Nano-
From Blindside
Contents |
[edit] What is it
Brief abstract of the emerging technology
A somewhat larger wiki (Wikipedia) discusses and defines nanotechnology in detail here:
"Nanotechnology is a field of applied science and technology covering a broad range of topics. The main unifying theme is the control of matter on a scale smaller than 1 micrometre, normally between 1-100 nanometers, as well as the fabrication of devices on this same length scale. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as colloidal science, device physics, and supramolecular chemistry. Much speculation exists as to what new science and technology might result from these lines of research. Some view nanotechnology as a marketing term that describes pre-existing lines of research applied to the sub-micron size scale." (Much more on Wikipedia at the link above).
[edit] Impact & Maturity assessment
We assign an Impact Level of 3 and a Maturity Level of 2 to nanotechnology. Nanotechnology, although far from a mature field, is generating considerable impact in the media and can be expected to figure in public debate on science and technology issues going forward. Whether this discussion will be based on fear (such as seen in former Sun executive Bill Joy's article Why The Future Doesn't Need Us) or wild hope Ray Kurzweil Predicts the Future, it will be a subject that the public sector will have to contend with.
Nanotechnology has been the subject of serious academic and commercial research since 1987. The database Scirus has records of 28,846 academic journal publications and 5,148 patents filed regarding nanotechnology since 1987, with the bulk of both journal and patent activity occuring in the past five years. On June 12, 2007, the search engine Google returned 1,846 newspaper and magazine article as results for a search on the term 'nanotechnology' for that particular day. Both academic journal publications and patent filings are increasing at a compound annual growth rate of over 40% annually.
Most current work with very small particles appears to involve medical uses or materials coating applications. However, much has been written regarding nanotechnology's implications for computing in general. As with many other subjects covered on this wiki, much of the information about nanotechnology is nano 'and,' that is nanotechnology and its applications in other areas. One such area is nano 'and' MEMs (Micro Electro Mechanical systems), explained in some detail here, at the Massachussetts-based Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
Some recent patent filings include:
Nanoscale Wire-Based Data Storage
Nano data writing and reading apparatus using cantilever structure and fabrication method thereof
Pace of Change. In June, Scirus (a multi-disciplinary information repository) had logged 497 patent applications this year regarding nanotechnology. On September 24, that number had risen to 747 for the year. The total number of patents regarding nanotechnology referenced on Scirus is 5,313. With the 747 results in 2007 and 1,322 from 2006, it means that 39% of all patent activity in nanotechnology has occurred in the past 20 months. As noted previously, many of the patents are relevant to UK government information assurance issues regarding quantum computing, miniaturization and cryptography.
Process for fabricating semiconductor component Quick, Nathaniel R. / Kar, Aravinda / Salama, Islam A. (University of Central Florida), UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE GRANTED PATENT, Sep 2007 patno:US7268063 A process is disclosed for in-situ fabricating a semiconductor component imbedded in a substrate. A substrate is ablated with a first laser beam to form a void therein. A first conductive element is formed in the void of the substrate with a second laser ...
Nanotube-based logic driver circuits Bertin, Claude L. (Nantero, Inc.), UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE GRANTED PATENT, Sep 2007 patno:US7265575 Nanotube based logic driver circuits. These include pull-up driver circuits, push-pull driver circuits, tristate driver circuits, among others.
Polymer-wrapped single wall carbon nanotubes Smalley, Richard E. / Colbert, Daniel T. / Smith, Ken A. / O'Connell, Michael (William Marsh Rice University), UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE GRANTED PATENT, Sep 2007 patno:US7264876 The present invention relates to new compositions of matter and articles of manufacture comprising SWNTs as nanometer scale conducting rods dispersed in an electrically-insulating matrix. These compositions of matter have novel and useful electrical
[edit] Information Assurance issues
Answer: what seem to be the likely information assurance issues of the emerging technology under discussion
It is quite possible that memory devices will continue to shrink in physical size and increase in capacity at a logarithmic pace. What are the information assurance issues with a young lady's tongue stud that can carry the contents of the British Libray? That could be 7-10 years out in the future. It may happen sooner.
More positively, field workers for government departments will have access to as much information as may be entrusted to them on devices as small or smaller than PDA's, without querying a central database (assuming appropriate data security is employed).
If government decides to limit data access for security reasons, but commercial organisations are more ambitious in exploiting nanotechnology's potential regarding information, will government workers and citizens accept a security rationale?
Some nanotechnology applications in the medical field have clear implications for biometrics, some that will help identify an individual securely and confidently, but some that may help defeat other, older biometric markers. For example, according to an article in Electronic Design, "With research on nanotechnology proceeding at a breakneck pace, we may well be in for some surprises in a few more years. Nanotechnology scientists at Lucent Technologies' New Jersey Nanotechnology Consortium, in collaboration with the University of Illinois, are attempting to get an entire human genome on a chip or CD. The project includes $1.6 million in funding from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The device can sequence a person's DNA in seconds. The genome decoder device would require a speedy sensor that can identify biological agents. According to its developers, customers will eventually be able to walk into a clinic, provide a DNA sample, and then for a fee walk out moments later with a CD bearing their genetic data."
[edit] Our Report on Nanotechnology to the CSIA
Overview
The subject is discussed in more detail here: http://www.blindside.org.uk/wiki/Nano- The Royal Society uses this definition of nanotechnology: “Nanotechnologies are the design, characterization, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at nanometer scale.” The Scotland-based Institute of Nanotechnology lists short term applications of nanotechnology, many of which are in production today: • Medical diagnostic tools and sensors • Solar energy collection (photovoltaics) • Direct hydrogen production • Flexible display technologies and e-paper • Composites containing nanotubes • Glues, paints and lubricants • New forms of computer memory • Printable electronic circuits • Various optical components
Longer term, (and it must be emphasized this list is at the conservative end of possible applications), the Institute forecasts use of nanotechnology in the following ways: • Miniaturised data storage systems with capacities comparable to whole libraries' stocks • PCs with the power of today's computer centres • Chips that contain movies with more than 1,000 hours of playing time • Replacements for human tissues and organs • Cheap hydrogen storage possibilities for a regenerative energy economy • Lightweight plastic windows with hard transparent protective layers
Detailing possible applications moves very quickly into a realm that seems like science fiction. But other nanotechnology enthusiasts foresee the enabling of quantum computing, artificial intelligence and a complete re-ordering of economies and political systems. Currently in the U.S. there are 450 consumer products using nanotechnology approved by the EPA and 600 nano-based materials licensed for use in manufacturing products. The number of products and services used in industry is not known, but believed to exceed 1,000. Lux Research, a consultancy specializing in nanotechnology, estimates that, worldwide, nanotechnology was incorporated in $30 billion (USD) of manufactured goods in 2005, which more than doubled the amount in the previous year. It estimates that by 2014 the figure will be $2.6 trillion, a more-than-85-fold increase (Lux Research 2006, p. iii). There are respected scientists, technologists and philosophers that fear nanotechnology, including Bill Joy, a former senior executive at Sun MicroSystems, who wrote the article ‘Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us’ for Wired magazine two years ago. Currently, most applications of nanotechnology take place in the field of materials coating and in medicine, especially in innovative drug delivery systems. However, three of the 426 patents filed so far this year include: • Nanoscale wire-based data storage: The present invention generally relates to nanotechnology and sub- microelectronic devices that can be used in circuitry and, in particular, to nanoscale wires and other nanostructures able to encode data. • Nanotube memory cell with floating gate based on passivated nanoparticles and manufacturing process thereof: A method for manufacturing a nanotube non-volatile memory cell is proposed. • Nano data writing and reading apparatus using cantilever structure and fabrication method thereof.
Key Findings
• The impact on information assurance issues may be dramatic, involving a redefinition of information, cryptography, memory (both human and computer) and system. If a young person wearing a tongue stud can carry in it the contents of the British Library, what physical security measures can prevent data theft? If nanotechnology enables neural networking and computer enhancement of human memory, what are the implications for identity management, or indeed for identity itself? • Nanotechnology receives a lot of attention in the media, with a search on Google returning 1,846 newspaper articles and magazine stories for one day in June 2007. Because of the potential impact and because of its treatment in books and films, take-up of nanotechnology has the potential to be as controversial as genetically modified organisms, if not more so. • Nanotechnology is essentially a cross-disciplinary enabler that will impact healthcare, manufacturing, information systems, transportation, computer science and micro-electro- mechanical devices (MEMS) and probably much more. Advances in the use of nanotechnology in one field will often be of immediate relevance to its use in other fields. Progress in nanotechnology is rapid, and is expected to increase. Patent filings have increased 40% annually for over a decade. • Nanotechnology has the potential to be disruptive as well as beneficial. In addition to substituting current manufacturing and agricultural processes that employ large numbers of people, some speculative thinkers envisage what they call the Singularity, where nanotechnology enables artificial intelligence that can be tasked with self-improvement, which would happen extremely quickly. This will not happen soon, if at all. Should it actually occur, it would have a very high impact on society, and would probably render information assurance useless or redundant. Blindside covers this in a special topic called Rampancy: AI Gone Wrong, found at http://www.blindside.org.uk/wiki/Rampancy:_AI_gone_wrong.
Citizen Centric
Some of the questions citizens will be asking are already being posed by advocacy groups in the UK : • Is nanotechnology safe? • Will ‘grey goo’ (self-replicating nano-robots, or ‘nanobots’) destroy the world? • Will the benefits of nanotechnology be available to all? • Why isn’t government regulating this more? • Why is government regulating this at all?
Implications for UK Government
Because nanotechnology is most frequently seen in healthcare and materials coating, the current interest in nanotechnology revolves around toxicity and tolerance. The Royal Society of Chemistry wrote in 2003 that “The potential health, safety and environmental impacts of nanotechnology are comparable to the impact of the existing chemical, electronics and biotechnology industries and the potential hazards should be judged in the same way. Our understanding is that current legislation should be sufficient to control the risks from nanoparticles, however research into their potential toxicity should be funded, as it may differ from that of larger particles with respect to respiratory and genetic damage. Until we develop ‘self replicating machines’- artificial life, there are no issues of substance not covered by existing regulatory practices. The ethical and social issues raised are also not unique to nanotechnology and are comparable to issues raised by many existing technologies, such as the differential access to costly technology in the developed and developing worlds and issues of privacy and security. “ (Nanotechnology – The issues, The Royal Society of Chemistry, July 2003). We concur with the RSC recommendation and see nothing that has happened since 2003 that requires rethinking of current legislation. However, it may serve government well to begin planning for the disruptive economic effects of nanotechnology used in manufacturing, agriculture and healthcare. Indeed, there may be political and social ramifications resulting from nanotechnology. Lastly, regarding the possibility of the creation of self-replicating artificial intelligence, even the most enthusiastic proponents of ‘The Singularity,’ as it is known, do not see it happening before 2045. Government bodies can afford to take a ‘wait and see’ approach for now.
Related Issues Nanotechnology will affect all of the subject areas covered in this forecast. However, we single out quantum computing, which by definition requires nanotechnology for successful creation, as the information assurance implications of quantum computing are quite dramatic for information assurance and national security. Quantum computing will enable the creation of verifiably unbreakable encrypted messaging that will also provide alerts if any attempt is made to monitor or decrypt the message. This will serve as a ‘holy grail’ achieved for some UK government departments, and as a national security nightmare for others.
[edit] Timescale
With the present development taking place in the field of nanotechnology, the impact of it is expected to be seen within the time span of 2-5 years.
[edit] Examples
Nano-enabled color barcode system created by Microsoft
IBM unveils nanotechnology chip advance
Nanotech risks opening Pandora's box
[edit] Comments (attributed)
“Nanotechnology is developing much faster than our capacity to assess the associated risks,” says David Rejeski, Director of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (US)
[edit] Organisations
MIT Institute for soldier nanotechnologies
Interdisciplinary Research Collaboration (IRC) in Nanotechnology Cambridge, UCL and Bristol
[edit] Documents & research papers
DTI Sigmascan on nanotechnology
Nanotech and nanoscience by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering
