X-Message-Number: 22555 From: "Gina Miller" <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 16:18:46 -0700 The Nanogirl News September 20, 2003 Nanotech Congress Paints Broad Swath. Business, government attendees cover wide-ranging topics at inaugural event. We can use smallness to become great," Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shimon Peres told attendees at the first World Nano-Economic Congress held in Washington, D.C., last week. The former Israeli prime minister is championing science and technology, particularly nanotechnology, to promote peace and prosperity. "Nanotechnology has the greatest promise for all of us," Peres continued. "That's why I appreciate what you are doing and how we will be helped by your knowledge and potential in serving humanity," he told attendees. (C&E 9/15/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8137/8137notw7.html Molecular library opens era of personal medicine. The U.S. National Institutes of Health will roll out next week a national molecular library in an effort to accelerate the development of new drugs and nano-scale agents for an emerging "era of personalized medicine." Separately, a recently-formed government medical electronics institute under NIH is planning its first industry summit and internal research programs. (EETimes 9/19/03) http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/OEG20030919S0062 Altair's Nano-Sized Zirconium Oxide now Available for Dental Applications. Altair Nanotechnologies Inc. (Nasdaq:ALTI) announced that commercial nano-sized zirconium oxide is available for dental applications including fillings and prosthetic devices. (StockHouse USA 9/17/03) http://www.stockhouse.com/news/news.asp?tick=ALTI&newsid=1911909 Nanothermometer Withstands Heat. Researchers need to be able to sense conditions in microscopic environments in order to explore nanotechnology's potential to produce useful machines at the scale of atoms and molecules. Researchers from the Japanese National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) have fashioned nano thermometers from a magnesium oxide nanotubes filled with liquid gallium. The tiny thermometers are between 20 and 60 nanometers thick, or about one hundredth the diameter of a red blood cell. (Technology Review 9/9/03) http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_090903.asp Who's Afraid of Nanotechnology? The Ability to Construct Objects as Small as a Molecule Holds Promise and Peril...Within 15 years, experts predict, it will drive progress in virtually every field, from computing to medicine, manufacturing, energy and the environment. They envision factories that build things atom by atom, materials with properties we can't imagine today, sensors that can be scattered like dust and microscopic robots that cruise the bloodstream to deliver drugs or root out cancer. But some worry the technology will backfire, threatening human health and unleashing new forms of pollution. It's happened before: The pesticide DDT, asbestos fireproofing and ozone-destroying chemicals in spray cans and refrigeration were all considered benign until their harmful effects came to light. (Mercury News 9/16/03) http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/living/health/6783577.htm Molecular Electronics, Seeing is Believing. STM technique lets single-molecule junction be prepared and imaged. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then scientists' grasp of molecular electronics has just been expanded by a grand quantity. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have recorded the first direct image of a small molecule confined between two metal contacts and have probed its electronic structure systematically, revealing much information about the microscopic junction. (C&E 9/8/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8136/8136notw6.html (Immortality -2pgs-)Remember the Six Billion. For millennia we have raged against the dying of the light. Can science save us from that good night? Michael Shermer goes over the options: Virtual, genetic, cryonics, replacement immortality and lifestyle longevity. (Scientific America Oct. issue) http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0001AF03-A8B1-1F57-905980A84189EE DF&catID=2 Power Grid Could Benefit From Nanotech: Stanford Symposium Says. At a symposium on energy and nanotechnology here at the Stanford Campus Ted Marston, chief technology officer for the Electric Power Research Institute, called for a total revision of the continental power grid based on a number of sweeping changes.Marston said that the transformations would benefit - some greatly - from nanotechnology. In particular he singled out nano-based sensors. "Everything we want to do is based on having the right sensors affordable and in place," he said. (Techweb 9/19/03) http://www.techweb.com/wire/story/TWB20030919S0009 Chemists Urge More Cooperation to Deal with Attacks. U.S. chemists on Thursday called for more collaboration between universities, the government and companies to develop better sensors to detect contamination from any chemical attacks. On the two-year anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, chemists addressed the state of the country's preparedness and ways to deal with potential threats from chemical weapons...Future robots could carry sensors to detect heat, survivors or chemical and biological agents. But their development, he said, needed the cooperation of chemists and engineers. Advances in atom-scale technology could also help to detect toxic agents like Sarin or anthrax, said Sailor, a chemistry and biology professor at University of California, San Diego. So-called nano-devices -- nanos are 1/80,000 the width of a human hair -- are potentially cheap and easy to disperse over a wide area to help red-flag danger, he said. (Reuters 9/11/03) http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3430750 Nanotube Velcro. Joining two or more nanochips, such as nano-electromechanical systems (NEMS), can be done by welding or gluing or with tiny nuts and bolts. But what if you could gently just fasten them the way fabrics are fastened, with velcro? Conventional velcro fastening works by pairing one patch of mm-scale hooked protuberances with a patch of looped protuberances. In the microscopic version, both patches would bristle with carbon nanotubes, grown upright except for a hook on the top end. David Tomanek and his colleagues at Michigan State (517-355-9702) are studying how to make nano-velcro work -see movies. (Physics News Update 9/12/03) http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2003/split/653-1.html Using Packed Silver Nanowires As Sensitive Explosives Detector. Minuscule wires a few nanometers across are proving to be versatile electronic components, as demonstrated recently by University of California, Berkeley, chemists who used silver nanowires as key elements of a sensitive explosives detector. (ScienceDaily 9/15/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030915074129.htm A Single-Atom Laser. A single-atom laser, a device employing a single trapped atom to resonantly emit light back and forth between two reflective mirrors, has been created by Jeffrey Kimble at Caltech. (Physics News Update 9/17/03) http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/2003/split/654-1.html Carbon nanotubes give out a steady glow. Researchers from the University of Rochester in the US and Siegen University in Germany have used single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy to study single-walled carbon nanotubes. Unlike most other molecules and nanocrystals such as quantum dots, the nanotubes fluoresced with a steady intensity and frequency, bringing the possibility of their application as stable infrared photon sources. (nanotechweb 9/8/03) http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/2/9/3/1 Technological Breakthrough in Silicon Photonics. Max Planck scientist introduces a new method for the manufacture of silicon nanocrystals for optoelectronics and storage technology. A technique for tailormaking silicon nanocrystals on 4-inch wafers has been developed and submitted for patent (German patent number: DE 101 04 193 A 1) by Dr. Margit Zacharias and colleagues of the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, Halle(Saale), Germany. (Max Planck Society 8/26/03) http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressRele ases/2003/pressRelease20030826/index.html Custom Tailoring Carbon Nanotubes. Reactions modify, differentiate the electronic properties of nanotubes. The practical consequences of covalent chemistry on the electronic properties of single-walled carbon nanotubes are highlighted in two newly published papers. Robert C. Haddon and coworkers at the University of California, Riverside, have shown that metallic nanotubes functionalized with dichlorocarbene take on semiconducting properties [Science, 301, 1501 (2003)]. (C&E 9/15/03) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/topstory/8137/8137notw6.html New Zealand Bioethics Council Warns Nano Will Polarize Public...The newly created Bioethics Council has released its first study on the developing technology, warning the government that "nanotechnology" will worry the public. Nanotechnology - the rapidly-expanding science of the very small, the manipulation of atoms and molecules - is poised to take over from GM as the next scientific issue to polarize the public. The fledgling science is being practiced in government-funded labs around New Zealand. The council warns the government nanotechnology could be "socially contentious", and calls on scientists to carefully watch international research on its ethical, spiritual and cultural implications. (SmallTimes Sept) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6642 Nano Inc. vs. Nano Think. Nanotechnology, long a favorite of science fiction writers, is now real enough for government money. So let the squabbling begin! On April 20, K. Eric Drexler, the futurist who coined the term "nanotechnology," published an open letter to Richard E. Smalley, a Nobel laureate working to translate nanoscience into a sustainable business. In the letter, Drexler accused Smalley of attempting to "dismiss my work in this field by misrepresenting it" and charged that "your misdirected arguments have needlessly confused public discussion of genuine long-term security concerns." In a followup published two months later, in the absence of any direct response from Smalley, Drexler continued to express his concerns: "I would not ordinarily raise an issue so persistently. But the question of what nanotechnology can ultimately achieve is perhaps the most fundamental issue in the field today. And your words have been remarkably effective in changing how this issue is perceived." -There's more to this article, if you either register or sign up for a free day pass- (Salon 9/2/03) http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/2003/09/02/nanotechnology/index_np.html In China, a Crowded Nano Tools Market Has Companies Vying for Space. Zhao Yu Le, managing director of Shanghai's Zuo Lun Nanoequipment, likes research and he likes results, which is why he got involved in the less glamorous, but more immediately useful segment of nanotechnology: tools. Tools have the advantage of turning a profit more quickly than a nanoproduct destined for consumers. The downside of the tool market is its relatively small size. Smaller, but not less competitive. There are more than 300 companies worldwide developing instruments for nanoscale research. (SmallTimes 9/9/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?section_id=53&document_id=659 6 (PDF File)Nano-Proprietary announces patent reissuance. Nano-Proprietary, Inc. through its subsidiary Applied Nanotech, Inc. announced the issuance of U.S. Patent No. RE38,223 E, formerly U.S. Patent No. 5,773,921. "Although this was an expected result of our notice of allowance in April we are excited to add this 'basic' carbon nanotube patent to our portfolio," said Marc Eller, Chief Executive Officer of Nano-Proprietary, Inc. "The issuance of 'basic' patents is very rare and we feel fortunate to have one in a field we believe will be revolutionary and serve many applications, including displays," continued Eller. (Nano-Proprietary 9/19/03) http://www.nano-proprietary.com/news/press_releases/Sept-17-2003.pdf New Chemical Process Can Separate, Manipulate Carbon Nanotubes. All single-walled-carbon nanotubes are not created equal. Instead, they form diverse assortments that vary markedly in features such as size and electrical properties. Although carbon nanotubes have been proposed for myriad applications - from miniature motors and chemical sensors to molecule-size electronic circuits - their actual uses have been severely limited by an inability to isolate and manipulate nanotubes having different characteristics. Now, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and at Rice University have discovered a way to chemically select and separate carbon nanotubes based on their electronic structure. (ScienceDaily 9/18/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030917073819.htm Ceramics Reinforced With Nanotubes.A ceramic material reinforced with carbon nanotubes has been made by materials scientists at UC Davis. The new material is far tougher than conventional ceramics, conducts electricity and can both conduct heat and act as a thermal barrier, depending on the orientation of the nanotubes. Ceramic materials are very hard and resistant to heat and chemical attack, making them useful for applications such as coating turbine blades, said Amiya Mukherjee, professor of chemical engineering and materials science at UC Davis, who leads the research group. But they are also very brittle. (ScienceDaily 9/17/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030917072853.htm Four young scientists lauded by national magazines. Four young University of California, Berkeley, scientists have already reached the peak of their careers, at least according to two magazines that recently published lists of the world's top innovators in science and technology. (UC Berkeley 9/19/03) http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2003/09/19_leaders.shtml UCSC launches bold new collaboration with NASA. UCSC will manage a national research program valued at more than $330 million under an agreement between UC and NASA announced last week. The 10-year contract, a first-of-its-kind for NASA, will establish a University Affiliated Research Center (UARC) at the NASA Ames Research Center...The initial focus of UARC research activities is likely to be in the areas of information technology and computer science, nanotechnology, and aerospace operations. Additional areas of interest include astrobiology, biotechnology, and fundamental space biology. (UCCurrents 9/22/03) http://currents.ucsc.edu/03-04/09-22/nasa.html New on the Nanoindustries site: Posted on 9/20/03 Nano In Brief by Gina Miller 6/11/03 a short and sweet introduction to how it began, how it works and what it could become. Also New: The Lesser of Two Evils by Gina Miller 6/17/03 a casual approach to discussing cryonics, as the lesser of two evils and death as not an option. Societal fears and typical responses are addressed in this paper. See front page for links: http://www.nanoindustries.com/ Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Extropy Advisory Team http://www.extropy.org "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22555