From the monthly archives:

February 2009

Toward Advanced Nanotechnology:

Nanomaterials (3)

February 8, 2009

Mechanical engineering meets thermal fluctuations
Thermal fluctuations distort nanoscale structures, and this makes them an enemy of nanotechnologies that rely on precise mechanical motion. Indeed, if one were to set aside design and calculation and instead substitute guesses (I’m not naming guilty parties here), one might suppose that this would prevent nanomechanical engineers from designing reliable [...]

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Predictably Irrational

February 5, 2009

If you’ve read Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions, you’ve probably recommended it to a friend. I you haven’t read it, then I think you’ll like it provided that:

You like to learn strange facts about how the human world really works, and
You sometimes enjoy well-written books on science by scientists who know [...]

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Toward Affordable Structural DNA Nanotechnology

February 4, 2009

Science recently reported a research advance linked to a series of topics I’ve covered:

Self-assembled systems
George Church’s roadmap for radically lowering the cost of DNA
Structural DNA nanotechnology for modular molecular composite nanosystems
Cryo-electron microscopy for visualizing large self-assembled structures

The advance is an improved structural map of the core of the self-assembled protein machinery that some bacteria use [...]

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From Self-Assembly to Mechanosynthesis

February 3, 2009

In an ongoing series, I’ve been discussing paths forward from today’s atomically precise fabrication methods to advanced molecular manufacturing. The posts that address broad topics are:
Modular Molecular Composite Nanosystems
Toward Advanced Nanotechnology: Nanomaterials (1)
Toward Advanced Nanotechnology: Nanomaterials (2)
Self-Assembly for Nanotechnology
In some areas I’ve discussed, lab research is active today; in other areas, research (at least, of [...]

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Ocean Acidification: The Other CO2 Problem

February 1, 2009

There’s recently been another ripple of media attention to the other CO2 problem: Not climate change, but ocean acidification. In brief: The oceans absorb a portion of CO2 emissions; this mitigates greenhouse warming, but forms carbonic acid, lowering ocean pH. Acidification of the oceans impedes the formation of coral and shells, and within decades, if [...]

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