Foresight Nanotech Institute Weekly News Digest: January 5, 2009
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Discuss these news stories at http://foresight.org/nanodot.
Top News of the Week
One of the main reasons that we are confident in the overall predictions of molecular manufacturing is that there are many pathways to it from current technology and using currently understood science. It is thus something of a milestone that we have arrived at a fork in the road about which there is room for disagreement about which path to take. The point at issue is diamondoid mechanosynthesis (DMS)…
In this issue:
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Previously unknown spectral properties of carbon nanotubes functionalized with DNA have been exploited to create nanotech sensors that can simultaneously detect several different substances, in real time, within living cells, to single molecule sensitivity…
Specially designed small RNA molecules have proven very effective in decreasing the expression of specific genes that cancer cells need to survive; however, getting these RNA molecules inside cancer cells in living animals is difficult. Using a promising nanotech approach to deliver the RNA molecules, a type of nanoparticle described as a neutral liposome was administered to mice bearing melanoma tumors and found to cause a significant decrease in tumor growth and in the number of metastatic tumor colonies…
Computational nanotech studies have shown that deliberate introduction of structural defects at specific sites in carbon nanotubes can guide electrons along specific paths, providing a way to fabricate complex electronic circuits from nanotubes…
The Allen Institute for Brain Science is using nanotech methods to map in which cells in the brain which genes are expressed, which should lead to new insights into the relationships among genes, brain regions, behavior, and disease…
A recent paper from Feynman Prize winner James Tour's group at Rice
relates an interesting new form of memory based on a bistable 2-terminal
graphitic switch
…
Random clumps and tangles of carbon nanotubes are of limited use, but a method of depositing dense arrays of highly aligned carbon nanotubes on either rigid or flexible substrates promises transparent nanotech transistors for a variety of electronic applications…
In its present form, the Weather Machine is a work of futurism, not engineering. I have done only back-of-the-envelope calculations, and my assertions about what could be built are based more on instinct and educated guesses than on any major, deep engineering analysis. Even so, as a futurist I am fairly sure that something like the weather machine will be possible within the next few decades…
A new nanotech method of DNA sequencing is 30,000 times faster than current DNA sequencing methods…
Nanowerk News reports that an international nanotech collaboration of American and Korean scientists, funded by the Korean government, has developed multifunctional gold-coated nanowires that are designed to swim through the blood stream and attach to cancerous cells via antibodies against the cancer cells…
If you have a proposal on how nanotech could address a critical national and societal need, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) wants to hear from you…
Polishing teeth with silica nanoparticles produces much smoother surfaces than does polishing with larger silica particles, making it easier to remove harmful bacteria…
—Nanodot posts by James Lewis and J. Storrs Hall
Foresight Events – Lectures
Foresight Lectures
April 2, 2009
Stanford Law, Science and Technology Colloquium
Palo Alto, California
Christine Peterson will speak to LLM students on legal, ethical and public policy issues in nanotechnology.
Click here for conference details
Do you believe that nanotechnology will give society the ability to tackle the hard challenges facing humanity? What's your priority for nanotechnology: cancer treatments and longevity therapies, sustainable energy, clean water, a restored environment, space development, or "zero waste" manufacturing? Or perhaps there are potential nanotech scenarios you would like to prevent.
If you would like to help influence the direction of this powerful technology, please consider becoming a member of Foresight Institute. With your support, Foresight will continue to educate the general public on beneficial nanotechnology and what it will mean to our society.
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NanoManufacturing Conference & Exhibits 2009
What's Happening TODAY and Tomorrow!
April 1-2, 2009
Minneapolis MN USA
Call for Speakers
Looking to understand what nanotechnology means for you? Need to understand how and why nanotechnology can improve your products, process and may even cut costs? Interested in learning about the latest applications and trends in top-down fabrication and bottom-up assembly techniques? Then this event is for you!
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