1 Inside the Movement for Posthuman Rights. Cyborg Liberation Front. By Erik Baard. This article examines the challenges and opportunities facing the transhumanist movement with respect to communicating with other groups, potential friends and potential foes. (The Village Voice 7/30/03) http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0331/baard.php Nanotech moves the future to a new level. Fear of the science of the small 'is focused on the wrong things'. Nanotechnology, which is predicted to grow into a $1 trillion industry within a decade, could like GM food technology become a political battleground, an economic and social research council report published today says. Nanotechnology is the science of manipulating material at the atomic scale, to make tools measured in billionths of a metre. The report, by three Sheffield University academics, says the debate on its implication has become polarised between visions of utopia and planetary catastrophe. (EducationGuardian 7/28/03) http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/sciences/story/0,12243,1007223,00.htm l More on the report at SpaceDaily: http://www.spacedaily.com/news/nanotech-03zl.html Nano threats and challenges. Worries in the science community about a public backlash against nanotechnology have been growing in recent months. Currently, public fears range from the reasonable, such as the unknown effects of nanoparticles on health and the environment, to what scientists consider to be the ridiculous - a world overrun by plagues of self-replicating nanorobots. This is the "grey goo" scenario that looms large in Prey, the recent novel by Michael Crichton that seems to have kick-started this current bout of nano-angst. The nightmare scenario for scientists is that the public - egged on by various pressure groups - will reject nanotechnology in the same way that the UK and other countries have rejected genetically modified (GM) food. (PhysicsWeb July, 2003) http://www.physicsweb.org/article/world/16/7/1 Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Extropy member http://www.extropy.org "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22278