X-Message-Number: 22762 From: "Gina Miller" <> Subject: The Nanogirl News~ Date: Sun, 2 Nov 2003 19:07:48 -0800 The Nanogirl News November 2, 2003 Intel Funds Nanotechnology Project For Early Disease Detection. Intel Funds Nanotechnology Project For Early Disease Detection. Intel Corporation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center today announced a collaborative research effort to apply Intel's expertise in nanotechnology to develop improved methods of studying, diagnosing and preventing cancer. The announcement was made at the BioSilico Seminar, held at Stanford University. (SpaceDaily 10/24/03) http://www.spacedaily.com/news/spacemedicine-03zb.html A nanotechnology report attached to a Bush administration supplemental budget request touts the technology as the next big thing in areas like data storage, sensors and manufacturing. The Bush administration requested $849 million for nanotechnology research in its fiscal 2004 budget request. The total includes about 14 government agencies participating in the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). (EETimes 10/17/03) http://www.eet.com/at/n/news/OEG20031017S0053 Tiny Robots to Stronger Steel, Caterpillar Scientist Touts Nano. It's a small world, after all. That's not just a song or theme park ride but the wave of future technology. Nanotechnology is work done at the molecular level that creates new structures and functions. And it's now attracting millions of dollars in government funding around the world, said Larry Seitzman, a materials scientist with Caterpillar Inc. Seitzman addressed 100 people Friday afternoon at the Downtown Peoria Public Library branch in the latest in a series of monthly science presentations put on by Peoria NEXT, the central Illinois consortium that includes local hospitals, universities, businesses and the agriculture lab. (SmallTimes 10/31/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6863 First large scale release of nanotechnology product into the environment provokes concern. An international action group has expressed its concern following the largest environmental release to date of a product created using nanotechnology. A solution intended to prevent erosion has been sprayed on 1,400 acres of Taos Pueblo Native Indian land in the US after a fire destroyed 5,000 acres in an area which is considered sacred by the First Nations community. The fire left the mountainside exposed to erosion and threatened the community's water source. Aerosolised and dropped from helicopters, the product causes silicate particles to self-assemble in the presence of water, forming a crystal matrix. This acts as a mulch, preventing erosion while allowing seeds that have been added to the mix to establish themselves in the soil. The ETC (erosion, technology and concentration) group are concerned that a novel nanotechnology product has been released into the environment without any investigation into potential consequences. (Cordis 10/31/03) <http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D &SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:21137> Researchers Create 'Supersized' Molecule Of DNA. Scientists at Stanford University have created an expanded molecule of DNA with a double helix wider than any found in nature. Besides being more heat resistant than natural DNA, the new version glows in the dark - a property that could prove useful in detecting genetic defects in humans. A description of the molecule, dubbed ''xDNA,'' is published in the Oct. 31 issue of the journal Science. ''We've designed a genetic system that's completely new and unlike any living system on Earth, '' said Eric T. Kool, a professor of chemistry at Stanford and co-author of the Science study. ''Unlike natural DNA, our expanded molecule is fluorescent and is considerably more stable when subjected to higher temperatures.'' (ScienceDaily 10/31/03) http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031031064709.htm The Travels of An Exciton. Researchers have tracked their first exciton. A team reports in the 24 October PRL that they imaged the wave-like motion of the particle, which is essential to the operation of lasers in CD players and grocery scanners. They detected the light of a single trapped exciton and distinguished it from that of a double-particle called a biexciton. The technique may be used in the future to view the wave nature of other nanoscale particles. (Physical Review Focus 10/24/03) http://focus.aps.org/story/v12/st15 Foresight at Pop!Tech 2003. Foresight President Christine Peterson's talk at Pop!Tech 2003, a conference held Oct. 16-19 in Camden, Maine, on "The Impact of Technology on People", presented Foresight's view on the "Sea Change" to be brought by technological transformation over the coming decades. She was quoted on the importance of investment in developing molecular nanotechnology (recently termed "zettatechnology") for the sake of curing diseases, safe-guarding security, protecting the environment, and easily traveling in space. (Nanodot 10/30/03) http://nanodot.org/article.pl?sid=03/10/31/0930244&mode=nocomment&threshold= Nanomotors realize visionary's dream. One of the ambitions of nanotechnology, building motors on a molecular scale, has been realized by scientists in America. Researchers at Berkeley at the University of California created the world's smallest electrical device earlier this year - one hundred million of which could fit on the end of a pin...The motors - the work of Berkeley researchers Alex Zettl and Adam Fennimore - were built using a atom-fine point of a nano-probe, inserting the circuits into place on a silicon chip. The motor sits in the middle of a silicon chip four millimetres square. The motor itself is much, much smaller - the shaft is a half a tenth of a thousandth of a millimetre thick. (BBCNews 10/30/03) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3224329.stm Science plans 'non-stick' submarine. US nanotechnologists are developing what they think could be the ultimate non-stick surface. It is covered with nano-scale needles that enable a liquid, for example, to slip straight off it. One application could be non-stick submarines which would glide through the water with much less resistance and require less force and fuel to propel them...-other applications discussed:-Water hating...Expensive raincoat...Gecko inspiration...Rescue robots. (BBC 10/10/03) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3178136.stm Nanomedicine Vital to Finding a Cancer Cure. The new science of nanomedicine is advancing faster than even experts had expected and many predict the technology will play a vital role in achieving the federal government's stated goal of eliminating suffering and death from cancer by 2015. "Basically, without nanotechnology, it would be impossible to address this issue," Mihail C. Roco, senior advisor for nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, told United Press International. Roco also serves as chair of the National Science and Technology Council's subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology. (The SmallTimes 10/10/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?document_id=6777 Microscopic cracks spoil the transparency of glass, nano-researchers find. The cloudy look on cleaned glass is scattered light, not streaks of dirt. A fundamental discovery about the behavior of cooling glass could have a significant impact on the glass- and plastic-making industries, say researchers at Lehigh University. Himanshu Jain, Diamond chair and professor of materials science and engineering at Lehigh, says the breakthrough was made possible by a combination of nanoscopic science and an old-fashioned kitchen recipe. (Eurekalert 10/10/03) http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/lu-mcs101003.php Doctor Tests Gold in Fighting Cancer. An Arkansas doctor is trying to find a safe and efficient way to target cancerous cells using flecks of gold that are only nanometers wide. It could set a new standard for breast cancer therapy. Dr. Vladimir Zharov, a biomedical engineer and director of laser research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, won a $106,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, to study the treatment concept. The concept is still unproven, but preliminary tests have shown the gold "nanoparticles" could interact with laser radiation to destroy only the targeted cells, without collateral damage to healthy cells, Zharov said. (Newsday 10/13/03) <http://www.newsday.com/news/health/wire/sns-ap-exp-gold-cancer-treatment,0, 1577921.story? coll=sns-ap-health-headlines> Enough Already By Ronald Bailey at Reason Online. A leading environmentalist makes a foolish case against technological innovation. Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age, by Bill McKibben, New York: Times Books, 288 pages, $25. Environmentalist Bill McKibben has had enough, and he thinks you've had enough too. That's why he wants to stop the development of biotechnology, nanotechnology, and robotics in their tracks. McKibben fears that, if unchecked, these technologies will transform human life ruinously. "These are the most anti-choice technologies anyone's ever thought of," he insists (the emphasis is his). "In widespread use, they will first rob parents of their liberty, and then strip freedom from every generation that follows. In the end, they will destroy forever the possibility of meaningful choice." That claim is not only complete nonsense, it is exactly backward. According to McKibben, science and technology have long been destroying human meaning. "Meaning has been in decline for a very long time, almost since the start of civilization," he asserts. In his neo-Romantic view, humanity once lived in an enchanted world in which every rock, tree, cloud, or bird was imbued with spirit and intention. Our ancestors' theory of the natural world was that objects and creatures behaved much as they themselves did. (Reason online 10/03) http://www.reason.com/0310/cr.rb.enough.shtml Foresight Institute Awards Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology. The Foresight Institute, a nonprofit nanotech think tank, awarded its 2003 Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology Saturday to University of California, Berkeley researchers Steven Louie and Marvin Cohen, and University of California, Los Angeles researcher Carlo Montemagno. (SmallTimes 10/13/03) http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?section_id=45&document_id=678 0 Process Prints Nanoparticles. One of the challenges of nanotechnology is finding ways to position the minuscule building blocks that make up microscopic electronics and machines. Researchers from the University of Minnesota have coaxed tiny particles of gold, silver and carbon to assemble into patterns on silicon wafers over areas as large as a square centimeter by using electrical charge patterns to attract and position the nanoparticles. (Technology Review 10/14/03) http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/rnb_101403.asp Nanotech breakthrough shows how brain cells chatter. French scientists using an innovative microscopic scanning technique say they have discovered that nerve cells almost buzz with molecular agitation when they communicate with each other. The work sheds light on how cells operate at the synapse -- the minute gap between neurons, as nerve cells are called.Neurons communicate by sending chemical signals across the synapse, which then latch on to specific targets, known as receptors, on the membrane of the adjoining cell. (HindustanTimes 10/17/03) http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_421345,00040006.htm UD develops nanotechnology professorship. The University of Dayton is looking for someone with big ideas about little things. The school, in conjunction with local development and military officials, wants to find a nationally recognized expert in nanotechnology for a newly created professorship. Nanotechnology is the science of constructing new materials with dimensions about the size of five to 10 atoms. The technology could lead to tiny, fast transistors and the strongest, lightest materials ever made. UD, the Dayton Development Coalition and the U.S. Air Force today unveiled their plans to endow the school's Wright Brothers Institute Endowed Chair in Nanomaterials. (Dayton Business Journal 10/17/03) http://dayton.bizjournals.com/dayton/stories/2003/10/13/daily51.html TSU plans online nanotech magazine. San Marcos-based Texas State University plans to issue an online magazine early next year targeting scientists and other professionals in the nanotechnology field. (Austin Business Journal 10/17/03) http://austin.bizjournals.com/austin/stories/2003/10/13/daily35.html Some scientists see cryonics' potential. Most scientists scoff at the idea of freezing the dead and reviving them years after their hearts stop beating. They see it as a sign that some people will grasp at anything that offers the smallest shot at immortality. But several prominent experts say surviving cryonics is not only possible, it's probable. The debate, they insist, is in the details. (The Arizona Republic 10/20/03) http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/1020alcor-science.htm l -Also see this Dr. Jerry Lemler of Alcor article: Doubters don't faze Alcor's president. http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1020alcor-lemler19.html Toxic Molecules Threat from Nanotechnology, Expert Claims. Expert Professor Ken Donaldson said tiny particles in diesel soot, boot polish, tires and photocopier toner were already implicated in lung damage. Nanotechnology threatens to generate new hazards in the form of toxic molecules that can enter the lungs, it was claimed today. (Scotsman 10/20/03) http://www.news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2074380 -Also see: SmallTimes: http://www.smalltimes.com/document_display.cfm?section_id=39&document_id=680 8 Tiny springs. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new class of nanometre-scale structures that spontaneously form helical shapes from long ribbon-like single crystals of zinc oxide (ZnO). Just 10 to 60 nanometres wide and 5-20 nanometres thick - but up to several millimetres long - the new structures, dubbed nanosprings, have piezoelectric and electrostatic polarisation properties that could make them useful in small-scale sensing and micro-system applications. (e4Engineering 10/21/03) http://www.e4engineering.com/item.asp?id=50276&type=news Motorola Labs Developing Ways to Grow Carbon Nanotubes for Faster, Smaller Transistors. Scientists at Motorola Labs are researching ways to improve control in the growth of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that can make transistors smaller and faster and chemical/biological detectors ultra-sensitive. (Yahoo 10/21/03) http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/031021/cgtu004_1.html Nanophase Technologies Announces New Web Site Launch. <http://wwww.nanophase.com . http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK3.story&STORY=/www /story /10-22-2003/0002041915&EDATE=WED+Oct+22+2003,+02:43+PM> Magnetic barcodes could provide counterfeit-proof tagging. Barcodes peppered with magnetic particles millionths of a millimetre across could mark out fake goods and documents. Russell Cowburn of the University of Durham, UK, presented the new anti-counterfeit technology at a conference on nanotechnology in crime prevention and detection in London this week. (nature 10/30/03) http://www.nature.com/nsu/031027/031027-7.html I hope you all had a spooky but safe Hallow's Eve! Gina "Nanogirl" Miller Nanotechnology Industries http://www.nanoindustries.com Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute http://www.extropy.org Tech-Aid Advisor http://www.tech-aid.info/t/all-about.html "Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future." Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=22762