Revolutionary Commercial Nanotechnology Potential

"While personalized medicine and nanotechnology are still buzzwords rather than big product generators, both have the potential to produce revolutionary commercial changes, according to scholars and business people who met at Wharton last month to talk about leading-edge industries."

Read more in this report from Knowledge@Wharton

Drug Delivery & Nanotechnology

"The current issue of Nature Drug Discovery contains a fascinating paper on the state of work in artificial viruses, in effect, a nanotech approach to gene-based therapies:

Nanotechnology is a rapidly expanding multidisciplinary field in which highly sophisticated nanoscale devices are constructed from atoms, molecules or (macro)molecular assemblies. In the field of gene medicine, systems for delivering nucleic acids are being developed that incorporate virus-like functions in a single nanoparticle. Although their development is still in its infancy, it is expected that such artificial viruses will have a great impact on the advancements of gene therapeutics."

See this post from Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed, from which the foregoing was quoted, for a link to the paper.

Nanotechnology Toxicity Researd Needed

"Science published an interesting review today, arguing that the nature of nanomaterials requires a different toxicology and that research concerning the toxicity of nanotechnology is urgently needed." Please see this Environmental Law Prof Blog post from which the foregoing was quoted for links to the article and abstract.

Nano Roundup

Check out this interesting update from WorldChanging covering "titanium nanotubes and solar hydrogen; the Centers for Nanotechnology and Society and the Nanoethics group look at the social impact of nanotech; carbon nanotubes wrapped in DNA -- for a good reason; and a detailed look at the key next-generation nanotechnology, the nanofactory."

Small Machines - Big Debate

From an article from Betterhumans:

"A major goal of nanotechnologists is to create nanoscale robots 'nanobots' that can perform various functions at the nanoscale. These functions include molecular manufacturing: Using nanobot designs, such as fabricators and assemblers, to build products with atomically precise control. Considering the possible applications of nanobots and molecular manufacturing in medicine, computing, industrial production and more, the debate's importance becomes apparent. 'Lack of funding together with objections from leadership circles in the US program have had a chilling effect on the research community and students wishing to pursue these topics,' says Drexler. 'It has inhibited broad, open discussion of goals and of how individual research pieces might fit together.'...

While opinions differ widely about who's wrong and who's right, there's a fairly strong consensus about the importance of developing molecular manufacturing in one form or another. And while the experts I spoke with could offer scientific arguments one way or another, perhaps it will only be a matter of time before the debate is settled by a concrete example. A recent industrial report from Russia's Diamond Nanotechnologies, for example, provides proposed timelines and a roadmap for implementing automated mechanosynthesis. So the debate might need to shift its focus from if molecular manufacturing could happen to how and when."

Via this post from Nanodot.

Nanotechnology Increases Solar Efficiency

"Nano-solar: It's becoming increasingly clear that nanotechnology will be the battering ram that makes solar power ubiquitous, as there's a growing number of techniques for using nano-scale materials in ways that increase efficiency and reduce costs.

Boingboing's David Pescovitz, writing for Berkeley Lab Notes, details the nanocrystal photovoltaic breakthrough we discussed back in October of 2005. Materials Science grad student Ilan Gur and his team figured out how to make photovoltaic materials out of inorganic nanocrystals, combining the resilience of traditional silicon photovoltaics with the ease of production and low cost of solar power polymers. Their only real drawback: a lowly 3% conversion efficiency. But no worries:

"If you can make this technology practical, you could imagine that people would be able to make solar cells where they don't have the tremendous capital needed to build plants, like in developing nations," Gur says. [...] "If we can produce this for as cheap as we hope, the efficiency doesn't have to be so high because you could just install more of the material," Gur says. "There are certainly places where people would trade space for energy."
The flip side of the nano-solar revolution can be found in the work of Richard Schaller, Melissa Petruska and Victor Klimov at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Late last month, they published an article in Applied Physics Letters detailing a method of using nanocrystal "quantum dots" to boost the efficiency of photovoltaics made out of less-expensive materials like zinc or polymers. The potential boost is dramatic:

Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have shown that it is possible to produce two or more electrons from a single photon using many kinds of semiconductor materials, not just the more exotic lead selenium of initial carrier multiplication experiments. [...] Solar cells made with semiconductor nanocrystals could use carrier multiplication to boost solar efficiency to 60 percent, according to the researchers. Today's state-of-the-art solar cells are less than 40 percent efficient.
Now what we need is to see what happens when you combine these two techniques. Cheap, rugged nanocrystal photovoltaics with better-than-silicon conversion efficiency is pretty much the Holy Grail of solar power research -- and it might even be possible to achieve."

Please see this article from WorldChanging for relevant links.

Predictions on Nanotechnology Regulation on Target

"Last year Science predicted that nanotechnology regulation would be a hot topic in 2005. Indeed, it has been. See:

R. F. Service, 'Calls Rise for More Research on Toxicology of Nanomaterials,' Science 310, 1609 (2005)
R. F. Service, 'EPA Ponders Voluntary Nanotechnology Regulations,' Science 309, 36 (2005)
U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Research Nanotechnology Home
ICON -- International Council on Nanotechnology
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health: Nanotechnology Topic Page
Nanotechnology Service of the European Commission
Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies "

Please refer to this post from Environmental Law Prof Blog for links to the above resources.

Bio Nanotechnology

WorldChanging reports:

"Why create new engineering materials at the nano-scale when nature can make them for you? A couple of recent discoveries bring bioengineering and nanotechnology closer together. Researchers at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, Mass., along with colleagues at MIT, the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass, and University of Illinois, Chicago, have figured out how the fibrous coil "spring" of the protozoan Vorticella convallaria can be so strong -- possibly ten times the propulsive power of a typical car engine, if scaled up. The research came up with the structure and the chemical engine for this coil propulsion, with enough details that the next step is to replicate it in the lab.

Meanwhile, Duke University scientists have been able to use DNA's ability to self-assemble in order to mass-produce patterned structures. This is an important step towards mass producing nano-scale DNA-based electronic or optical circuits. These DNA structures are ten times smaller than the current best traditional chip lithography technique. The next step is to apply this process to molecular electronics; if it all works, possible applications include biological computers and microscopic sensor devices."

Are Nanoparticles Toxic?

"Scientists manipulating matter at the molecular level have improved on hundreds of everyday products in recent years and are promising dramatic breakthroughs in medicine and other industries as billions of dollars a year are pumped into the nascent sector.

But relatively little is known about the potential health and environmental effects of the tiny particles -- just atoms wide and small enough to easily penetrate cells in lungs, brains and other organs.

While governments and businesses have begun pumping millions of dollars into researching such effects, scientists and others say nowhere near enough is being spent to determine whether nanomaterials pose a danger to human health."

Read more in this article from technologyreview.com.

Can the EPA Regulate Nanotechnology?

"While much nanotech is still in its early stages and far from marketable, experts now estimate that nano-engineered materials have found their way into as many as 700 products. That growing presence is lending an urgency to learning what environmental and health effects these novel materials may have -- and to regulate them accordingly.

In fact, the fate of a host of industries, spanning every sector of the economy, may depend on whether or not regulators get it right. But as things stand now, according to many industry-watchers, the necessary resources to oversee this burgeoning new field just aren't there."

Read more in this technologyReview.com article.

Nano Armor & More

"Inorganic fullerenes-- recently discovered non-carbon analogues to buckytubes -- are notable for a few important reasons: they can be produced relatively inexpensively, are chemically stable, and tests so far show them to be non-toxic. Moreover, they're incredibly strong. According to ZDNet, materials made from inorganic fullerenes have remarkable "shock-absorbing properties," making them suitable for (among other things) new kinds of lightweight bullet-proof armor."

Read more and find related links in this article from WorldChanging.

EPA Nanotechnology White Paper Draft Released

Nanotechnology presents opportunities to create new and better products. It also has the potential to improve assessment, management, and prevention of environmental risks. However, there are unanswered questions about the impacts of nanomaterials and nanoproducts on human health and the environment.

In December 2004, EPA’s Science Policy Council (SPC) formed a cross-Agency Nanotechnology Workgroup to develop a white paper examining potential environmental
implications and applications of nanotechnology. This document describes the issues that EPA must address to ensure that society benefits from advances in environmental protection that nanotechnology may offer, and to understand any potential risks from environmental exposure to nanomaterials.

Found via this post from Environmental Law Prof Blog.

What is MEMS?

"Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) is the integration of mechanical elements, sensors, actuators, and electronics on a common silicon substrate through microfabrication technology. While the electronics are fabricated using integrated circuit (IC) process sequences (e.g., CMOS, Bipolar, or BICMOS processes), the micromechanical components are fabricated using compatible 'micromachining' processes that selectively etch away parts of the silicon wafer or add new structural layers to form the mechanical and electromechanical devices. "

Read more in this memsnet.org post.

NanoRoadMap Project

NanoRoad Map(NRM) is a project founded by the European Commission in the FP6 (Thematic Priority 3) and its main objective is to produce a long term (10 years) forecasting exercise aiming to highlight the applications of nanotechnology in three important industrial fields:

-materials
-health and medical services
-energy

The project has started in January 2004 and will be completed in 24 months (December 2005). It will monitor progress and discuss tendencies in the above fields to produce roadmaps that will highlight drivers of change, scientific and technical challenges, roadblocks and opportunities, strengths and weaknesses, needs for funding and infrastructures relevant for research and application of nanotechnology. "

Nanotechnology Commercialization in Europe Talk

"On behalf of Nanoforum, Ineke Malsch delivered this invited talk at the n-ABLE 2005 conference in Saarbruecken, Germany, 26-28 September 2005.

Summary: Nanotechnology is currently at the turning point between basic research and uptake by industry. Commercialising nanotechnology is the talk of the town. This presentation will cover several relevant issues, including an analysis of investment opportunities in nano-start-ups for private investors. Established industrial companies may be interested in technology transfer opportunities of nanotechnology. Examples of European public-private collaborations will be reviewed. The presentation also includes discussion of R&D collaboration among SMEs and larger corporations and the public sector. The main economic sectors which may benefit from nanotechnology will be covered. These include chemistry and materials; biotechnology; ICT; healthcare; and security/defence. Commercial success may be hampered by potential bottlenecks for commercialisation.

The presentation includes a discussion of several of these bottlenecks as well as ways to overcome them. These bottlenecks include a lack of trained staff, which is expected to become problematic in five to ten years. To overcome this, universities and other education institutions are offering education and training courses since the last few years. The absence of nanotechnology standards and patent classifications is not considered a big problem by companies at the moment, but may well slow down the uptake of products including nanotechnology and nanomaterials. Normalisation institutions and Patent organisations have started to look into these issues. Currently, it is not clear how legislation covering the market introduction of products with nano-inside will develop over the coming years. This may slow down investments in nanotechnology R&D in certain areas such as nanomaterials. Public acceptance of nanotechnology is still relatively unproblematic; nevertheless there are a lot of initiatives for communicating nanotechnology to the general public to prevent unfounded fear. Most industrialists are not worried about public reactions. The presentation ends with a conceptual introduction into Nanoforum www.nanoforum.org and how it may be able to contribute to the stimulation of Intelligent Manufacturing Systems’ R&D projects.

More information: http://www.nanoforum.org"

Nanotechnology Outlook from Draper Fisher Jurvetsen

Venture capital company Draper Fisher Jurvetsen offers these observations about Nanotech as the company contemplates 2005 and beyond.

"#1: Nanotech is in business! Companies are selling product and ramping revenue...
#2: Out of the lab and into the fab: Companies transition from the lab to manufacturing...
#3: Gene-based and bionano opportunities take center stage...
#4: Software matters. An explosion of data needs software to make sense of it all..
#5: Solar and Hydrogen-based energy become ‘hip’ again..."

Read more in this DFJ article.

Who's Who in Nanotechnology

Nanotech Now provides this Who's Who Nanotech Directory for individuals involved in Nanotechnology. If you have another nominee, you may email Nanotech Now with their name and data, including the URL of their website, and one for their bio, photo, CV, etc. New entries will be judged by the impact they have had or are having on the Nanospace.

Videos of Richard Feynman

Available here from vega.org.uk is a set of four archival recordings from the University of Auckland (New Zealand) of the Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman that "gives us not just a lesson in basic physics but also a deep insight into the scientific mind of a 20th century genius analysing the approach of the 17th century genius Newton."

Investing in Nanotechnology

An overview of available options for investing in nanotechnology is found in Wired News: Let's Get Really Small.

Protecting IP is Key to Nanotechnology Companies

"For most nanotech start-up companies (especially those that operate without products or profits), intellectual property is the most essential asset. In the words of one industry executive, the strength of a nanotech company’s patent portfolio is what separates the winners from the losers...But... Many intellectual property experts in the US are predicting that large-scale nanotech patent litigation is inevitable, and it’s likely to be ugly. Because of the large number of over-lapping and conflicting patents being granted, nanotech companies must be prepared to vigorously defend their patents in court. It’s conventional wisdom that, in most patent battles, it’s the largest enterprises - not the most innovative - that will prevail...[and] As with biotech in the 1980s and 1990s, nanotech start-ups holding key patents may also become attractive takeover targets because it’s less costly for a multinational firm to acquire the company than to litigate in court."

Read more in azonano.com post.