Foresight Update 23.08: Can nanotech stop desertification? - February 19, 2009
Starting with this issue, the Weekly News Digest and Foresight Update newsletter have merged. Discuss these news stories at http://foresight.org/nanodot.
Top News of the Week
Brian Wang at Next Big Future has pointed to what might be the first nanotech application "to impact a major problem"—water scarcity. The application is hydrophobic sand, which retains moisture near the roots of desert plants by virtue of a proprietary nanostructured coating on the grains of sand…
In this issue:
Foresight Events – Lectures
Advancing Beneficial Nanotechnology - Join Foresight
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…Jones' overall point seems a good one: nanoscientists shouldn't over-promise what their research could do to funding agencies and to the public. But in using the word nanotechnology for what they are doing, Jones and the nanoscientists have, it seems to me, put themselves in the same logical position as the apocryphal parricide…
The Foresight Institute has appointed Dr. J. Storrs Hall to the position of President. Dr. Hall brings to the organization his extensive experience in prediction, invention, and development of future technologies…
This the second essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it.
Part II: What is this thing called Singularity?
Since I was trained, originally, as a mathematician, I never really liked the term Singularity…
Plasmonic nanoswitches based upon molecular machines may eventually lead to nanotech plasmonic circuits…
A response to my "Parricide" essay has been seen on IEEE's Tech Talk blog. Dexter Johnson gives a fair summary of the positions taken to date, and says…
This the third essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it.
Part III: Singularity from the bottom up
In the previous essay in this series, I argued top-down, from historical and economic precedents, that the coming singularity might look approximately like the second half of the computer/internet revolution. Today I'll argue the same conclusion from the bottom up: by looking at things from the point of view of the individual AI…
—Nanodot posts by J. Storrs Hall and 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
June 17-18, 2009
Size Matters 2009: the future fields of application, opportunities and ethical challenges of nanoscience
Saarbrücken, Germany
Christine Peterson will speak on Nanotechnology & Open Source Sensing.
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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More Events
O'Reilly ETech Emerging Technologies Conference 2009
The Technology of Abundance and Constraints
March 9-12, 2009
San Jose, CA USA
- The place where theories mingle with real-world application and do their best work together, giving you essentials to stay ahead of the curve in your workplace and industry
- A participant-rich conference experience that encourages play and exchange of ideas with some of the biggest names in emerging technology
- Includes FreeTech, the ETech community-run "unconference"
Visit Foresight in the exhibit hall.
SAVE 15% by using Foresight discount code et09fore.
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!
See pre-conference tutorial by Foresight Senior Associate Tihamer Toth-Fejel, including Atomically-Precise Manufacturing and Productive Nanosystems.
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