Key figures from around the world will gather to discuss the prospects and priorities for public funding of nanotechnology at Nanotech Northern Europe 2008. The global nanotechnology debate will be co-moderated by BusinessWeek technology correspondent Jennifer L. Schenker and Pekka Koponen, CEO of Spinverse. Richard M. Russell, Deputy ...

Now we can all explore a French version of the Powers of Ten, produced as part of a nanoechnology exhibit by the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie museum in Paris, brought to our attention by Foresight Senior Associate Gina Miller. Topics covered include Basics, Techniques, Uses, Ethics, “The Debate”, and Nanojourney (the ...

BusinessWeek.com reports that nanotechnology is the next big thing in Russia: Russia will pour over $1 billion into equipment for nanotechnology research over the next three years as it uses massive oil and gas export earnings to diversify an economy now heavily dependent on raw materials, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said ...

Here on Nanodot we mentioned earlier a nanotechnology survey article titled Synthetic Molecular Motors and Mechanical Machines by Euan Kay, David Leigh, and Francesco Zerbetto. I have a paper copy now and have to admit that it is indeed worth $25, but that the 24-hour online access offered by the publisher at that price [...]

Richard Jones brings to our attention an amusing note on which to end the nanotechnology workweek: A pointer to a Technology Review blog in German by Niels Boeing which compares Drexler to Elvis and the UK’s Software Control of Matter project to the Beatles. Roughly translated: It’s intringuingly reminiscent of the history of pop music, ...

Richard Jones and commenters bring our attention to a number of enticing research papers on the use of catalysis and molecular motors to produce movement. One paper mentioned sounds particularly useful: an overview of progress on Synthetic Molecular Motors and Mechanical Machines. From the abstract: The widespread use of controlled ...

The ever-vigilant Physorg.com brings us news of a one-atom thick freestanding (i.e., unattached) graphene carbon film: Physicists pioneer new super-thin technology Physicists at The University of Manchester and The Max-Planck Institute in Germany have created a new kind of a membrane that is only one atom thick. It’s believed this ...

Those of us who’ve visited the museums and churches of Italy know that folks there have a special knack for making art. So it’s no surprise to see beautiful artistic images of nanotechnology coming from that country. Nanowerk tells the story and shows some of the images: This exhibition brings to the public images [...]

UK nanotech researcher David Leigh and team have published new work in Nature on a nanotechnology achievement — an information rachet, inspired by Maxwell’s Demon but not violating the Second Law — that sounds possibly important for molecular nanomachines. At rotaxane.net, you can read the full paper (pdf), or a more accessible ...

EurActiv.com reports on a citizens’ panel on nanotechnology held by the Ile de France region: Citizens find nanotechs ‘elitist’ A citizens’ conference on nanotechnologies in France found public information on nanosciences difficult to access for non-specialists. The report itself (PDF) is in French, but an Altavista ...