tech: [nanotech] ~Nanogirl News~

[<eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de>]

From: "Gina Miller" <nanogirl@halcyon.com>

~Nanogirl News~
1/5/00 (strange looking date!)

*Getting Ceramics in Shape. MIT researchers have shown how two materials can
self-assemble into a unique shape called the double gyroid. The result is a
nanoporous or nanorelief ceramic film with a myriad of potential uses.
Descriptions of this and other MIT research projects are presented in the
January Research Digest. (MITs Jan issue Digest)
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/rd/2000/jan.html

*If you have a subscription to Chemical & Engineering News, look on page 22
for this article, or take your password to the following url (listed under
science and technology) to see: Mocroelectronics. Organic molecules,
metallic nano- wires are being considered for nanoscale electronics
technology. 1/3/00 issue
http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/cenmaster.cgi?contents

*Second Opinion: Top 5 of 2000. Nick's Picks for 2000's Big News.  The
biggest challenge any medical scientist faces is the daunting task of
re-evaluating standard assumptions about how life works. There is a small
mention of nanotechnology in medicine near the bottom of this commentary.
(ABC news Jan 1, 00)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/secondopinion/secondopinion.html

*Feature: In new millennium, clothes will talk, clean themselves. Covers
several topics including "New Fabrics Through Nanotechnology--so-called
molecular nanotechnology  will create new fabrics actually containing tiny
computers built  to atomic specifications, said David Forrest, a materials
engineer with Baverstam Associates." (ABC News 12/29/99)
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters19991229_1252.html
Another one on this same subject is hosted by MSNBC 12/31/99
http://www.msnbc.com/local/rtca/10980.asp

*The war on disease goes miniature. Nanomedicine: Drugs and cancer tests,
cell by cell. The future of medicine is vast and it's also amazingly small.
One day in the next century, thanks to the burgeoning field of
nanotechnology, you could walk out of the doctor's office with a
prescription for cancer detectors so tiny you can't see them. In this
Lilliputian world, units are measured in nanometers 10,000 times smaller
than the diameter of a single human hair. The idea is that if we can build
new drugs and devices molecule by molecule, the way the tissues and organs
in our own bodies are formed, we can make them much more targeted and
effective. (MSNBC 12/19/99)
http://www.msnbc.com/news/347860.asp

*The EE Times take, on the recent news of nanotweezers. A small article.
"Nanoscale tweezers pluck molecules" (1/3/00)
 http://www.eetimes.com/story/technology/OEG20000103S0065

*In the future, death may be a thing of the past. One day we could be saying
'happy 200th birthday grandma - here's your ticket to mars', Of all the
instincts in animals, the strongest is the will to survive. In the human
animal, that inborn defence is sometimes overcome by the maternal instinct,
by love of country or comrades in battle, or by an illness like depression.
But in most of us, nothing makes the weak strong or the fearful brave as
much as our bodies' innate drive to stay alive.
Because of that survival instinct, in the millennium to come a curious
question will occupy the minds of our descendants. It seems almost nutty to
ask it today, but tomorrow's question will be: Why die? But do you really
want to live forever?" (DUH!)
(New York Times 1/5/00)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/0001/05/text/features2.html

*Distance between atoms is key to iron protein function. Geometry is destiny
in the molecular world where small structural changes can mean big
functional differences. According to University of Michigan chemist James
Penner- Hahn, this is especially true for non-hem diiron proteins that use
iron and oxygen to regulate important biological functions. (U of Michigan
press release 1/3/00)
http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/Releases/2000/Jan00/r010300a.html

*Plastic field emitter could simplify display development. Electronic
devices made from polymers could be used as broad-area emitters for a
field-emission display and as an active matrix for driving it, said
Liverpool University researchers. Their work is based on a polymer class
called polyalkylthiophenes. This article has a nice little gif of
explanation. (EE Times 12/29/99)
http://www.eetimes.com/story/technology/OEG19991229S0033

*Expanding the book of life. The genetic book of life is a monotonous tome:
it is written in just four letters. Now US chemists have shown that they can
expand the language of the genes by adding a new letter. (Nature Science
Update 12/24/99)
http://helix.nature.com/nsu/000106/000106-2.html

*Neutron Trapping Demonstrated for First Time at NIST. Scientists have
demonstrated for the first time that they can confine neutrons, one of the
basic particles of matter, in a three-dimensional magnetic trap, an
achievement that will help expand our knowledge of the creation of matter
during the Big Bang. (NIST press release 1/5/00)
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n00-01.htm

*Frogs eyes and ears grown in Tokyo lab. Japanese researchers have grown
frog eyes and ears in a laboratory using the amphibian's own embryo cells.A
scientist said yesterday the technology could eventually help doctors
replace lost or damaged human-sensory organs using cells from the patients'
bodies. (Yahoo 1/4/00)
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000104/sc/growing_eyes_3.html

*Robo sucker. Well it's not quite Rosie the metallic maid from the Jetsons
but it definitely is a robot that vacuums your floor. (Beyond 2000 1/5/00)
http://www.beyond2000.com/news/story_372.html

*Study reveals family secret of how viruses enter cells. Scientists have
caught another viral intruder in action, revealing how two related viruses
use similar but distinct strategies to enter cells. The findings provide new
insights on how a virus selectively attaches to its particular receptor, and
may suggest ways for developing drugs to prevent illnesses caused by viral
pathogens. (Purdue press release 1/00)
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/UNS/html4ever/0001.Rossmann.poliovirus.html

*Breaking the Bonds You Choose. Chemists have long dreamed of targeting one
atom in a dense molecular thicket and slicing its bonds with surgical
precision, perhaps to nudge a chemical reaction toward desired products or
trigger some atomic rearrangement. Many researchers have been developing the
use of lasers to directly and selectively break bonds. Now, in the 10
January issue of PRL, a team of physicists reports success with a different
kind of selective bond breaking in molecules stuck to metal surfaces.
(PRFocus 1/4/00)
http://focus.aps.org/v5/st1.html

*A whole old world. Researchers may have found a bridge to a lost world at
the bottom of a test tube. US Researchers have created a molecule, the like
of which may have been responsible for the emergence of the living world as
we know it from an altogether different proposition. (Nature Science Update
1/4/00)
http://helix.nature.com/nsu/000106/000106-7.html

*Multiple Ionization and Fragmentation of Negatively Charged Fullerene Ions
by Electron Impact. Read the abstract here, or download the full text in pdf
form, at this same url. (Physical Review Letters 1/3/00)
http://ojps.aip.org/journal_cgi/getabs?KEY=PRLTAO&cvips=PRLTAO00008400000100
0055000001&gifs=Yes

*A rip in time. More scientists are beginning to think that traveling back
in time would not violate the laws of physics. But how would they do it?
More scientists than ever now believe that traveling back or forward in time
would not necessarily violate the laws of physics and that even Einstein's
theories support the notion. (Boston Globe 1/3/00)
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/003/science/A_rip_in_time+.shtml

 *CNN transcripts of an interview entitled "Special Event Millennium 2000:
Genome"
Interview with Dr. Francis Collins, Dir., Human Genome Project, Nat'l.
Institutes of Health and Craig Venter, Celera Genomics. This is a rather
lengthy and thourough discussion that aired on television. (CNN 1/1/200)
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0001/01/se.05.html

*Getting in a spin. Philip Ball reports on two studies that may help to open
up a new dimension in electronics: spintronics. Two reports in Nature2,3 may
help to open up a new dimension in electronics. So-called 'spintronics'
manipulates electrical signals conveyed by charge carriers (such as
electrons) by means of their spins, not of their electrical charge. (Nature
Science Update 12/23/99)
http://helix.nature.com/nsu/991223/991223-10.html

*Future Shock? 21st century may provide clues to some of our most profound
questions. Article includes these sub-titles: Predicting the past,
Future-The Theory of Everything-Understanding Disease, Aging-and-The Big
Questions. (SF Gate/Chronical 1/3/00)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/01/03
/MN97500.DTL

*Scientist Envisages Tiny Computers in Human Cells. - Tiny biological
"computers" could one day be built inside every cell in the human body to
work as microscopic doctors, according to an Israeli scientist.The tiny
machines, constructed from molecular building blocks, could keep watch for
hostile bacteria and dispense an antibiotic, or look for the symptoms of
disease and prescribe the appropriate drug.
(Fox News 1/5/00)
http://www.foxnews.com/vtech/010500/computers.sml

*A Christmas Miracle? Woman Out of 'Vegetative State' After 16 Years. Patti
White Bull awoke after 16 years in a vegetative state. For 16 years, life
for Patti White Bull had been very much the same - not much of a life at
all, her body locked in a coma-like state, fed by a tube. But on Christmas
Day this year, she was miraculously awake. (ABC news 12/29/99)
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/living/DailyNews/miraclewoman991229.html

*UFO hotspot will be filmed continuously for six months. A Japanese
television company is to train a camera on the sky over two Scottish hills
for six months in an attempt to film a UFO. The camera will run continuously
in the hope of picking up extra-terrestrial spacecraft visiting East
Lothian. (Independent 1/5/00)
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/UK/Science/ufo050100.shtml

*Gene bank aims to clone beloved pets. An American businessman is setting up
a gene bank so that pet owners can store the DNA of their beloved animals
for eventual cloning. The venture, also involving Texas A&M University, is
based on a US$2.3 million (HK$17.8 million) gift from an unidentified couple
who want to clone their 12-year-old border collie, Missy, the San Francisco
Chronicle reported on Monday. (SCMP 1/5/00)
http://www.scmp.com/News/World/Article/FullText_asp_ArticleID-20000105032308
161.asp

*International meet for science communicators. The National Centre for
Science Communicators (NCSC) will be holding an international conference for
science communicators at Pune between January 27 and 30 at the
Inter-university centre for astronomy and astrophysics.The aim of the
conference will be to look into social implications of science and
technology, resources and financial viability for science communicators,
among other things. (The Times of India 1/5/00 no hyperlinks)
http://www.timesofindia.com/050100/05mbom24.htm

*War on cancer 'will end by 2050'. Scientists will win the war against
cancer within 50 years, the Cancer Research Campaign predicted on Tuesday.
Although the ageing population will lead to a steady increase in the number
of cases, the disease will be treated successfully. Gordon McVie, the CRC's
director-general, said there would be no need for the charity in 2050. (The
Financial Times 1/5/00)
http://www.ft.com/hippocampus/q3172b6.htm

*The healing web. Spray-on skin could make scars a thing of the past. A mat
of polymer fibres designed to help wounds heal could spell the end for
traditional wound dressings, say British scientists. The fine web of fibres,
which is sprayed on, lets wounds heal by encouraging the formation of a
strong skin structure rather than weaker scar tissue. Includes gif. (New
Scientist 1/8/00)
http://www.newscientist.com/ns/20000108/newsstory1.html

*GM-Silkworms Could Become Mini-Chemical Factories. French, American and
Japanese scientists say they have found a way to alter the genes of the
humble silkworm that could eventually make it into a miniature chemical
factory.
Researchers said the gene transplantation method, discovered after more than
12 years of research, was the first step in breeding new varieties resistant
to diseases that can wipe out a third of the global crop. (Fox 1/5/00)
http://www.foxnews.com/science/010500/silkworms.sml

*What Is Cyberspace? The Answer Is Part Science and Part Philosophy. Now
that the 21st century is officially underway, we can all lock arms and march
off into cyberspace. But first, one small question: Where are we going? No
one had even heard of cyberspace until William Gibson coined the term in his
1984 cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer." Now just about everyone in the
industrialized world seems to know about it. But even scholars who have
spent years studying it can't agree on what it really is. (L.A. Times
1/3/00)
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/science/20000103/t000000683.html

*California bighorn sheep placed on endangered species list. The Fish and
Wildlife Service this week threw its protective arms around the California
bighorn sheep, putting the mountain-loving animal on the list of endangered
species. (NandoTimes 1/5/00)
http://www2.nando.net/noframes/story/0,2107,500150257-500183288-500756004-0,
00.html

*'Stale' Cells Produce Successful Clones. Ear cells from a prize Japanese
bull, frozen and then cultured in a lab over several months, have produced
successful clones, challenging the notion that cells become too stale to
duplicate. (Discovery 1/5/00)
http://www.discovery.com/news/briefs/brief2.html?ct=3873e13a

*Transforming Schrödinger Wave Equation Solves Old Problem. For over half a
century, theorists have tried and failed to provide a complete solution to
scattering in a quantum system of three charged particles, one of the most
fundamental phenomena in atomic physics. Such interactions are everywhere:
ionization by electron impact, for example, is responsible for the glow of
fluorescent lights and for the ion beams that engrave silicon chips. (UniSci
1/5/00)
http://unisci.com/stories/20001/0105006.htm

*MIT material could aid high-temperature processes. MIT researchers have
created a new material that could make it easier to burn methane (the
principal component of natural gas) while drastically cutting emissions of
pollutants from natural gas power plants. Further, the procedure for
creating the material paves the way for materials that could improve other
high-temperature processes. (MIT press release 1/5/00)
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/nr/2000/catalysts.html

*UMass scientist developing wearable computer that learns; 'It isn't about
writing a paper while you're in line at the grocery store'.  "At the grocery
store, most people will wait until I'm past them, and then stop and stare,"
says Andy Fagg of the computer science faculty at the University of
Massachusetts. Fagg, who is developing a wearable computer, is accustomed to
the double takes. People don't generally see a guy strolling through the
frozen foods aisle wearing an apparatus that positions a tiny computer
screen in front of his face. (Eurekalert 1/5/00)
http://www.eurekalert.org/releases/umaa-usdw010500.html

*Centers To Breed Mice With Human-Like Gene Variants That Modify Their
Responses To Environmental Factors And The Repair Of Damaged DNA.
To help learn more about how human bodies repair their environment-damaged
DNA and control their cells' life cycles, the National Institute of
Environmental Health Science sannounced today it will fund up to five
research centers to develop and breed mice with genetic variations that are
more like humans' in these regards.
(NIEHS 1/3/00)
http://www.niehs.nih.gov/oc/news/dnarep.htm

*UCSD Scientists Use Laser And X-Ray Technologies To Watch A Different Way
Of "Melting" Semiconducting Material. Take an ice cube, plop it into a glass

of water and the cube will slowly undergo the very ordinary melting
transition from the solid to liquid phase. Using ultrafast pulses of light
and x-rays, an interdisciplinary group at the University of California, San
Diego has directly observed the melting of material without taking the route
of a typical melting process. (Science Daily 1/4/00)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/01/000104065835.htm

*Concerned about being left out of the race to patent the human genetic
code? No problem. Just fire up your Web browser, take out your Visa card and
head over to www.GeneSolutions.com. The Web site sells gene information for
as little as 10 cents per base (the chemical unit of DNA). (Tech Review
Jan/Feb)
http://www.techreview.com/articles/jan00/benchmark1.htm

*Latest genetic news shows a glimmer of hope. Ironically, the intense
attention given to the debacle at the University of Pennsylvania throughout
December overshadowed what might otherwise have been gene therapy's best
news in years: a report at the annual meeting of the American Society of
Hematology on what may be the field's first cures. (Lincon Journal Star
1/5/00)
http://www.journalstar.com/archives/010400/lif/sto1

*Geniuses, Crackpots and a Grand Unified Theory. Physicists, if they are
successful enough to penetrate the public consciousness, learn that with
fame come fans with -- to put it mildly -- eccentric ideas. These cosmic
theorizers, who might be defined as obsessed, confused, intellectually
outmatched or just plain weird proponents of demonstrably incorrect ideas,
maintain a voluminous correspondence with noted physicists and turn up at
their talks and speeches with the reliability of paparazzi chasing
princesses and pop artists. (N.Y. Times 1/4/00)
http://www10.nytimes.com/library/national/science/010400sci-physics-theory.h
tml

Gina "Nanogirl" Miller
Nanotechnology Industries
http://www.nanoindustries.com
Personal Web
http://www.nanogirl.com
E-mail: nanogirl@halcyon.com
"Nanotechnology: solutions for the future."




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