Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Corwin · 06-06-2002, 10:46 AM

This was posted on slashdot...
Potentially very cool. Lots of stuff in the pipe, so to speak.

<a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2002/06/06/nanotch.DTL" target="_blank">New Nanotech Products</a>

Abacus · 06-06-2002, 07:59 PM

I sure hope nanotech turns out to be as good as advertised. Especially the sunscreen product. That could really help my Scandinavian skin during the summertime.

Corwin · 06-06-2002, 08:22 PM

I know it sounds kind of prosaic... but you have to start somewhere.

Look at where modern chemistry came from.

scigirl · 06-06-2002, 09:27 PM

Cool stuff.

Quote:

Another dramatic announcement came from Southern California's American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc., which recently found a way to make smaller particles of Taxol, a drug derived from the bark of the Pacific yew tree that is used to treat and prevent recurrences of breast cancer. It turns out that shrinking the drug down to nano sizes (called nano-particles) allows much more of the drug's active ingredient to be taken up by the affected body tissues, which, in turn, roughly doubled the response rate in one test of breast-cancer patients.

Coupling nano-drugs with local delivery systems = no more side effects from drugs! Sweet!

scigirl

wordsmyth · 06-06-2002, 09:37 PM

I just hope I'm still around to see more of the future of nano-technology. There have been incredible advances in both science and technology in general, but the older I get the less frequent they appear to be.

My grandmother just turned 93 recently and it amazes me when I think of how much things have changed in her lifetime. She has seen the inception of automobiles, airplanes, television and computers. She grew up during the great depression and was around for every major war of the last century. When she was a child people still pumped water from a well and rode in horse-drawn buggies along dirt roads and cobblestone streets.

I often wonder how much things will have changed by the time I reach that age.

Corwin · 06-07-2002, 07:20 AM

This is the beginning of the most important technological age in the past 60K years. That's how much will have changed.

fando · 06-07-2002, 08:34 AM

Color me confused. This sounds more like an improvement in techniques to grind things to a finer powder than assembling things on a nanometer scale. Finer grade suntan lotion does not make it nanotechnological.

Corwin · 06-07-2002, 08:42 AM

It's a refinement of techniques to make nanometer scale materials, consistiently and reliably. (An example would be making buckyballs and carbon nanotubes... we can do it, but making products like this requires that we be able to make specific types, and make them consistiently.) These materials are a very simple and early form of nanotech. Again, we're just starting here. It may not seem terribly impressive now... but where did modern industrial chemistry start?

Dyes. Most of the big chemical conglomerates, and almost all of the older pharmaceutical companies started out as dye makers. It was the logical place to start. Technology tends to start out boring and get to more interesting stuff as time goes by....

fando · 06-15-2002, 08:49 PM

Oh, ok. I guess it's a decent start.

Come to think of it, that is a pretty impressive process. Nano-scale grains are damn small. That's three orders of magnitude smaller or more than ordinary grains!

06-06-2002, 10:46 AM	#1
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	Nanotech products... This was posted on slashdot... Potentially very cool. Lots of stuff in the pipe, so to speak. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2002/06/06/nanotch.DTL" target="_blank">New Nanotech Products</a>

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06-06-2002, 07:59 PM	#2
Abacus Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: South Dakota Posts: 2,214	I sure hope nanotech turns out to be as good as advertised. Especially the sunscreen product. That could really help my Scandinavian skin during the summertime.

06-06-2002, 08:22 PM	#3
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	I know it sounds kind of prosaic... but you have to start somewhere. Look at where modern chemistry came from.

06-06-2002, 09:37 PM	#5
wordsmyth Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Des Moines, Ia. U.S.A. Posts: 521	I just hope I'm still around to see more of the future of nano-technology. There have been incredible advances in both science and technology in general, but the older I get the less frequent they appear to be. My grandmother just turned 93 recently and it amazes me when I think of how much things have changed in her lifetime. She has seen the inception of automobiles, airplanes, television and computers. She grew up during the great depression and was around for every major war of the last century. When she was a child people still pumped water from a well and rode in horse-drawn buggies along dirt roads and cobblestone streets. I often wonder how much things will have changed by the time I reach that age.

06-07-2002, 07:20 AM	#6
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	This is the beginning of the most important technological age in the past 60K years. That's how much will have changed.

06-07-2002, 08:34 AM	#7
fando Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Los Angeles Area Posts: 1,372	Color me confused. This sounds more like an improvement in techniques to grind things to a finer powder than assembling things on a nanometer scale. Finer grade suntan lotion does not make it nanotechnological.

06-07-2002, 08:42 AM	#8
Corwin Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 4,369	It's a refinement of techniques to make nanometer scale materials, consistiently and reliably. (An example would be making buckyballs and carbon nanotubes... we can do it, but making products like this requires that we be able to make specific types, and make them consistiently.) These materials are a very simple and early form of nanotech. Again, we're just starting here. It may not seem terribly impressive now... but where did modern industrial chemistry start? Dyes. Most of the big chemical conglomerates, and almost all of the older pharmaceutical companies started out as dye makers. It was the logical place to start. Technology tends to start out boring and get to more interesting stuff as time goes by....

06-15-2002, 08:49 PM	#9
fando Veteran Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Los Angeles Area Posts: 1,372	Oh, ok. I guess it's a decent start. Come to think of it, that is a pretty impressive process. Nano-scale grains are damn small. That's three orders of magnitude smaller or more than ordinary grains!

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