Nanotech goal vision in four minutes (video)
Foresight Update 24.01—January 10, 2011
ISSN 1078-9731
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Discuss these news stories at http://foresight.org/nanodot.
In this issue:
Foreseeing Future Technologies - Join Foresight
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A major advance in molecular robotics and structural DNA nanotechnology occurred last May with the publication in Nature of two papers, each of which describes a new DNA nanorobot that walks across a landscape made from DNA origami … "Voyage of the DNA Treader" announces that one of the coauthors of the first paper will present at January's TEDxCaltech conference…
What kind of capabilities separate today's nanoparticle-based drug delivery vehicles from the computer-controlled nanomedical robots anticipated after the development of molecular manufacturing makes possible complex atomically precise components? One such capability, the coupling of nanoparticle drug delivery vehicles and nano-sized motors for propulsion, is described by Michael Berger at Nanowerk …
It is usually the case that nanostructures have useful properties because they are so small. In the case of drug delivery, nanoparticles are useful because they are large on a molecular scale. The National Cancer Institute's Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer describes research from two different groups using two different types of nanoparticles. In each case the nanoparticles were large enough to deliver two different anticancer agents to cancer cells. Each group found that the combination delivery was more effective at killing cancer cells than if the drugs were delivered separately…
Senior Associate Alvin Steinberg points out that quantum computing is a security-related technology, and that nanotech can help those in the race to stay ahead. He cites these two articles. …
Sometimes the behavior of electrons in nanostructures can be modelled using classical laws of motion, while at other times more computationally challenging quantum methods are necessary to obtain useful results. Christopher W. Ince of the Nanotechnology Research Foundation writes with news of a new method to distinguish classical from quantum behavior in electrons …
The Foresight Institute, a nanotechnology education and public policy think tank based in Palo Alto, has announced the winners of the prestigious 2010 Foresight Institute Feynman Prizes in Nanotechnology. …
The winner of the 2010 Feynman Prize for Experimental work is Masakazu Aono (MANA Center, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan) …
The winner of the 2010 Feynman Prize for Theory is Gustavo E. Scuseria (Rice University)…
Thanks to the Thiel Foundation, Foresight Institute President Christine Peterson's presentation at their Breakthrough Philanthropy event last week is available on You Tube. …
Christine Peterson, Foresight Institute — a leading think tank and public interest organization focused on transformative future technologies. Founded in 1986, its mission is to discover and promote the upsides, and help avoid the dangers, of nanotechnology, AI, biotech, and similar life-changing developments.
Inspired by the diamond-shaped photonic crystals found in beetle scales, a chemist is trying to build nanostructures using molecular self-assembly to form photonic crystals for use in light-based computers …
…A striking example of [the synergy between molecular manufacturing and artificial general intelligence] already provided by current incremental nanotechnology begins with memristors, a novel circuit element based upon a property that is insignificant at the microscale, but becomes substantial at the nanoscale. Mathematically, the behavior of memristors is similar to the behavior of neurons, suggesting they could be useful to build systems that work like brains …Brian Wang brings to our attention a new DARPA memristor-based approach to AI that consists of a chip that mimics how neurons process information, …
—Nanodot posts by James Lewis
Advancements in technologies such as nanotech, robotics, and biotech are promising to make major differences in our lives in the not-too-distant future, as the Industrial Revolution did to the agrarian world — to do for the physical world what the computer and Internet have done to the world of information.
Since 1986, the Foresight Institute has been in the forefront of a worldwide community of visionaries who work to help shape these possibilities into a positive, beneficial reality. If you would like to help us understand the potential of these technologies, and influence their direction, please consider becoming a member of the Foresight community. With your support, Foresight will continue to educate the general public on these technologies and what they will mean to our society.
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Events
NanoManufacturing Conference & Exhibits
April 5-6, 2011
Drury Lane Conference Center
Oakbrook Terrace IL USA
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!
This conference will highlight the current, near-term, and future applications of nanotechnology and how they are transforming the way we manufacture products. Peer networking, information sharing, and technology exchange among the world's nanomanufacturing leaders will be a key feature of the event.
Key areas include:
- Self assembly and productive nanosystems
- Medical device and energy applications
- Bioengineering applications
- Top-down fabrication and bottom-up assembly
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