Foresight Update 12
page 1
A publication of the Foresight Institute
 Nanotechnology
Race:
 MITI Adopts 'Bottom-Up'
Strategy
by Chris Peterson
Recently we reported on the different research strategies
being pursued in Japan: The Science and Technology Agency (STA)
was pursuing a "bottom-up" approach, in which very
small structures are built up from molecular components using,
for example, scanning probe microscopes. In contrast, the
Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) continued the
more traditional approach of using semiconductor technologies to
make increasingly small structures, such as quantum dot and
quantum well devices. We portrayed this competition in
David-and-Goliath terms: the giant MITI looked likely to be
overtaken by the underdog STA.
Now that bet is off. MITI has launched its own
"bottom-up" effort, and as usual its plans are
ambitious: it is described by the journal Nature as
"part of a massive move by MITI to promote research into
nanotechnology." Most of the former Industrial Products
Research Institute in Tsukuba is being converted into a new
interdisciplinary research center, under the supervision of the
Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), an arm of
MITI. Half of this new organization will be devoted to
nanotechnology, termed an "atom factory," working
"at the level of atoms and molecules with scanning tunneling
microscopes, atomic force microscopes, and other devices for
working at the nanometer level," according to David
Swinbanks in Nature (9 May 1991).
In addition to this novel research direction, the center will be
introducing new ways of organizing the research, some adopted
from the successes seen at STA. STA's innovative and prestigious
Exploratory Research in Advanced Technologies program (ERATO)
puts together a team of reseachers, funds them for three to five
years, and then evaluates progress and reshuffles the team and
leadership positions. MITI will be adopting this procedure for
the nanotechnology work. Researchers will be brought in from
other AIST labs, private industry, universities, and overseas.
Non-Japanese scientists will participate in planning as well as
in later stages of the projects.
The new center still must be approved by a fiscal agency, but
this is confidently expected by AIST. Meanwhile, as Nature
reports, "MITI officials are now sketching out a large-scale
project that, with the collaboration of dozens of companies, will
plough hundreds of millions of dollars into the development of
'angstrom technology.' " The plan is to link this with the
'atom factory' in Tsukuba.
So the race is on, but it has changed: formerly
"bottom-up" vs. "top-down," now it has become
MITI vs STA, both pursuing the molecular approach. Perhaps soon
other countries and companies will join in to create projects
that are both interdisciplinary and international.
IMM
to Fund Molecular Manufacturing
 E. Lynne Morrill,
Executive Director, has announced the founding of the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing
(IMM) in Palo Alto, California, by a group of professionals and
scientists dedicated to advancing the technology of molecular
manufacturing. Molecular manufacturing, or molecular
nanotechnology, is defined as "manufacturing via
molecule-by-molecule control of products and byproducts using
positional chemical synthesis." Many members of the global
scientific community believe that this upcoming technology will
replace most current manufacturing methods within the lifetime of
the baby-boom generation.
Other world leaders in technology are moving rapidly toward
molecular manufacturing. Japan has already founded a
nanotechnology research center at a leading university, and has
several other projects underway, all under government
sponsorship. Nanotechnology must develop through
interdisciplinary interaction, as it utilizes physics, chemistry,
molecular biology, computer science, and other fields.
IMM will: (1) fund seed grants to scientists for research and
development; (2) act as an interdisciplinary clearing-house for
U.S. and international developments in technologies and processes
leading to molecular manufacturing; and (3) disseminate
educational materials and sponsor seminars on molecular
manufacturing.
IMM's Board of Directors consists of:
- Marc Stiegler, Vice President of Technology at AutoDesk,
Inc. (the parent company of both Xanadu Operating Company
and American Information Exchange Corporation);
- Ray Alden, retired executive, former president of United
Telecommunications (the parent company of Sprint); and
- James C. Bennett, Vice President for External Affairs at
the American Rocket Company, and a Director of the
Foresight Institute.
"This Board brings both business and technological
expertise to IMM," says Morrill, herself a veteran of
fourteen years in scientific administration and business
management. IMM's Scientific Board of Advisors will represent a
broad range of disciplines. "Our start-up funding gets us on
track toward making molecular manufacturing happen. We are now
asking individuals, corporations, and foundations for
tax-deductible contributions to further the state of the art in
this cutting-edge technology," explains Morrill. IMM will
publish a newsletter three times yearly, and will have a limited
number of advance copies of the new book, Unbounding the
Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution (fall 1991,
William Morrow & Co.) by Eric Drexler, Chris Peterson, and
Gayle Pergamit, available to its donors. IMM has programs
available for both private and corporate sponsorship.
Information about IMM can be obtained by writing to the Institute
at 555 Bryant Street, Suite 253, Palo Alto, California 94301, by
calling 415-852-1244, by sending a fax to 415-852-9098, or
by sending email to imm@cup.portal.com.
[Editor's note: The above phone numbers and
email address are out of date. Instead use:
tel. 415-917-1120; fax. 415-917-1123; email: admin@imm.org.]
Policy
Watch
by Stewart Cobb
This column frequently reports on research efforts driven by
scientific curiosity or notions of economic gain, but advancement
of military technology is a powerful motive as well. Accordingly,
the U.S. Army is beginning a program of nanotechnology research.
Over the next four years, the Army will award almost $1 million
to "develop the theoretical, modeling, and experimental
tools to optimize manipulation of materials on the
nanoscale." This program will investigate atomic-scale
effects using laboratory-sized equipment, establishing a
knowledge base which could contribute to the later development of
true molecular manufacturing. Military research tends to be more
focused and "practical" than pure science; this program
may well produce the sorts of engineering numbers needed for the
design of molecular machinery. The program does not appear to be
classified, although follow-on research might be. [Department
of Defense University Research Initiative Multidisciplinary
Research Program for Fiscal Years 1992-1996, Feb 91, p10]
A Science feature describes a multidisciplinary
research project which might serve as a model for research teams
pursuing nanotechnology. The project found a way to make
three-dimensional "movies" of a live, beating heart
using a modified magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The
movies are so detailed that they could greatly improve the
treatment of heart attack patients. According to Science,
the team consisted of "cardiologists, radiologists,
electrical engineers, biomedical engineers, a mechanical
engineer, and a physicist, each with his own research
interests." The project worked because it could be separated
into interesting subprojects, one for each researcher. The
success of the collaboration depended on a single leader with
broad overall knowledge of the project, who could show each
researcher how his or her work connected to the whole. [Science,
251:28-30, 4Jan91]
Similar collaborations have been taking place within the
vastness of the U.S. government, guided by a body known as the
Federal Coordinating Council for Science, Engineering, and
Technology (FCCSET, pronounced "fix-it"). For example,
scientists researching global change were directed to a century
of detailed tree-growth records buried within the Bureau of
Indian Affairs. FCCSET has so far created three high-visibility,
multi-disciplinary programs: one to study global climate changes,
one to improve science and math education, and one to boost
supercomputer performance. Each program is headed by a committee
made up of Cabinet officials and agency heads, and each presents
a unified program and budget to Congress. The politically
inevitable result: these programs, with combined funding of
almost $3 billion, sail through the budget process that blocks so
much other research. FCCSET's chief, D. Allan Bromley, expects to
add several more programs to next year's budget request. Such a
program seems like an appropriate vehicle to jump-start
nanotechnology research in the U.S. [Science, 251:737,
15Feb91]
A commentary in Nature takes molecular biologists
to task for concentrating on techniques of experimentation rather
than the goals of their science. According to Walter Gilbert of
Harvard University, the biology community feels that sequencing a
gene "by hand" in the lab is the only valid way to do
research at present. These biologists fear the introduction of
gene-sequencing machines and comprehensive genetic databases,
because these tools will make their painfully acquired laboratory
skills obsolete. Gilbert's point is that such skills are not
themselves science, but only means to pursue science: "The
questions of science always lie in what is not yet known."
Molecular manufacturing could provide vastly improved tools for
sequencing DNA; if more biologists follow Gilbert's lead, they
may begin actively seeking such tools. [Nature, 349:99,
10Jan91]
Stewart Cobb, an aerospace engineer, was an early member of
the MIT Nanotechnology Study Group. He serves as president of the
new Molecular
Manufacturing Shortcut Group, 555 Bryant St. Suite
253, Palo Alto, CA 94301; it is a special interest group within
the National Space Society focusing on space applications of
nanotechnology.
[Editor's note: The current mailing address
is: Molecular Manufacturing Shortcut Group, 8381 Castilian
Drive, Huntington Beach, CA 92646.]
IBM
Sees 'Bottom-up' Path
IBM Chief Scientist and Vice President for Science and
Technology, J. A. Armstrong, spoke at the Symposium on the 100th
Anniversary of the Birth of Vannevar Bush. His theme was
"The Continuing Triumph of Miniaturization." Among his
remarks were these: "I believe that nanoscience and
nanotechnology will be central to the next epoch of the
information age, and will be as revolutionary as science and
technology at the micron scale have been since the early 70's...
Indeed, we will have the ability to make electronic and
mechanical devices atom-by-atom when that is appropriate to the
job at hand." (Creativity!, June 1991, Vol. 10,
No. 2, pp. 1-6)
Upcoming
Events
STM '91, International Conference on Scanning
Tunneling Microscopy, August 12-16, 1991, Interlaken,
Switzerland. Contact Ch. Gerber, fax (1) 724 31 70.
Second Foresight Conference on Nanotechnology,
Nov. 7-9, 1991. Invitational technical meeting sponsored by
Foresight Institute, Stanford Dept. of Materials Science and
Engineering, University of Tokyo Research Center for Advanced
Science and Technology, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing.
For researchers in enabling science and technology. Contact
415-324-2490; fax 415-948-5649.
Science and Technology at the Nanometer Scale,
American Vacuum Society National Symposium, Nov. 11-15, 1991,
Seattle, WA. Contact James Murday, Code 6100, NRL, Washington, DC
20375-5000; fax 202-404-7139 (or American Vacuum Society).
Ecotech, Nov. 14-17, Monterey Conference Center,
$500/$250 nonprofit. Participating organizations include Apple
Computer, CPSR, Econet, Foresight Institute, Global Business
Network. Will explore the technologies of ecology and their
application; see article elsewhere in this issue. For
businesspeople, scientists, environmentalists, public policy
makers. Includes a talk and workshop on nanotechnology. Contact
Mike Whitacre, 619-259-5110.
Hypertext '91, Dec. 15-18, San Antonio, TX. All
areas of hypertext research. Contact 409-845-0298, fax
409-847-8578, or email ht91@bush.tamu.edu.
Third Conference on Technology, Entertainment &
Design, Feb. 20-23, 1992, Monterey, CA. Confirmed
speakers include Stewart Brand, Jaron Lanier, Paul Saffo, John
Sculley, Edward Tufte. Great fun, but expensive. Contact
619-259-5110; fax 619-259-1495.
DIAC-92: Directions and Implications of Advanced
Computing, May 2-3, 1992, Berkeley, CA. Sponsored by
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and ACM.
Includes civil liberties, privacy. Contact Doug Schuler,
206-632-1659, 206-865-3832, dschuler@june.cs.washington.edu.
From Foresight Update 12, originally
published 1 August 1991.
Foresight thanks Dave Kilbridge for converting Update 12 to
html for this web page.
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