Foresight Nanotech Institute Weekly News Digest: June 8, 2005
The Foresight Nanotech Institute Weekly News Digest features the following news items:
- Foresight Nanotech Institute—Conference speakers, deadlines
- Foresight Nanotechnology Challenges—related news and events
- Spotlight on Foresight Members—Corporate Member – Dorsey & Whitney LLP
- Media Partners
- Nanotech Events
Foresight Nanotech Institute News—Conference Details
Advancing Beneficial Nanotechnology:
Focusing on the Cutting Edge
13th Foresight Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology
October 22-27, 2005
San Francisco Airport Marriott Hotel
http://www.foresight.org/conference2005/index.html
Join us for six days dedicated to cutting-edge nanotechnology. Three stand-alone, complimentary sessions—Vision, Applications & Policy, and Research—are designed to give both veterans and newcomers a thorough understanding of nanotechnology.
Confirmed Speakers
- Tom Kalil, Special Assistant to the Chancellor for Science and Technology, UC Berkeley
- Peter Singer, Director, U. Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics
- Hiroshi Yokoyama, Nanotechnology Research Institute, AIST, Japan
- Clark Gellings, VP Innovation, Electric Power Research Institute
- Ray Rothrock, Managing General Partner, Venrock Associates
- Steve Jurvetson, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
- Charles Harris, Chairman and CEO, Harris & Harris Group, Inc.
- Michael Moe, Chairman and CEO, ThinkEquity Partners LLC
- Charles Lieber, Professer, Harvard University
- William Goddard, III, Professor, Caltech
- Jim Von Ehr, Founder, Chairman, CEO, Zyvex Corporation
- Michael Weiner, CEO, Biophan Technologies Inc.
- Fred Tepper, President, Argonide Corporation
- Michael Pak, President and CEO, Nanostellar, Inc.
- William Lee, President and CEO, eMembrane, Inc.
- Robert Berry, CEO, Dendritic NanoTechnologies, Inc.
- Eric Drexler, Founder and Advisor, Foresight Nanotech Institute
- Mark Lemley, Professor of Law, Stanford University
- Richard Smith, President, Nanotechnology Network
- Scott Mize, President, Foresight Nanotech Institute
- Christine Peterson, Founder and VP Public Policy, Foresight Nanotech Institute
Deadlines
Abstract Deadline – June 30, 2005
To submit an abstract, please follow this link:
https://www.foresight.org/forms/php/abstract.php?Event_ID=44
Super Early Registration – June 30, 2005
Save on your registration fee:
http://www.foresight.org/conference2005/registration.html#RegFees
Prize Deadlines – July 15, 2005
Foresight has added a Government Prize this year.
http://www.foresight.org/prize/index.html#experimentaltheory
Sponsorship Opportunities
Give your firm prominence within the nanotechnology community by becoming a conference sponsor. Thanks to our current sponsors listed below:
To become a sponsor (PDF)
Lectures - Foresight Nanotech Institute
Nanotechnologies and Environment Policy Conference
Sponsored by the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Clean Production Action, and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production
June 16, 2005
Santa Clara, California
Christine Peterson will speak on a panel on Nanotech Environmental and Health Impacts. Other panelists include Jim Thomas, Program Manager, ETC Group and Margaret Quinn, Sc.D. CIH, School of Health and Environment, Department of Work Environment University of Massachusetts. For more information, or call 408.287.6707
Foresight Nanotechnology Challenges
Foresight has articulated six critical challenges that humanity faces which can be addressed by nanotechnology. In the Weekly News Digest we identify news items, research breakthroughs, and events citing current research and applications providing the stepping-stones to solutions to these challenges.
1. Meeting global energy needs with clean solutions
Konarka and Solaris Nanosciences Establish Joint Research Program
News source: Renewable Energy
Konarka Technologies, Inc., an innovator in developing and commercializing power plastics that convert light to energy, and Solaris Nanosciences, a developer and manufacturer of advanced nanomaterials for devices that harvest light for a variety of applications, today announced the companies have entered into a joint development agreement. The companies will evaluate the performance and efficiency of solar cells made with Konarka's light-activated power plastic and Solaris' metal structures.
http://renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/market/business/viewstory?id=32846
http://www.konarka.com/
http://www.solarisnano.com/
2. Providing abundant clean water globally
Nanotech Water Filter
News source: Earth & Sky radio interview on nanotech water filtration
Glen Fryxell, a senior research scientist with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richmond, Washington, is interviewed. Fryxell says that a major challenge to the purity of the global water supply comes from toxic heavy metals such as mercury, chromium, and lead. He and his colleagues are working on state-of-the-art water filters made with nanotechnology.
http://www.earthsky.com/shows/shows.php?t=20050602
http://www.pnl.gov/
3. Increasing the health and longevity of human life
Copernicus Announces Efficient DNA Drug Delivery for Brain & Eye Diseases
News source: Genetic Engineering News
Using Copernicus Therapeutics, Inc.’s efficient and effective non-viral nucleic acid nanoparticle technology, Dr. David Yurek showed that DNA nanoparticles were very effective and non-toxic in introducing DNA into brain cells. Dr. Muna Naash showed that DNA nanoparticles were more than ten-fold more efficient than any competing gene transfer system in effectively introducing DNA into the cells of the retina.
Source
4. Maximizing the productivity of agriculture
Buckyballs could restrict growth of soil bacteria
News source: Nanotechweb.org by Liz Kalaugher
Researchers at Rice University and Georgia Institute of Technology in the US have found that the nano-C60 aggregates that may form when molecules are exposed to water can have a detrimental effect on soil bacteria. Under certain conditions, the aggregates restricted the bacteria’s growth and respiration rates.
http://nanotechweb.org/articles/news/4/6/5/1?rss=2.0
5. Making powerful information technology available everywhere
Study: A Molecule is, in Fact, a Transistor
News Source: Science Daily
A scientist at the University of Liverpool has helped create the world's smallest transistor—by proving a single molecule can power electric circuits. Werner Hofer is one of an international team of scientists that has created a prototype that demonstrates a single charged atom on a silicon surface can regulate the conductivity of a nearby molecule.
Hofer, a theorist, worked in collaboration with colleagues from the National Institute for Nanotechnology of the National Research Council in Canada and the University of Alberta.
Source
6. Enabling the development of space
New Robot Reproduces on Its Own
News source: National Geographic by James Owen
Scientists have created a robot that can replicate itself in minutes. The team behind the machine says the experiment shows that self-reproduction is not unique to living organisms. The implications for some fields, including nanotechnology and space exploration, could be huge.
Source
Spotlight On Foresight Members
Foresight Nanotech Institute has updated its membership levels and added benefits. One of the new levels is the corporate membership. This week’s spotlight is on Foresight corporate member, Dorsey & Whitney, LLP.
Corporate Member – Dorsey & Whitney, LLP
Dorsey & Whitney LLP is among the largest law firms in the world, with 19 offices strategically located in the United States, Canada, Europe and Asia:
"To meet the industry's unique challenges, we work with nanotech companies advising on the fundamental legal and business issues that can make or break a nanotechnology venture: start-up financing, technology licensing, joint venture agreements, intellectual property issues, development of strategic patents, regulatory approvals and more. We also help with concerns every business must face—issues like taxation, employment law, finance, and corporate governance.
"Nanotechnology companies rely on Dorsey through each stage of their development because our attorneys understand both the legal and technical issues involved. Many of our lawyers have advanced scientific degrees and industry experience in nanotechnology and related fields. This background informs everything they do: from patent applications to venture capital financing, from licensing agreements to mergers and acquisitions, from patent litigation to initial public offerings."
For more information about Dorsey & Whitney, LLP follow this link:
http://www.dorsey.com/
Foresight Nanotech Institute offers membership levels appropriate for individuals and companies. To find out more about membership follow this link:
http://www.foresight.org/members/index.html
Media Partners
If you attend or use any of our media partners’ events or services, please tell them you heard about it from Foresight Nanotech Institute.
NanoApex – is a leading resource for comprehensive nanotechnology information online. Their premier database is the NanoApex NCD Pro: NanoInvestorNews Company Database. This database is geared towards the investor and market analyst, with company listings, location information, links to news, investment information, stock information, employment links, business position, contact information, founders, patent information, multiple classification fields for organization, and product descriptions and links.
http://www.nanoapex.com/
Foresight members are eligible for discounts of up to 35% through our store:
http://www.foresight.org/store/product/9
Computenano – Computer Aided Technology Site – is a nanotechnology community site hosted by Accelrys, focusing on modeling, simulation, and informatics tools for nanotechnology. This is an information resource for computer-aided nanodesign (CAN), the field of using modeling, simulation, and informatics software to accelerate R&D in nano-manufacturing. This approach builds bridges between chemistry, biology, and engineering by scaling up precise nanoscale methods from the lab to the industrial manufacturing scale. Registration is free.
http://www.computenano.com/
Nanotech Events
June 15, 2005 - Small Times Magazine Best of Small Tech Award nominations due. Winners will be announced in a special year-end issue of Small Times magazine. To submit a nomination, http://www.smalltimes.com/awards/
Or contact Small Times by email at
.
June 20-21, 2005 - What's on the Menu? NANO4FOOD 2005
Food industry issues and nanotechnology covered include productivity, cost effectiveness, and disease prevention.
http://www.nanofood.info/
June 21, 2005 - Nanotechnology at Chevron
Santa Clara, California
Presented by Dr. Waqar Qureshi, General Manager, Molecular Diamond Technologies, Chevron Texaco Technology Ventures LLC
http://ewh.ieee.org/r6/san_francisco/nntc/06_21_05.html
|