If someone gets rich in a virtual world, do we have to believe it? Be sure to check this week's Friday Morning Minutes, the CNSE weekly newsletter, for a fascinating article on Kaneva, a virtual-reality start-up company (or, as its founder calls it, a "social experience") that will offer games, shared media like YouTube, social interaction like MySpace, and virtual items for sale. Based on similar successful ventures already in operation, this idea will probably make lots of money (the tangible, not virtual, kind).

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 21, 2006

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Does the media tend to hype nanotechnology, or neglect it? Do newspaper headlines focus more on nanotechnology's risks than its benefits? How do journalists write stories on a technology about which most Americans know next to nothing, and that is invisible to the human eye? With governments, corporations and venture capitalists spending $9.6 billion annually on nanotechnology research and development, and with an estimated $2.6 trillion in global manufactured goods incorporating nanotechnology (or about 15% of total output) expected by 2014, there is a lot at stake in how these questions are answered. The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars explored these questions at a program last week. Click here for more.

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 19, 2006 

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Author and futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that in just 15 years, we'll begin to see a merger of human and computer intelligence that ultimately will enable people to live forever. In his keynote address at last month's SCO6 supercomputing conference, Kurzweil (author of the book The Singularity Is Near) said that nanobots will roam our blood streams fixing diseased or aging organs, while computers will back up our human memories and rejuvenate our bodies by keeping us young in appearance and health. He predicts that within a quarter of a century, non-biological intelligence will match the range and subtlety of human intelligence - and will ultimately surpass it, so that by the year 2045 it will be one billion times more powerful than all human intelligence today. Here's what I'm wondering: how do I stop aging now, so that when immortality is possible, I won't be stuck enjoying it in a body that's 15 years older? Read more here in the article published in Information Week.

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 14, 2006

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What is it like to be a student in the nanotech field? This is a great question that students venturing off into this new field would be interested in knowing the answer to. I find the field very stimulating and the key component that makes nanotech interesting to me is the hands on work that utilizes all these tools. I am applying them to work on current problems to push the limitations of what is known today.

My project has been involved with trying to solve some of the current industrial problems in copper interconnects. My specific goal is to characterize the recrystallization of finite copper lines (<100nm) by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). My project is funded by the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) and allows me to work directly with some of the largest players like IBM, Texas Instruments, and Intel to name a few. Being able to work with these companies has had a definite advantage of learning what companies expect from an individual.

As I complete my degree, I feel like I have been lucky in my journey. Being able to be involved with industrial liaisons, hands on experience, and the background knowledge has definitely help project myself forward for the next step.

Jonathan Rullan, M.S. student
December 12, 2006

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The largest and most comprehensive survey of public perceptions of nanotechnology products finds that U.S. consumers are willing to use specific nano-containing products - even if there are health and safety risks - when the potential benefits are high. The study also finds that U.S. consumers rate nanotechnology as less risky than everyday technologies like herbicides, chemical disinfectants, handguns and food preservatives.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology (CBEN), University College London (UCL) and the London Business School, is the largest survey yet conducted on public willingness to use commercial nanotechnology products. It appears in the December issue of Nature Nanotechnology.

Click here to read the full story.

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 11, 2006

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The 2006 International Symposium on EUVL (Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography) took place in Barcelona in October. This meeting is organized by Sematech every year for people working in the field of EUV lithography all over the world to present and discuss their work to develop a technology and infrastructure in this area. The EUV lithography, which is a possible candidate for fabrication of semiconductor feature size below 32 nm, has many limitations which need to be looked into before it can be commercialized. So, the main aim for this conference was to gather the EUVL community and discuss the new developments and issues towards progress of this field.

There were about 150 presentations including posters in this symposium. These presentations included different topics like optics contamination, possible sources for EUV, debris mitigation, mask defect study, photoresist outgassing and other limitations. There are different groups all over the world working on these topics and this meeting helps us to share our work and learn more about the same.

One of the works presented there was by ASML on the alpha tool which has just delivered to the college. Then there were some interesting talks on different critical issues related to photoresist performance like outgassing, line edge roughness, photochemistry. I am working in the resist outgassing field, so it gave me a broader overview on what's going on in this area around the world and what needs to be done where I can be a contributor. I also presented on the optics contamination study which included experiments done at Albany on EUV Resist Outgassing eXposure system (EUV ROX). There were lots of people interested in this work and I got some good ideas of how I can further make progress in this study.

Rashi Garg, Ph.D. Student
December 8, 2006

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"Nanotech Blogs Speed Info Sharing," says the University of California at Santa Barbara's (UCSB) Daily Nexus online newspaper.  UCSB's Center for Nanotechnology in Society has started a blog titled "Nanoscience and Nanosociety," which is intended to be "a means of informal communication between people associated with nanotechnology on campus." Chris Newfield, the professor who started the blog, says the Internet provides a more convenient way for the center to share research than an academic publication, which may take between 18 and 24 months to publish findings. "Blogs are having a major impact on research, since they allow sharing of interim results, provisional findings, new but untested ideas, and many of the ingredients of creative thinking," says Newfield, adding that blogs have the potential to be useful in many academic fields.

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 6, 2006

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A nano-related news story apropros to the shopping season... Researchers have made a startling discovery: video games can actually be GOOD for kids. (Ssh, don't tell mine!) It seems that certain games can both educate kids and motivate them to better health. One game that's producing measurable results is "Re-Mission" by HopeLab. It allows the player to control a nanobot named Roxxi, as she travels through the body destroying cancer cells, battling bacterial infections and managing side effects associated with cancer and cancer treatments. Studies have shown that teens undergoing cancer treatment who played the game understood cancer better, were more likely to stick to their treatment regimens and were more confident of their ability to fight their cancer. Now THAT's a video game I'd gladly buy! Read more here.

Cynthia Nagle, CNSE staff
December 4, 2006

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I was at the 53rd AVS International Symposium last week in San Francisco. It was very interesting learning about the recent advances in so many fields from well renowned experts. For me the magnetic nanostructures and plasma processing sessions were particularly interesting. Also, their job center was excellent. It allowed me to show my resume and interact with top professors and scientists from around the world. I had several interviews that went well. Overall, the conference was very informative and San Francisco is a very beautiful and clean city.

Chaffra Awo-Affouda, Ph.D. student
November 21, 2006

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The previous week I participated in the American Vacuum Society conference in San Francisco, California. I had the opportunity to hear some quality presentations from people in different fields from around the world. After I finished giving my own presentation, I was approached by one of the leading experts in the study of ferromagnetic materials and spintronics. He told me he was searching for a post doc and wanted to know if I was interested. In addition, I had interviews for positions at Pacific Northwest Laboratories and Sandia National Labs. The interest expressed in me by these prestigious laboratories and individuals made me realize that all my hard work was finally paying off.

Andrew Stollenwerk, Ph.D. student
November 21, 2006

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