Wednesday, May 22, 2002

Tiny Triumph for Science Light and a Single Molecule Are Combined to Make a Machine "Scientists have for the first time used the power of light to create mechanical energy for a microdevice, making a single molecule of plastic drive a tiny machine." "The experiment could have important implications for the field of nanotechnology, which seeks to miniaturize machines and mechanisms to an atomic or molecular scale. 'We know [the machine] works pretty well,' said researcher Hermann E. Gaub. 'Miniaturization drives progress.'" 8:36:57 AM  Google It!  comment  []

Nanotech's Teeny Tiny Truth The Nanobiz Will Be Huge, Vcs Say. But Should They Even Be In The Game? "The drop-off was stomach-churning. In 2000, venture capitalists poured $100 billion into startups. Last year, they couldn't even reach $40 billion. So forgive them for latching onto nanotech as the uptrend. Headlines like 'NANOTECHNOLOGY WINS OVER MAINSTREAM VENTURE CAPITALISTS' and 'THE NEXT BIG THING IS VERY SMALL' are getting hard to avoid. Nano conferences are weekly events, crowded with VCs amped up about self-assembling machines and nanobots in your bloodstream." "But what's really going on? While venture capitalists are happy to hype nanotech, they aren't exactly rushing in where angel investors fear to tread. Of the $5.6 billion put up by private capital sources in the first three months of this year, only $42 million went to very small tech, according to Steve Glapa, president of In Realis, a market consulting firm in Milpitas, California. Even putting all of these investments under the 'nanotech' umbrella is a stretch. Advanced chemistry and materials science are more like it." 8:19:35 AM  Google It!  comment  []