Foresight Institute Weekly News Digest: January 15, 2009
Discuss these news stories at http://foresight.org/nanodot.
Top News of the Week
DNA nanotech continues to improve the devices it produces as Oxford University scientists fix several shortcomings seen in earlier versions of bipedal DNA molecular walkers that had been produced by several laboratories…
In this issue:
Foresight Events – Lectures
Advancing Beneficial Nanotechnology - Join Foresight
More Events
Contact Foresight
Nanotech could make possible the controlled release within the patient of up to four different drugs by irradiation with different wavelengths of near-infrared radiation. Near-IR light passes through human flesh to release drugs within the body. In a proof-of-concept experiment, two different DNA oligonucleotides were loaded on gold nanorods of two different shapes…
The synthesis and characterization of molecules called cycloparaphenylenes, which are rings of (in this case) 9, 12, or 18 benzene molecules, could provide nanotech with an efficient way of producing armchair carbon nanotubes of pre-determined diameter…
For nanotech to meet the need for cheap solar cells to produce electricity, it would be very useful to increase the absorption of light by inexpensive thin-film cells, which use a layer of polycrystalline silicon only 1-2 micrometers thick instead of the more expensive 200-300 micrometer-thick crystalline silicon wafers used for conventional solar cells…
Optical tweezers have long been used to transport particles in the size range of micrometers to a few hundred nanometers. Now, in a significant step toward providing nanotech with useful 'lab on a chip' devices, researchers have used slot waveguides to condense light energy to scales as small as 60 nm allowing them to trap 75-nm polystyrene nanoparticles and DNA molecules and transport them optically…
—Nanodot posts by James Lewis
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 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.
To join:
https://www.foresight.org/forms/php/donate.php
More Events
NanoManufacturing Conference & Exhibits 2009
What's Happening TODAY and Tomorrow!
April 1-2, 2009
Minneapolis MN USA
Call for Presenters
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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