The Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems has examined what can be developed in labs today and then mapped out a step-by-step plan for the pathways of development that must take place to achieve productive nanosystems. This has been a long anticipated event by those (like myself) who follow molecular nanotechnology. Here is the Technology Roadmap …
Consultant Wendell Cox shows shifting 25 percent of the goods moved by truck with trains could save commuters more than 40 hours per year by reducing traffic, save $44 billion in fuel, and could also take 3 million trucks off the road during the rush hours across the country. Depending on the type of train, …
A unique computer model designed by a mathematician at the University of Liverpool has shown that it is possible to make objects, such as aeroplanes and submarines, appear invisible at close range. Scientists predict that metamaterials could be of use in military technology, such as in the construction of fighter jets and submarines, but it …
Loss of only one of the genes, a gene encoding the protein PHA-4, negated the lifespan-enhancing effect of calorie-restriction in worms. And, when researchers undertook the opposite experiment—by overexpressing pha-4 in worms—the longevity effect was enhanced. “PHA-4 acts completely independent of insulin/IGF-1 signaling and turns out to be essential for CR-mediated longevity,” says Panowski. “We …
The world is building a lot of coal-fired power to go with all of the coal-fired power it already has. This is horrible because air pollution from coal kills more than one million people every year. We need to use all other means to reduce the increase in coal usage, this means more nuclear as …
The transcript of an email interview Robert Freitas is up at lifeboat.com What I found to be the highlights of the interview: 1. Culminating 5 years of intermittent effort Robert Freitas has finished his latest theoretical scaling study of a new diamondoid medical nanorobot called the “chromallocyte”. This is the first full technical description of …
The best plastic solar cells are made from a light-absorbing polymer containing soccer ball-shaped carbon molecules called fullerenes. The fullerenes provide stepping stones in the plastic film for charge to hop across. By carefully heating finished cells to around 150ºC, Carroll and colleagues made the fullerene molecules form whiskers of crystal. These trigger crystallisation in …
New anti-air pollutions bills that are going before congress. The Clean Air Planning Act would save thousands of lives each year. For instance, EPA estimated that the previous bill, when compared to “Clear Skies” in 2010, would mean 10,000 fewer premature deaths, 15,000 fewer trips to the emergency room and 1 million fewer work days …
light beam striking a metal surface can generate plasmons, electron density waves that can carry huge amounts of data. If focused on a surface etched with a circular groove, as in this artist’s rendering, the beam produces concentric waves, organizing the electrons into high- and low-density rings. Over the past decade investigators have found that …
This provides more clear evidence that the concept of site specific chemistry using mechanical placement of molecules is viable. This concept is the basis of molecular nanotechnology. This may become part of a bootstrapping pathway. This shows that those who said that we would not be able to mechnically control chemical reactions were wrong. Researchers …
IEEE spectrum has an article about GTI’s work on a nuclear voltaic cell consisting, basically, of a semiconductor and an amount of radioactive material. They are using liquid semiconductors. Liquids don’t suffer any structural damage, so Tsang’s nuclear battery could run on much more powerful radiation than a beta cell, and therefore generate more electricity. …