FWD [extropy-chat] The Nanogirl News~

Terry W. Colvin fortean1 at mindspring.com
Fri Jun 17 02:35:35 UTC 2005


The Nanogirl News
June 16, 2005
 
Scientists unveil 'clay' robots that will shape our world. TINY robots 
that can turn into any shape - from a replica human to a banana to a 
mobile phone - are being developed by scientists in the United States. 
The new science of claytronics, which will use nanotechnology to create 
tiny robots called catoms, should enable three-dimensional copies of 
people to be "faxed" around the world for virtual meetings. A doctor 
could also consult with a patient over the phone, even taking their 
pulse by holding the wrist of the claytronic replica, reports New 
Scientist.
(Scotsman 6/9/05)  http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=632012005
 
Nano World: Nano for stem-cell research. Cutting-edge nanotechnology is 
beginning to help advance the equally pioneering field of stem-cell 
research, with devices that can precisely control stem cells and provide 
self-assembling biodegradable scaffolds and magnetic tracking systems, 
experts told UPI's Nano World. "Nanotechnology might show people once 
and for all that you really can help regenerate organs with stem-cell 
biology and help people walk again, help people after heart attacks, 
help people after stroke," said John Kessler, a neurologist at 
Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. (World Peace Herald 6/13/05) 
http://www.wpherald.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20050613-112055-9237r
 
Scientists Fret over nanotech breakthrough. A breakthrough in 
nanotechnology has enabled doctors accurately to measure the levels of 
crucial chemicals in living brain cells in real time and at the level of 
a single cell. Scientists at Stanford University and the Carnegie 
Institution's Department of Plant Biology claim to be the first 
successfully to apply genetic nanotechnology using molecular sensors to 
view changes in brain chemical levels. (Computing 5/31/05) 
http://www.computing.co.uk/vnunet/news/2137318/scientists-fret-nanotech-breakthrough
 
Quantum dots prove to be a faster, more sensitive method for detecting 
respiratory viral infections. In what may be one of the first medical 
uses of nanotechnology, a chemist and a doctor who specializes in 
infectious childhood diseases have joined forces to create an early 
detection method for a respiratory virus that is the most common cause 
of hospitalization among children under five. (Exploration 6/9/05) 
http://exploration.vanderbilt.edu/news/news_quantum.htm
 
UCI scientists use nanotechnology to create world's fastest method for 
transmitting information in cell phones and computers. UC Irvine 
scientists in The Henry Samueli School of Engineering have demonstrated 
for the first time that carbon nanotubes can route electrical signals on 
a chip faster than traditional copper or aluminum wires, at speeds of up 
to 10 GHz. The breakthrough could lead to faster and more efficient 
computers, and improved wireless network and cellular phone systems, 
adding to the growing enthusiasm about nanotechnology's revolutionary 
potential. (UCI 6/9/05) 
http://today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1337
 
MIT's Nanoprinter Could Mass-produce Nano-devices. Just as the printing 
press revolutionized the creation of reading matter, a "nano-printing" 
technique developed at MIT could enable the mass production of 
nano-devices currently built one at a time. The most immediate candidate 
for this innovation is the DNA microarray, a nano-device used to 
diagnose and understand genetic illnesses such as Alzheimer's, viral 
illnesses such as AIDS, and certain types of cancer. The ability to mass 
produce these complex devices would make DNA analysis as common and 
inexpensive as blood testing, and thus greatly accelerate efforts to 
discover the origins of disease. (Sciencedaily 6/9/05)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050608054226.htm
 
Nanoparticles transport cancer-killing drug into tumor cells to increase 
efficacy, lower drug toxicity in mice. U-M scientists use folic acid as 
bait to get methotrexate inside tumor cells. University of Michigan 
scientists have created the nanotechnology equivalent of a Trojan horse 
to smuggle a powerful chemotherapeutic drug inside tumor cells - 
increasing the drug's cancer-killing activity and reducing its toxic 
side effects..."This is the first study to demonstrate a 
nanoparticle-targeted drug actually leaving the bloodstream, being 
concentrated in cancer cells, and having a biological effect on the 
animal's tumor," says James R. Baker Jr., M.D., the Ruth Dow Doan 
Professor of Biologic Nanotechnology at the University of Michigan, who 
directed the study. (UMHS 6/15/05) 
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/nanoparticles.htm
 
Commissioner responds to children's nano questions. EU Science and 
Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik answered questions from children on 
nanotechnology when he visited the nanoTruck in Brussels on 15 June. A 
German initiative, the nanoTruck is a mobile science theme park 
exhibiting some of the latest science and technology at the nano 
dimension in a variety of disciplines. Inside the truck are magnetic 
fluids, measuring instruments that make atoms visible, and scratch-proof 
coatings for cars. The organizers encourage visitors try out the 
exhibits themselves, making it an ideal place to introduce the younger 
generation to the wonders of nanoscience and nanotechnology.
(Cordis 6/16/05) 
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:23992 
<http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:23992>
 
Good news about saliva or "spit". Dr. Wong, who also leads UCLA's Dental 
Research Institute, described the latest in saliva diagnostic research 
to attendees at the American Dental Association's National Media 
Conference, held here today. "We have developed highly specific, 
nanotechnology-based biosensors (ultra tiny machines that read the 
simplest cell structure), which will permit the detection of 
disease-bearing biomarkers in saliva," said Dr. Wong. Scientists have 
long recognized that saliva contains the full complement of proteins, 
hormones, antibodies and other molecular substances frequently measured 
in standard blood tests to monitor health and disease, he explained. 
(myDNA 6/9/05) 
http://www.mydna.com/resources/news/200506/news_20050609_spit.html
 
NCL to go into labs with 'Golden Triangle' for cancer trials. EIGHT 
months after raising hopes with their cutting edge 'Golden Triangle' 
technology for fighting cancer sans chemotherapy, nanoscientists at the 
National Chemical Laboratory (NCL) are gearing up for the technology's 
first in-vitro tests. Murali Sastry, head, Nanoscience Group at NCL, 
said the in-vitro (laboratory) tests would be conducted on cancerous 
cells in a month's time at the Tata's Advanced Centre for Treatment, 
Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC) in Navi Mumbai...The trials 
are being conducted to establish the toxicity of the gold 
nano-particles. ''While gold is inherently non-toxic, we have to see 
exactly where the nano-sized triangles go when introduced into the 
cancerous area. We have kept a two-year window to see if we can get into 
clinical trials on humans.''
(Allheadline News 5/31/05) 
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=131718
 
World's most precise "hard x-ray" nanoprobe activated. Marking a major 
step forward in using x-rays to study extremely small structures and 
phenomena, the world's first "hard x-ray" nanoprobe beamline was 
activated on March 15, 2005. The unique nanoprobe is one of the featured 
instruments at the new Center for Nanoscale Materials (CNM), a U.S. 
Department of Energy user research facility located at Argonne National 
Laboratory, about 25 miles west of Chicago. CNM researchers expect to 
soon be using the x-ray nanoprobe to study individual atoms, molecules, 
and the unique physical interactions that occur at the nanoscale, where 
features are measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter (a 
nanometer is 70,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair). 
(Nanoapex 5/30/05)
http://news.nanoapex.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5650 
<http://news.nanoapex.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=5650>
 
Thin films of silicon nanoparticles roll into flexible nanotubes. By 
depositing nanoparticles onto a charged surface, researchers at the 
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have crafted nanotubes from 
silicon that are flexible and nearly as soft as rubber. "Resembling 
miniature scrolls, the nanotubes could prove useful as catalysts, guided 
laser cavities and nanorobots," said Sahraoui Chaieb, a professor of 
mechanical and industrial engineering at Illinois and a researcher at 
the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. (Eurekalert 
6/14/05)
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-06/uoia-tfo061405.php
 
China tops the world in nano-papers. News from the 2005 China 
International Conference on Nanoscience and Technology (China Nano 2005) 
held on June 9 says that by December 2004 China has had more than 800 
companies engaged in trade in nano-technology and about a hundred 
nano-technology research institutes. More than ten projects such as for 
making Li cells, solar cells, textiles and environment-friendly interior 
paints have been commercialized. (People's Daily Online 6/10/05)
http://english.people.com.cn/200506/10/eng20050610_189642.html
 
Nanotechnology's Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks Can Be 
Addressed Responsibly Today. Stakeholders ranging from corporations to 
start-ups to protest groups are concerned about the environmental, 
health, and safety (EHS) risks of nanoparticles -- the prospect that 
tiny, engineered particles of matter might harm workers, consumers or 
the environment. While such EHS risks do exist, they can be 
appropriately addressed today using well-established risk management 
techniques, according to a new report from Lux Research entitled "A 
Prudent Approach to Nanotech Environmental, Health, and Safety Risks." 
(Yahoo 6/15/05) http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050615/nyw071.html?.v=11
 
When Nanopants Attack. On a chilly Chicago afternoon in early May, 
environmental activists sauntered into the Eddie Bauer store on Michigan 
Avenue, headed to the broad storefront windows opening out on the 
Magnificent Mile. Activists hoped to lay bare growing allegations of the 
toxic dangers of nanotechnology. The demonstrators bore the message in 
slogans painted on their bodies, proclaiming "Eddie Bauer hazard" and 
"Expose the truth about nanotech," among other things, in light of the 
clothing company's embrace of nanotech in its recent line of 
stain-resistant "nanopants." (Wired 6/16/05) 
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,67626,00.html?tw=wn_12techhead
 
Brush up on your nanotechnology. The world's smallest brushes, with 
bristles more than a thousand times finer than a human hair, have been 
created by researchers in the US. The brushes can be used for sweeping 
up nano-dust, painting microstructures and even cleaning up pollutants 
in water. The bristles' secret is carbon nanotubes, tiny straw-like 
molecules just 30 billionths of a metre across. They are incredibly 
tough and yet flexible enough that they will yield when pushed from the 
side. The researchers behind the brushes were led from Rensselaer 
Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Their work is reported in the 
journal Nature Materials. (BBC 6/12/05)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4085214.stm
 
'Emerging Sectors' maps new type of summer camp. What will your kids 
tell classmates they did this summer? Attend soccer camp? Swim at the 
pool? Study nanotechnology? Instructors at Oakland Schools hope the 
response will be the latter as the school system is modeling much of its 
summer enrichment programs after the county's Emerging Sectors 
initiative. The curriculum received praise from government officials and 
industry leaders, who say getting technology training into youngsters' 
hands is essential in creating tomorrow's high-skilled workforce.
(mlive 6/16/05)  
http://www.mlive.com/mbusinessreview/stories/index.ssf?/mbusinessreview/oak/stories/20050616_emerging.html
 
Does 10% = Halfway? To "maximize the potential and minimize the risks" 
of nanotechnology, DuPont CEO Chad Holliday and Environmental Defense 
(ED) President Fred Krupp are calling for "increased risk research, 
improved regulatory oversight, proactive corporate management standards, 
and broad stakeholder engagement." Given potential liability and market 
risks, industry, universities, government and public interest groups 
should collaborate to determine what testing is necessary for new 
nanoproducts. Businesses then should conduct the needed testing before 
new products enter commercial use. . . A collaborative effort could set 
interim standards for nanotechnology around the world while regulations 
are under development. (CRN blog 6/15/05) 
http://crnano.typepad.com/crnblog/2005/06/does_10_halfway.html
 
 
Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal: http://www.nanogirl.com/index2.html
Foresight Senior Associate http://www.foresight.org
Nanotechnology Advisor Extropy Institute  http://www.extropy.org
3D/Animation http://www.nanogirl.com/museumfuture/index.htm
Email: nanogirl at halcyon.com <mailto:nanogirl at halcyon.com>
"Nanotechnology: Solutions for the future."

-- 
"Only a zit on the wart on the heinie of progress." Copyright 1992, Frank Rice


Terry W. Colvin, Sierra Vista, Arizona (USA) < fortean1 at mindspring.com >
     Alternate: < fortean1 at msn.com >
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