Space Elevator 2010 contest preview

The space elevator Games 2010 competition is being covered at the Space elevator blog The competition will be from October 19-21, 2007. The competition has some bad weather issues. There is a space elevator climber competition and a tether competition. Five of the space elevator climber competitors are from Canada REDDIT UPDATE: More live coverage …

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Trying to make the manufacturing chain more efficient

Ponoko is an attempt at an online network of people and companies of the total manufacturing chain Currently this version of the concept seems targeted at small producers. There are other attempts to leverage the internet to source components and alternative suppliers. hat tip to futurismic Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and …

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Optical scanning larger areas at 10-30 nanometer resolution (7 to 20 times better)

The German team that developed the stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscope stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscope is reporting layer-by-layer light microscopic nanoscale images of cells and without having to prepare thin sections with a technique called optical 3D far-field microscopy. They use a chemical marker for fluorescence nanoscopy that relies on single-molecule photoswitching. They report …

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Nanotechnology enhanced domed cities versus nuclear weapons

I will explore how a series of dome shells over cities could be made with molecularly precise materials that would be resistant to nuclear weapons. Note: This is only a speculative thought experiment. Even if you had the required nanotechnology, making the defense system would be a wasteful and provocative act. The economic abundance that …

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Nanostructures near 10 nanometers are created

The University of Pennsylvania scientists used transmission electron beam ablation lithography to “carve” nanostructures from thin sheets of gold, silver, aluminum and other metals. The researchers said TEBAL provides a more dependable method for producing quality versions of such microscopic devices, while also permitting simultaneous, real-time atomic imaging of the devices as they are made. …

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New Mice stem cells mean 10 years to large clinical trials

“Finding a type of mouse stem that so closely resembles the human stem cells will accelerate the delivery of health benefits from stem cell research.” When asked how far away the first applications might be, Prof Pedersen said: “We’re talking five years. Those would be very early studies that involve a human individual. I think …

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100 KW solid state lasers being assembled

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has entered the integration and test phase for the Joint High Power Solid State Laser (JHPSSL) Phase 3 program after exceeding all demonstration requirements for the first gain module, or building block, that forms the core of its 100 kW solid-state laser system. This is four months after the 67 kilowatt …

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Comprehensive list of the work needed to realize vision of molecular manufacturing

Those who are actually working towards molecular manufacturing had been compiling a detailed list since 2001 of the work that was still needed to be done to achieve diamondoid molecular manufacturing. Go through this link to see how you can help support this work. Since 2001 we have been compiling a growing list of technical …

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