Category Archives: Nanotech

Ken Novak, Bloglet, and virtualization …

Posted on by
Reply

I was in the middle of debugging my problems with Radio categories last night, when in walked Ken Novak.  I met Ken Novak a number of
years ago at the Foresight Institute conference. He is always
involved in some interesting and exciting areas … I always like to
hear about his work. Last night as we talked about our use and
experiences with RSS, Radio, and various RSS related companies and
products. I have been looking at an idea that I described to Ken
and he pointed me to Bloglet … my idea already exists! This is a very cool idea … a variation on what News Gator is doing … converting RSS feeds into e-mail messages.

We also spent some time laughing about the current state of Userland’s
Radio … it is becoming clear that most experienced users just plain do not mess with it
once it is working well for them.  I’m going to keep pushing the
limits to get my categories going … and I’ll keep backing things up
on the way.

We also talked about virtualization technologies … his interest and
recognition of the value, and my experiences with Virtual PC
2004.  We talked about how we both expect to see people begin to
trade in Virtual Hard Disks … the large files created by Virtual PC
that contain the hard disk information.  We both see that this
goes another step beyond the current file-trading that people are doing
today.

I had hoped he would be here the rest of the weekend … we’ll have to catch up on-line …

accelrys – amazing software company …

Posted on by
Reply

Last night there were two presentations by accelrys … a company that is developing amazing software for nanotech and other areas. They are a public company (ACCL) and been growing … this page
from their web site has more about them.  I’m considering an
investment … they are trading below $10US and this is a huge market.

The first speaker presented their perspective of the tools that they
provide, and indicated the various levels at which they allow
researchers to experimnet and simulate.  They have a killer gallery
of the types of images they can create.  He talked about the ways
they can use approximation to simulate … and the types of solutions
they can provide.  He talked about how they can evaluate and
experiment on molecular structures to determine cause and effects.

Later in the evening one of their engineers did some real demonstrations of the types of work that can be done with Materials Studio … a tool where the average person running Windows can create all sorts of new molecular-level products!  😉

P.S. They also have regular Webinars on the subject … I was thinking of checking some of these out.  They have one coming up on the 20th – Quantum Mechanical Modeling of Chemical Reactions: a Practical Approach

Foresight Institute – Senior Associates Gathering 2004

Posted on by
Reply

I am attending the Foresight Institute Vision Weekend – Senior Associate Gathering again this year. I first heard about this organization when friends taold me about Eric Drexler and his famous book on nanotechnology – Engines of Creation.

The weekend runs from Friday evening through Sunday and has always
provides incredible insights into the state of research and development
with respect to nanotech. The conference is “off the record” and
so I’ll be carefully commenting on the things that I can. Some of
the thoughts and comments of speakers are fairly “out there” …
however in my opinion it is only the main-stream public that are not
ready to hear what they are saying.

The conference is being held in the Bay Area of California … it
attracts a lot of big names. I’ll post about last night … it
was already impressive …

Posted on by
Reply

Breakthroughs continue in hydrogen energy research
One of the potential fuels of the future is hydrogen. As this article mentions, it is still far too expensive to create pure hydrogen from electrolysis. In the plant world, hydrogen is stripped from water molecules on a regular basis … and how they do this has long been a secret. Until now … as we are gaining an understanding on how it is done!

Plants Give Up Their Secret of Splitting Water [KurzweilAI.net Accelerating Intelligence News]

Posted on by
Reply

The Neuron-Silicon Interface and the Future of Neural Prosthetics
Ok … I have to admit that I really want to go to this Neuron-Silicon Interface conference. This is even beyond where the wearable computer research is going … however along the same path. At the upcoming IEEE International Symposium on Wearable Computers there are a number of very impressive presentations on where the wearable market is moving … however “Neuron-Silicon Interface” will take this concept even further.

When listening to Ray Kurzweil speak about the future, I see these types of discussions very enlightening on our progress in exploring the man-machine interfaces of the future. What is interesting is when you begin to think about the possibilities that will emerge as these neural implants become much more “mainstream”. Just as we are seeing a new culture of piercings, tatoos, and now “extreme body modifications“, I can see in the not-too-distant-future that our culture will embrace a wide range of neural enhancing technologies.

I love the wild ride that we are on … and look forward to what we can’t see over that next rise.

Posted on by
Reply

Evolutionary Developmental Systems
I am getting pretty excited about the upcoming conference this weekend. The Accelerating Change Conference 2003 will be held on Stanford University campus in the Bay Area, and is going to have a great group of speakers and conversations. It’ll be happening Friday the 12th, through Sunday the 14th, and I’ll be there … and blogging.

One of hte best things is that I’ll have a chance to discuss some of my work here at SCO, and what we are developing. This group of people is always great for ideas and feedback!

Posted on by
Reply

3d Semiconductors …
At several of the George Gilder Telecosm conferences that I have attended, there have been discussions about the evolution towards 3 dimensional semiconductors. It has been said that this will be a huge leap in semiconductor fabrication which will provide huge leaps in capabilities and power.

One of the most amazing presenters was Carver Mead (now at Foveon), who indicated that with no new knowledge or further advances in semiconductor science we can expect to see a 100,000 times increase in the compute capacity of our home computers … all in the next decade or so! All of this continues to feed the acceleration of technology and what we can create. This article is a great one that outlines the details of 3d Semiconductors, the history, the issues, and the solutions.

http://www.sciam.com/2002/0102issue/0102lee.html

Posted on by
Reply

A hit of Gene Therapy …
Some of the discoveries of the gene world of truly becoming impressive. The possibilities that are created in this space are almost endless … and look like we are going to find ways to regenerate nerves and maybe neural development. Wanna take a hit of gene-therapy brain boost?

Manipulating A Single Gene Dramatically Improves Regeneration In Adult Neurons: Finding May Lead To New Approa. Science Daily Jul 2 2001 10:29AM ET [Genetics news]