Nanotech researchers report big breakthrough (more like frickin' HUGE!!)

[gp]

Nanotech researchers report big breakthrough

An advance in nanotechnology may lead to the creation of artificial muscles, superstrong electric cars and wallpaper-thin electronics, researchers report.

Nanotechnology has tantalized researchers for decades, promising a new era in stronger and lighter electronic materials. Nanotechnology is the science of engineering such properties at the molecular, or nanometer, scale. For all its promise, the technology has mostly been locked in laboratories.

A sheet made from nanotubes, tiny carbon tubes only a few times bigger than atoms with remarkable strength and electronic properties.

In today's edition of the journal Science, however, scientists from the University of Texas and Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization report the creation of industry-ready sheets of materials made from nanotubes. Nanotubes are tiny carbon tubes with remarkable strength that are only a few times wider than atoms. They can also act as the semiconductors found in modern electronics.

More
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/20050819/tc_usatoday/nanotechresearchersreportbigbreakthrough

Some cool properties of the new material:

• Self-supporting, transparent and stronger than steel or high-strength plastics, the sheets are flexible and can be heated to emit light.

• A square mile of the thinnest sheets, about 2-millionths-of-an-inch thick, would weigh only about 170 pounds.

• In lab tests, the sheets demonstrated solar cell capabilities, using sunlight to produce electricity.

[xchrom]

1. cool.

[samsingh]

2. amazing

[electropop]

66. This would enable the "Space Elevator"

The concept is, you launch a satellite carrying a spool of this stuff into geosynchronous orbit. It unspools a strand all the way back to Earth. Then you can crawl back up the strand with an elevator, hugely cheaper than rockets. You would first crawl some more spools up, to increase the centrifugal mass in orbit, and increase the cable thickness. Before long, you have a dirt-cheap way to launch payloads.

[rman]

70. not yet

see post #68

[electropop]

74. OK, well,

I'll bet it triggers some progress in this area. And of course it's exciting for many other reasons!

[trekbiker]

103. aaahahhahahaaaa!!!!!!! FUNNY!!!!

what do you plan to use for cable??

[ozone_man]

110. Escalator not elevator.

It's attached to a space pulley at the other end. Just don't get sucked into the cracks when you get off.

[Supply Side Jesus]

137. How to build a Space Elevator, 101.

Find a large asteroid with minerals needed to construct a very large quantity of 'carbon' fiber. Launch a rocket with a cargo of highly specialized robots/nanobots.
The nanites then construct a factory that produces a "thruster" that positions the asteroid into orbit.
The factory then produces a very large 'cable' that extends from the asteroid to the earth, like a spider spindling a web. The very large cable connects into a 'socket' on earth. 'Elevator cars' ride up and down the cable from earth to space, thus eliminating the current expensive methods of earth to space travel, and ushering in a true space age. Nanite 'potential' is unlimited.

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. Awesome

[tridim]

6. Bitchin'

;)

[Lerkfish]

4. excellent. So how soon do the OIL vultures sweep and and kill them?

[tridim]

5. I bet this scares the shit out of 99% of Bush's friends

And that's a very good thing.

[BootinUp]

13. I don't follow you

please elaborate...

[tridim]

15. Just because it'll make super-efficient solar panels

and batteries. This is the kind of thing oil companies and regressive governments tend to suppress.

[Orsino]

38. The nanotubes are made from carbon.

Bush & Co. will still be sitting pretty, I believe. Renewable energy would be a great use for them to extend their monopoly beyond the projected end of oil.

[Occulus]

52. But think about how *much* carbon.

Not much, per sheet; these things are thin. They define "thin".

[tridim]

59. And the carbon doesn't have to come from oil

[Orsino]

93. But very, very refined carbon. And the amount won't matter...

...in the coming years, when sources become more scarce. Oil and coal are likely to be it.

[K-W]

141. Nobody thinks that oil and coal will be scarce in a matter of years nt.

[Orsino]

143. I do.

How many years is the question.

Nanotubes will wear out, just like everything else, and will have to be replaced.

[nolabels]

40. Just this material alone could make a hell of lot more other things

One could only guess about other structures to be used for building or repair materials (for even the Human body).

Hungry countries like China will be investing leaving stodgy conservative nations like the US in the dust

[wallwriter]

17. My first thought also.

Although I am skeptical of such a silver bullet, I can imagine it to be possible. If it risks making oil consumption irrelevant, then it is a huge threat to the vast fortunes and power of the oil companies and the governments, like ours, that they own.

Scientists, beware!

[NashVegas]

54. Nope.

They'll just buy up the patents and the companies doing the construction. The new kids will be all too happy to play bucky-ball.

[Ian David]

98. What if they make the process open-source and public?

Then nobody could really patent it, could they?

[Emperor_Norton_II]

101. Probably not, though some dipshits will always try.

It won't stop anybody from using the technology to get filthy rich, and that includes the big corporate empires as well as the little guys. But in the case of open-source nanotubes, I'm not sure I care. As long as the stuff's out there and reaping positive change, it really doesn't matter who's bringing in money hand over fist for it.

But that's just me. Pragmatic like that.

[Ian David]

105. What I mean is, open-sourcing it so nobody can BURY the technology. n/t

[Emperor_Norton_II]

108. Be kind of difficult to bury it now,

what with the papers getting published internationally and all.

[Ian David]

116. Well, that's good news!

[Al-CIAda]

140. They've managed to 'privatize' the Human Genome Project, what makes

anyone think they won't find a way to steal and monopolize this for fun and profit as well?

[Emperor_Norton_II]

142. Like I said...

As long as the stuff it out there and effecting postive change, I'm not sure I care who "owns" it. Open source, corporate, government, Illuminati cabal... doesn't matter. Nanotube materials are the sort of thing that will change things just by existing in quantity. Whoever makes the money... well, I'm sure that's very nice for them. But for me it's a non-issue.

But then again, me == pragmatic. YMMV.

[sintax]

145. New Technologies Are No Substitute for Sound Social Policies

What does nanotech mean for human rights?

Precise and sophisticated molecular-level manipulations will produce stronger, lighter materials, more precise and pervasive sensors and faster, smaller and more energy-efficient computers. These products are being developed simultaneously for civilian and military uses. Experts predict that nanotechnology will change the way wars are fought more than the invention of gunpowder.(26) BANG will produce soldiers with "enhanced" bodies and brains. It will also lead to the development of chemical and biological weapons that are more invasive, harder to detect and virtually impossible to combat. The invasive and invisible qualities of nano-scale sensors and devices could become extremely powerful tools for repression - posing a major threat to democracy and dissent and fundamental human rights.

New Technologies are No Substitute for Sound Social Policies

Like earlier promises made by proponents of nuclear, chemical and biotechnologies, nanotech enthusiasts make pie-in-the-sky claims: it will solve problems of hunger and poverty, cure cancer and clean up the environment. Other scientists point out that nanotech could bring better, cheaper disease diagnostics for people and crops and improve water purification and the efficiency of solar cells, reduce raw material demands, increase recycling and slash transport and energy costs. But even if we can diagnose diseases better, will corporate research focus on the problems of poor people, and will patented drugs be affordable?


The simple truth is that new technologies cannot solve old injustices. Globalization - in the form of today's trade, finance and patent systems - ensures that the control of new technologies will remain with the rich. Intellectual property regimes and marketplace oligopolies along with government collusion have usually managed to dictate which technologies come forward and whose interests they serve.

http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=508

[sintax]

144. News Release: Nanotech's Patents on the Building Blocks of Life

News Release: ETC's Report on Nanotechnology and Intellectual Property
Type: News Item
Date: June 16, 2005
Download the PDF (354 kb)  

 

ETC Group

News Release

16 June 2005

www.etcgroup.org


ETC Group Releases New Report on Nanotechnology and Intellectual Property:

Nanotech's "Second Nature" Patents


Twenty-five years after the biotech industry got the green light to patent life, nanotech goes after the building blocks of life

 
On the 25th anniversary of Diamond vs. Chakrabarty,* the US Supreme Court's landmark decision (June 16, 1980) that opened the floodgates to the patenting of living organisms, ETC Group releases a new report, "Nanotech's 'Second Nature' Patents."


Since Chakrabarty, the biotech industry has worked hand-in-hand with governments to allow for the patenting of all biological products - the first monopoly grab over life. Chakrabarty set the stage for today's nanotechnology patents, where the reach of exclusive monopoly is not just on life - but the building blocks of life - nanotech's 'second nature' patents," explains Hope Shand, Research Director of ETC Group.


ETC Group's new report examines current trends in intellectual property and nanotechnology and the implications for the developing world. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, where size is measured in billionths of meters.

http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=508

 

[ninkasi]

7. Amazing

This just shows how vital it is to fund research and development. Who knows what new things are waiting to be discovered. Another reason to keep religion out of the classroom, and to ensure education for the younger generation.

[catnhatnh]

8. HUGE STORY....

...this is going to be bigger than semiconductors....and probably a faster change...no mention yet of costs but just the ability to produce a photovoltaic material this quickly is amazing. I'd kill for stock in the company...

[kestrel91316]

9. Not brand new ................Google "nanosolar"

[dweller]

12. yep, i've been watching that site for awhile n/t

dp

[Gregorian]

22. I believe they're very different.

I've been watching Nanosolar for a while now. They are made of an extremely thin layer. A printable solar cell. But this is tubes of carbon on a molecular level. Very different. I haven't delved into it in anything more than a scan for something I can source as a part on a project I'm involved in.

edit- Howdy! :)

[rman]

69. also nanotubes but different tech

[gp]

10. Nanotechnology kills cancer cells

And this is from a few days ago if anyone missed it:

Nanotechnology kills cancer cells

Nanotechnology has been harnessed to kill cancer cells without harming healthy tissue.

The technique works by inserting microscopic synthetic rods called carbon nanotubules into cancer cells.

When the rods are exposed to near-infra red light from a laser they heat up, killing the cell, while cells without rods are left unscathed.

Details of the Stanford University work are published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

More
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4734507.stm

[northzax]

45. there is a team within NCI

the National Cancer Insitute working on Cancer Nano, it's some crazy stuff.

this is how the breakthrough will come, though, one huge step.

[nolabels]

55. There could be more applications than just cancer also

Not dismissing cancer, but if you could selectively eradicate certain groups of cells using synthetic hormones or the like and that tech, then another arm, stem cell replacement tech would have a big wide door opened up to it. It would be so efficient to be almost scary :scared:

[Gregorian]

11. Nano nano!

This, is, earthshattering.

I believe it can even be used on the fuel cell project I'm working on. This could be the next step we needed, to get off the oil.

[pitohui]

14. "may" lead to creation of all these goodies

i'll believe it when they actually do it

i "may" sprout wings & fly but it ain't freakin' likely

still waiting for my jetpack & cure for cancer & martian space colonies promised for c. 1990

[Occulus]

43. Don't get too sceptical...

nanotechnology really is the "next big thing". The possible applications of nanotech research reach into medicine, construction, electronics, and many other fields. In some cases, such as cancer research, nanotech is already being used to great effect.

We won't reach the level of an "advanced civilization with mature nanotechnology" for decades, if not centuries, but these really are the first steps into a bold new world. The only hope we can have is that the necessary advances don't come too late, but those advances will come if we but continue to ask, "how?"

[melody]

67. and if nanotech lives up to the more extreme hype

We won't be needing money or oil or any other resource beyond simple crude matter, since we'll be able to make anything out of nothing. They really should name it after Kenneth Starr, since he set the gold standard for that.

[Beetwasher]

16. The Nano Tubes are Made from Bucky Balls If I Recall Correctly

n/t

[Dudley_DUright]

26. Yes and no

Essentially the same process as making buckyballs (a carbon arc in an inert gas atmosphere), but the hexagonal graphite like sheets roll up into tubes instead of balls due to slightly different experimental parameters (gas pressure, ...).

on edit: Here is a good history of the discovery of nanotubes:

http://www.personal.rdg.ac.uk/~scsharip/tubes.htm

[Beetwasher]

35. Ahhh, Cool, Thanks!

I knew there was a connection though!

In any event, it seems these new materials are revolutionary, and I don't think I'm being dramatic...

[Dudley_DUright]

42. No, people have been trying to make nanotube sheets

for a long time without much success. This is a very big breakthrough!

[daleo]

18. A note of caution.

"Wind is more cautious about the future. "We'll really have to wait to see the impact this has and whether it will pan out in commercial technology.""

[Endangered Specie]

131. Indeed, these kinda things take time

Rome wasnt built in a day.

[converted_democrat]

19. Who owns this company, anyone know, or is it public? n/t

[gristy]

20. ooh, ooh, ooh, I want to buy stock in that company! Buy Buy Buy!

Or not.

[Enraged_Ape]

21. OMG, THIS IS HUGH!!!

[Castilleja]

79. Your sentence makes me laugh every time I see it, but

you forgot to add a 1 in there amongst the !!!'s. ;-)

[xultar]

23. This ain't no big shit! It's all part of intelligent design.

[Lorien]

24. Whoa. Can I get some siding and shingles made out of that

to cover my bungalow here in Florida?

[Gregorian]

25. That's exactly where all of this is headed.

This is the next Gold Rush. We're all scrambling to get our ideas into reality. I've been discussing solar shingles for quite some time. Simple in theory, but a little tougher in the real world of roofing. It's coming soon.

[ooglymoogly]

27. this is huger than huge....this is HUGE

i think this is the amazing film that can transmit a television image...perhaps to cover a window and become a huge tv at night...electric cars far better than today. solar panels covering everything...time for exxon mobile to buy up the technology and bury it.

[Occulus]

33. This would blow the hell out of "electronic paper"

Imagine papering your house with this stuff. One day, it's a simple "textured drywall" print; the next day, you decide to, for example, download a new "print" for your walls from the internet. Perhaps you turn one wall into a balcony view of the ocean, with the "sun" accurately moving in the "sky" as time passes.

Imagine turning one entire wall of your home into a PC monitor or game screen. Just picture a game like Half Life 2 or Doom3 or some such, literally bigger than life.

Good God, the possibilities...

[Ian David]

102. The first thing I'd do is exactly what I did with my first photo scanner..

I scanned my butt and printed a picture.

If I had nanosheet wallpaper, the first thing on the wall would be a giant picture of my ass.

[trekbiker]

107. remember the Bowie film, "the Man Who Fell to Earth"

that film was way ahead of its time. in that film he was an alien who came to earth to find a way to transport water back to his dying homeworld. He started a corporation with all this advanced alien technology in order to get enough funding and be able to build his water transport ship. One of his inventions was a disposable camera. The camera was free with the purchase of a roll of film. He also had a sheet of film that was a television communicator.

then the (republican) US government and corporate powers destroyed his corporation and doomed the whole enterprise..

[nookiemonster]

28. Love it!!!

:bounce:

eom

[Baclava]

29. Grey goo!

Grey goo is a term first used by molecular nanotechnology pioneer Eric Drexler in his book Engines of Creation. The term refers to a hypothetical end-of-the-world event involving molecular nanotechnology in which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all life on Earth while building more of themselves (a scenario known as ecophagy).

In a worst-case scenario, all of the matter in the universe could be turned into goo (with "goo" meaning a large mass of replicating nanomachines lacking large-scale structure, which may or may not actually appear goo-like), killing the universe's residents. The disaster is posited to result from an accidental mutation in a self-replicating nanomachine used for other purposes, or possibly from a deliberate doomsday device.

[pitohui]

31. yeah i don't believe in grey goo either

but if all this other stuff was really do-able then no reason grey goo wouldn't be

i don't see it converting the entire universe tho, maybe just the earth or the solar system

[northzax]

47. von neumann machines!

unlikely.

[LongTomH]

64. "Grey Goo" is not really an issue!

The whole idea of "grey goo" is based on Eric Drexler's early work, when he was still thinking of independently-repicating assemblers. All the recent work is devoted toward desktop factories. The term "nanofabricator" has replaced "assembler."

There's a more complete discussion of this at the http://www.crnano.org/index.html">Center for Responsible Nanotechnology site: http://crnano.org/BD-Goo.htm

[buddysmellgood]

71. Or maybe we'll just nuke ourselves or melt the ice caps. Choose your

poison.

[GAspnes]

124. better use SECDED then

Cosmic rays, natural radioactivity and the odd, unanticipated chemical reaction are all possible.

[Maraya1969]

30. Definition of Nanotechnology for those of use who don't have a clue

Like me.

4 entries found for nanotechnology.
nan·o·tech·nol·o·gy Audio pronunciation of "nanotechnology" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (nn-tk-nl-j)
n.

The science and technology of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

[goforit]

90. All those lives lost in IRAQ/Afghanastan for nothing!!!

[goforit]

32. Unfriggin believable!!!!........Our energy's future!!!....#$%^& the OIL!!

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[sakabatou]

34. Wow

The big question that everyone wants to know, how much does it cost?

[silverweb]

84. Less than perpetual war.

n/t

[sakabatou]

130. LOL

[mccoyn]

36. Another link. (nature.com)

That yahoo news link isn't working for me. I found the story elsewhere.

http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050815/full/050815-8.html

[Roland99]

37. Space Elevator here we come!!

[Salviati]

41. Here's a group working on the technologies...

and this nanotube ribbion sounds just like the material they propose to use.

http://www.liftport.com/

[Dudley_DUright]

39. Another article at MSNBC

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8976160/

[anotherdrew]

44. we'll be able to build the domes over our cities with this stuff

[Blue_Tires]

46. when can i buy it at the store? n/t

[pitohui]

48. what part of "may" did you miss

this is sheer speculation

we've had so many promises from so many attention seeking scientists for stuff that doesn't pan out that i refuse to get all excited

prove to me that there's something real here

but tell me no more "may" lead to the creation of something somewhere sometime

[Blue_Tires]

51. sorry, i forgot the j/k or the smilie n/t

[FlaGranny]

53. Pessimist!

:7 You sound just like my hubby. Never fergit yer bucket of cold water. LOL. But, you are right, it has to pan out and it has to be affordable if it does pan out.

Personally, I'm forever the optimist. I'm old enough to remember how much things have changed in the last 50-60 years. I once worked in a room with a computer that was 18 inches deep, 12 feet high, and 20 feet long, that wasn't as powerful as a hand-held calculator is today.

Edit: And that computer was considered a miracle back then.

[northzax]

57. several years away

I just read the Science article, and basically what they've done is turned indivdual fibres into a sheet. What can be done with that sheet is an interesting question, but the very fact it can be made quickly is a breakthrough.

anyone notice what was used to start the pulling off the spool? you guessed it, Post-it notes. Genius.

[thespiritualzebra]

112. You're right, this is 'sheer' speculation

;-)

[GAspnes]

125. it has been my experience

over many, many years, that when I say something is impossible, I'm usually wrong, and when I say it's possible, I'm usually right.

I am sure I'm not the only one this has happened to.

[Megahurtz]

49. Nano - Nano.......

:silly:

[MindPilot]

50. Here's a working link

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/nano/2005-08-18-nanotube-breakthrough_x.htm

[WinkyDink]

56. Pandora's box

I fear the messing with the universe on this most basic level.
Does not the possibility of catastrophe exist? As in, complete destruction of the known world?

If not, certainly more Big Brother nano-electronic surveillance, like, from your walls, roof, car, clothing, appliances,....

[northzax]

58. technically, yes

but then, don't forget you could get odds of 25-1 at Los Alamos that the Trinity device would ignite the atmosphere and lead to the immediate consumption of all oxygen.

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

97. Heads you lose, tails you're dead! Sucker's bet

[ozone_man]

61. Maybe why we never meet any extraterrestrials?

They get advanced enough to cause their own destruction? We're heading that way without any real high tech, just over population and burning fossil fuels.

Science can be used ethically or not, let's just hope it gets used for good purposes.

[buddysmellgood]

72. Yes. But we need these tools to correct the problems we have already

created. It comes down to the battle between good and evil. Same as it ever was.

[Fovea]

60. How this may fall out...

Before there were composites, there was aluminum.
Before there was aluminum, there was steel.
Before there was steel, there was bronze.
Before there was bronze, there was flint.

This potentially represents that scale of progress.
A quantum leap in materials technology that will enable the 21st century.

[FogerRox]

78. may I add this--

before there was steel there was iron--

[Fovea]

85. Indeed you may.

all the way back before La Tene.

[Javaman]

86. Before Iron there was a small copper age

[onehandle]

62. Nanotechnology is not in the Bible.

Congress needs to act quickly to stop this affront to our Christian Heritage.

Bush can duck Cindy (more) and fly to Washington to outlaw this criminal activity.

[thespiritualzebra]

114. !To sell the idea to the Emperor! (and His fundie subjects) --

:think:

Offer Him the sheerest, most diaphanous Emperor's Gown ever made!

[Mairead]

63. I wish Bucky had lived to see this stuff -- he'd have been tickled pink

...and probably thought of a half-dozen applications for it that won't occur to other people for years.

[LongTomH]

65. We're not the only people interested in this:

China and India are teaming up to dominate the nanotechnology revolution. They see it as "The Next Big Wave of Outsourcing," as this article from the IndiaDaily states: http://www.indiadaily.com/editorial/2176.asp

[Gregorian]

81. They'll take it and outrun us like nobody's business.

I just got off the phone with my dad. He used to be one of the leading engineers at Applied Materials. We're jumping up and down about the possibilities of this. We'll all benefit. It's exciting.

Hey, we're a third rate nation now. That was his 81 year old comment on us.

Having said that, who knows what will happen. America has a great entrepreneurial freedom.

[rman]

68. slashdot's take: highest quality, composites, strength, space elevator...

http://science.slashdot.org/science/05/08/19/065231.shtml?tid=126&tid=14

Rei writes "Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas have developed the highest quality nanotube sheets to date (the team previously set strength records with polymer-nanotube composites). Producable at a rate comparable to commercial wool spinning, the transparent cloth has exceedingly high conductivity, flexibility, has huge surface area to volume ratios, can potentially be made into very effective OLEDs and thin-film photovoltaic cells, and outperforms even our best bulk materials (such as Mylar and Kevlar) at strength normalized to weight. It strongly absorbs microwaves for localized heating (leading to applications in seamless microwave welding of sections and even windshield warming), changes conductivity little over a wide temperature range (very useful in sensors), and is expected to be used in commercial applications very soon. The research should even be expandable to artificial muscles! To head people off, while the exact tensile strength is not listed, it sounds like it is still far from the >100 GPa needed for a space elevator. Anyways, here's to process advancements!"

highest quality nanotube sheets
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8976160/

polymer-nanotube composites
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v423/n6941/full/423703a.html;jsessionid=CC7536BA5A3730C3B4441748B33F01A0

strength normalized to weight
http://www.physorg.com/news5890.html

space elevator
http://www.isr.us/Downloads/niac_pdf/contents.html

[buddysmellgood]

75. This is very exciting and it is just the tip of the iceberg. Most people

don't know how nanotech is used in their lives everyday. Our energy future will involved this and many other technologies. It is loaded with potential and danger, but that is true of just about every new technology.

[lonestarnot]

73. WwwwwwOW!

[EVDebs]

76. Oh, great, another breakthrough technology the US will offshore/outsource

Why don't we start protecting some of these technologies developed here and enforce patents/intellectual property rights. Oh hell with it, just let the Chinese steal it.

[melody]

83. doesn't really matter

In full effect (again, if some of the more ambitious claims are realized) this is the kind of technology that renders useless any attempt to secrete it. There'd be no point in hiding it since money would become useless. You could turn anything base and simple (trash...dirt...GOP white papers) into a house.

[idlisambar]

77. Exciting stuff n/t

[jburton]

80. It's not in the Bible....

so Bush will outlaw it this fall.......

[Rex_Goodheart]

82. The link doesn't work

Yahoo says page not found.

[FlaGranny]

88. The link was there earlier -

I read the article.

[revree]

87. The right wing Christians will say this is the work of the devil...

I say, that's one smart devil! Cool stuff, even if it does boggle the mind!!!

[Skidmore]

89. So will oil stock now plummet on the market anytime soon?

[robcon]

91. This is only a breakthrough if it can be replicated economically.

The rubber meets the road only when the products can be produced at a low enough cost to make it practical.

[silverweb]

92. Nanotech website.

This covers it all, people: http://nanotechweb.org

What fascinating, energizing (literally), and optimistic stuff!!!



On edit: More great info here "for the general reader" who is mindboggled by the science: http://www.foresight.org/nano/general.html

If we have a future (if it's not already too late to save life on the planet we've so wantonly been destroying), nanotechnology will shape it and power it.

[EVDebs]

94. Ovonics.com website shows H-powered car

http://www.motortrend.com/features/news/112_news10/index.html

plus the company plans on building their solar panels in Michigan...in order to keep auto workers at work. I hope that nanotech decides to hire and build in the US...otherwise who will be able to buy their products ?

[silverweb]

95. Beautiful.

Imagine a car that combines nano-solar technology with hydrogen fuel from water!

I share your hopes and concerns about U.S. hiring. People without jobs don't have money to spend.

[Ian David]

96. Solar sails! Ram Scoops! Sexiest stretch-pants ever! Pocket camping tent!

And most importantly...

You can throw away all that plastic sheeting.

Just keep the duct tape.

[glitch]

99. Nick of time!

Such clever monkeys we are.

[Ian David]

100. "We do need to think of a catchier name than 'nanotube sheets,'

The research team suggests first using the nanotube sheets as transparent antennae for cars or as electrically heated windows. "We do need to think of a catchier name than 'nanotube sheets,' " Baughman says.

---

Nanotube Sheets...
NanoSheets...

Neets!

They should call them Neets!

[Ian David]

104. Other uses

1) NanoSheet disks that are fired at high velocity-- for example, using compressed air. Similar to Larry Niven's "Needle Gun" concept.

2) The best damn condoms ever made.

3) You can drop a huge sheet of the stuff on top of enemy troops to immobilize or perhaps even asphyxiate them.

[girl gone mad]

106. Wohoo UTD!!

My alma mater.

There are some very smart and dedicated people working at the NanoTech Institute.

[crispini]

118. Wow, UTD? I work near there.

We do some joint projects with the Center for Natural Language Understanding. There's a LOT of cool science going on there.

[Dark]

109. So could this reduce murders?

I mean, if it's stronger than kevlar, could it stop knives and bullets if woven into clothing? Help stop muggings because the muggers can't stab or shoot the victim as easily?

[colorado_ufo]

111. Artificial muscles? Paper thin?

This could easily put Viagra and Levitra out of business. "Can be heated to emit light?" Wow!

[sintax]

113. Sounds like the all too familiar refrain of the

technological fix to the technological problem which then brings with it unforeseen and even more complex problems. Is it this need for biological denial or this techno-euphoria that keeps the pursuit of the silver bullet remedy going? Then again maybe it's the vast amount of research money.

Techno-Euphoria:
"It includes blind faith in technology, inordinate attachment to material gadgets and conveniences, uncritical acceptance of the march of scientific progress, devotion to the electronic media, and a life-style dictated by advertising...The modernist syndrome also tends to literalize everything it touches."

Food First!

[Gregorian]

117. I totally agree. Just a couple of ideas, though

I have been screaming that we should go back to a sustainable era. And I'm a mechanical engineer. Not because I wanted a job, but because I wanted to learn about the modern world they created. And it was difficult and distasteful for me. What I have learned in the meantime is that with six billion people, we cannot go back. Well, we can, and might have to. I honestly believe that it's all here for us. Food, sun, water. But we've also screwed it up so we almost have to use engineering in order to sustain all of these people. I also believe that this is a process by which mankind is working to fight an evil being. It's like there is a good force and an evil force which we have to outwit. We used the fax machine to outwit it in Vietnam. The internet is being used now, to try and curb the Bush crime family.
The bottom line is, when we made the first spear to eat an animal, we started the whole process of engineering. Maybe we didn't have a garden. Maybe we had no choice but to grab the first fuzzy, hoppy thing that came along. And then we improved it. It's no different than now. I see a lot of this as just stupid old stuff.
I honestly don't think it's as easy as I would like. My dream is a creek, dirt, and a garden. That would be life. But problems set in. And that is the reason we ended up on this technology journey.
And then I may be full of it. But I always try to go back to the very begining and see how we got to the complex mess we're in today. I do not take any of this for granted. I commuted most of my life on a bike. I don't travel. I don't have kids. I'm frugal. So I think that gives me a tiny right to philosophize without being too stupid or hypocritical.
I hope this wasn't too bullshity. I am not able to communicate what I see in my mind.

edit- Just one last thought. Right now, if we keep burning fuel, we're going to melt the polar ice caps. I am currently working on a fuel cell project whereby we can eliminate a fair percentage of burning fuel. It's an example of how we are screwed if we don't scramble to engineer our way out of it. On the other hand, we could take cold showers. We could walk to work. But people just aren't going to do that. I am no longer angry about that. I see a garden of Eden, right here. But we took the path of distruction, and now we're paying for it.

[sintax]

121. When One is Heading for the Cliffs Edge a Step Backward is a Step

in the Right Direction.

Nanotech like Biotech is not only full of false promises but is very polluting and energy intensive.

The technological LIE is that "it is a tool" or "it's how you use it", etc. In fact all of these big Technologies have their own imperatives and dictates that are wicked without the actual 'use' of the gadget ever getting out of the box. One easy example is the amount of water contamination involved in all of these activities that come from manifesting these tehnologies. There are many many other examples but I'll stop there.

When you really look at virtually all of Mankind's inventions of progress, including the computer I am using, they have caused far more damage than good. I sometimes think we in the Western Habit of Mind are so death denying that we think these gadgets can make us immortal.

The Arrogance of Humanism by David Ehrenfeld, Rutgers biologist, is an amazing book.

Very much enjoyed your post.

Paul Shepard, Nature and Madness

Most people seem to agree that we cannot and do not want to go back to the past, but the reason given is often wrong; that time has moved on and what was can never be again. The truth is that we cannot go back to what we never left. Our home is the earth, our time the Pleistocene Ice Ages. The past is the formula for our being. 

The history of Western man has been a progressive peeling back of the psyche, as if the earliest agriculture may have addressed itself to extenuation of adolescent concerns while the most modern era seeks to evoke in society at large some of the fixations of early natality rationalized, symbolized, and disguised as need be. The individual growth curve, as described by Bruno Bettelheim, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and others, is a biological heritage of the deep past. It is everyman's tree of life, now pruned by civic gardeners as the outer branches and twigs become incompatible with the landscaped order. The reader may extend that metaphor as he wishes, but I shall move to an animal image to suggest that the only society more frightful than one run by children, as in Golding's Lord of the Flies, might be one run by childish adults. 
Paul Shepard, Nature and Madness

[Emperor_Norton_II]

122. ...you're serious, aren't you?

If all these technologies are so damaging, why are you using them? Are you truly that much of a hypocrite to rail against the evil humanist/technologist axis and promote the ideal of the Noble Savage on an Internet discussion forum?

Seriously dude, WTF? Why in hell aren't you attempting to live out your ideals instead of bitching here?

[sintax]

126. Typical attack-boring and predictable

[Emperor_Norton_II]

128. Do what now?

C'mon dude, answer the friggin' question. What's a noble savage like yourself doing hanging out here, on the antithesis of all you stand for?

[Gregorian]

138. A very eloquent post.

I am much less literate. But I can say that I have appreciation along with the most complex. Or maybe I should say, I am observant. And what I see has affected my life in a very serious way. I grew up in Silicon Valley. My dad was a chief engineer in the silicon manufacturing business. He is one who is very frugal. Right down to reusing paper towels. And commuting on a bike when it was unheard of. He is also distraught about what is happening in the world with respect to just pollution and consumption. All I want to say is that I can agree with what you said about the peripherals that go along with our technologies. In my advanced thermodynamics course, the professor made a lecture out of the real cost of gasoline. And it can be extrapolated to everything. That is, the supporting mechanisms are so hugely widespread, it's almost impossible to calculate the costs. The reality is exactly as you stated. And that is, we have what we need. Or we had, before we destroyed important species. And to try and emulate that is a never ending spriral of something less effective and efficient. I find it hard to put into words. But my eyes see it. The day we can make a perfect dragonfly will be the day we have succeeded. And that isn't going to happen. We couldn't even make them replicate on their own, let alone hover, fall in love, and repair themselves. I left the city to get away from the consumption, and what I found was the country is the resources are collected. "Harvested" as the idiots call it. People want wood. Wood is a forest. I've watched the trees fall. I've felt the temperature change where the forest stops and the cleared land begins. I just can't do it justice with words. And the bottom line is I think we can't go back. I know what you meant when you said something about how there is nothing other than the earth which supports us. I take a biblical approach. After all I don't see how any of this could have just happened on accident. It seems overwhelming to me that there is an infinite intelligence. It's dangerous to say that here, because so many feel that there is no God. That's a pretty empty world, if it's true. But my point was that we are headed for disaster. I'm torn because I see a way. But I don't think enough of us see it, or care enough to try and achieve that. In fact, I go a step further and say that there is an active evil that is trying to keep it from happening. I even believe it is playing a roll in using Bush to cause the world to go in reverse. Well, I've blabbed enough to make people think I'm an idiot. But you know, we aren't all journalists, historians, philosophers. Some of us just look. And see. So to sum it all up, my real answer is "I don't know". But I see hydroflouric acid being used to etch chips. Nonrenewable energy being used to make electricity. And even though I don't know, I can say that on answer is to be frugal, considerate, careful. Childish adults is a good one.
I also think we are on several curves, in time. In small numbers, we were able to do whatever we wanted. As the numbers grew, we had to suppress our knowledge in order to continue doing those things, because the effects were destructive. And we are at the point where we cannot continue, without extreme consequences. I predict we have just crossed a point where from now on out, expansion will not be possible. We will slow down, and have less of an impact. But the number one issue is population. It's just too complex of a subject for a silly post like this. But population is what has brought us to this point. Now we have to live with what happens next.
Monday, I stock my pond with fish. It's all I can do to prepare for whatever happens when the lights go out.

[silverweb]

134. Thank you!

I'm working right now and so will have to come back to this discussion, but you've said so much of what has been in my mind.

[Gregorian]

139. And thank you.

I stuck my neck out, and fully expected to have it whacked off. Nice to hear some affirmation.

[anotherdrew]

115. I've got one word for you Benjamin - Nanotechnology.

One prediction... new network media to replace fiber-optics perhaps next... a room-temp superconducting version?

Just think of the weapons this stuff could go into... that's gonna be interestingly dangerous.

[buddysmellgood]

119. I'm going to get me some of that stuff and make a clear canoe that

keeps my beer cool.

[goforit]

120. Now that would be cool to see.

[Emperor_Norton_II]

123. Or not see, as the case may be.

:D

[Must_B_Free]

127. I've heard the nanodust is deadly toxic

I didn't see anyone mention that yet detail yet.

[buddysmellgood]

129. Which nanodust? Any more details on that?

[sintax]

132. Nanodust very bad for lungs

EXPOSURE TO MINUTE PARTICLES HARMS LUNGS, CIRCULATORY SYSTEM

By Janet Raloff

Nanomaterials, the current darlings of industry, are showing up in
products ranging from cosmetics to electronics. However, new animal
studies indicate that inhaling these microscopic spheres and tubes
could cause big trouble, especially for workers who manufacture and
handle them.

That message came through loudly in New Orleans last week at the
Society of Toxicology meeting, where several dozen reports unveiled
details about how nanopollutants interact with the body. Most of the
studies focused on the effects of lung exposures because the
particles' size -- just a few billionths of a meter in diameter --
permits them to reach the most vulnerable lung tissue.

John T. James of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and his
colleagues squirted nanoparticles into the respiratory tracts of mice
and then examined the rodents after 1 week and after 3 months.
Although sootlike carbon nanospheres caused no harm, an equal mass of
commercially available carbon nanotubes wreaked significant lung
damage, even killing a few animals.

In one especially graphic effect, immune system cells called
macrophages trapped nanotubes but then died. The ensuing inflammation
scarred lung tissue by creating patches, called granulomas, that
entombed the nanotubes

http://www.gsenet.org/library/11gsn/2005/gs050413.php#Tiny%20Nano-Particles%20Harm%20Lungs,%20Circulatory%20System

[sintax]

133. What does Nanotech Mean for Human Health, Safety and the Environment?

What does nanotech mean for human health, safety and the environment?

Unknown and Unpredictable: Governments, industry and scientific institutions have allowed nanotech products to come to market in the absence of public debate and regulatory oversight. An estimated 475 products containing invisible, unregulated and unlabeled nano-scale particles are already commercially available(20) (including food products, pesticides, cosmetics, sunscreens and more) - and thousands more are in the pipeline. Meanwhile, no government has developed a regulatory regime that addresses the nano-scale or the societal impacts of the invisibly small.

Only a handful of toxicological studies exist on engineered nanoparticles, but it appears that nanoparticles as a class are more toxic than larger versions of the same compound because of their mobility and increased reactivity.(21) This raises serious health concerns because nanoparticles can slip past guardians of the body's immune system, across protective membranes such as skin, the blood brain barrier or perhaps the placenta. Recent toxicological studies on environmental and health impacts of nanoparticles raise red flags:

-A study published in July 2004 found that nano-scale molecules of carbon (a type known as buckyballs) can cause rapid onset of brain damage in fish.(22)
-In 2005 researchers at the US National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) reported that when commercially available carbon nanotubes were squirted into the lungs of rats it caused significant lung damage.(23) (The researchers indicated that the nanotube dosage applied to rats was roughly equivalent to worker exposure levels over a 17-day period.) In a separate study, researchers at the US National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health reported in 2005 substantial DNA damage in the heart and aortic artery of mice that were exposed to carbon nanotubes.(24)
-In 2005 University of Rochester (USA) researchers showed that rabbits inhaling buckyballs demonstrated an increased susceptibility to blood clotting.(25)
-Other studies show that nanoparticles can move in unexpected ways through soil, and potentially carry other substances with them.

"Until more is known about their environmental impact we are keen that the release of nanoparticles and nanotubes in the environment is avoided as far as possible. Specifically we recommend as a precautionary measure that factories and research laboratories treat manufactured nanoparticles and nanotubes as if they were hazardous waste streams and that the use of free nanoparticles in environmental applications such as remediation of groundwater be prohibited." - Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering, "Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and uncertainties," July 2004

http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=516

[buddysmellgood]

135. Thank you, that is very serious.

[Dynasty_At_Passes]

136. Wow, so the future of nanotechnology really is here.....

Its really happening.....I wonder if this is going to change medical, science, and everything as we know it. At the very least we better have a plan or have created an alternative energy fuel source now that this has been uncovered....