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POPSOnline Papers in Philosophy This is fantastic. What is the point of this site? Many philosophers provide drafts of new papers on their websites; Online Papers in Philosophy keeps track of all the sites I’m aware of, and alerts readers to newly posted papers. Here are the sites I am currently tracking. (Actually, that list might not be completely up-to-date; as new pages are submitted, I add them to the list that my software uses; I periodically update the online list to match.) Checking in regularly with OPP will keep you aware of at least most of the new papers being posted on the web. Check out which sites are being tracked here: http://philosophy.jollyutter.net/opp/?page_id=6 I just clipped a few papers, click source ... really ...
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POPSNanowires prefer Deep Purple The band, not ultra violet, but apparently they weren't offered a very wide selection, and the wires grown by exposure to Deep purple are described as kinky. The intention is for wires to grow straight,which can be done more easily with the standard plasma. But they also said, if they ever find a use for kinky nanowires, they know what to do. There was no mention of the way the wires grew with the other music, but I imagine the growth can be as varied as the type of music. They mention that it didn't like the German music. I wondered if nanowires like polkas
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POPSVirtual Unreality (Part 1) This speculation about virtual worlds, besides being fun, reflects on the very deep question of Freedom, freedom of the mind, that is. What is freedom? How much freedom can we really take? How are we going to be if and when we become free. Continue to the second part of this clip...
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POPSSurge in Food Nanotechnology Worries Consumers Davies quoted David Rejeski of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, who advocates a U.S. investment of $150 million a year in such research by 2010, to benefit from an industry that will involve “15 percent of globally manufactured goods, worth $2.6 trillion, by 2014.”
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POPSLaughter May Outlive Humans—and Even Numbers The insight that old things tend to last and new things tend to disappear flows from the Copernican principle. This principle says, in essence, “You’re not special.” Before Copernicus, we imagined that we occupied a very special place at the center of the universe. Now we know better: We are on an average planet in an average galaxy in an average cluster. But the Copernican principle applies to time as well as to space. If there is nothing special about our perspective, we are unlikely to be observing any given thing at the very beginning or the very end of its existence. And that rather obvious point can lead to some interesting predictions.
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POPSRight and wrong lessons from biology The opposite view stresses that evolution is an extremely effective way of searching parameter space, and that in consequence is that we should assume that biological design solutions are likely to be close to optimal for the environment for which they’ve evolved. Where these design solutions seem odd from our point of view, their unfamiliarity is to be ascribed to the different ways in which physics works at the nanoscale. At its most extreme, this view regards biological nanotechnology, not just as the existence proof for nanotechnology, but as an upper limit on its capabilities.
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POPSGene silencer and quantum dots reduce protein production to a whisper
Each quantum dot was surrounded by a proton sponge that carried a positive charge. Without any quantum dots attached, the siRNA's negative charge would prevent it from penetrating a cell's wall. With the quantum-dot chaperone, the more weakly charged siRNA complex crosses the cellular wall, escapes from the endosome (a fatty bubble that surrounds incoming material) and accumulates in the cellular fluid, where it can do its work disrupting protein manufacture. Key to the newly published approach is that researchers can adjust the chemical makeup of the quantum dot's proton-sponge coating, allowing the scientists to precisely control how tightly the dots attach to the siRNA. Quantum dots were dramatically better than existing techniques at stopping gene activity. In experiments, a cell's production of a test protein dropped to 2 percent when siRNA was delivered with quantum dots. By contrast, the test protein was produced at 13 percent to 51 percent of normal levels when the siRNA
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POPSWhen Unusually Rapid Improvement Becomes Usual Given the existing pressure on such social programs as Social Security and Medicare, I believe one implication of this “unusually rapid improvement” is that these systems will need to be radically overhauled in order to survive this new demographic reality.
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POPSBig step in tiny technology Dr Manfred Buck, of the University¿s School of Chemistry, explained, "One of the central issues in nanotechnology is the development of simple and reliable methods to precisely arrange molecules and other nanoscopic objects. One promising route intensively investigated by scientists around the world involves the ability of molecules to spontaneously assemble onto a surface. What we have done is successfully combined two strategies which are complementary but, so far, have been explored independently, and it is this combination which opens up unprecedented opportunities for accessing the ultrasmall length scale." "The potential of this approach lies in its flexibility on a scale, about 1/10000 of the diameter of a human hair. Using molecules as building units, the features of our structures are less than 5 nanometres in size, which enables us to control structures and materials at dimensions where new properties emerge."
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POPSNanotechnology: Entirely New Way Of Storing Gas Created The transition happens quickly and is controlled simply by heating the material to close the nanovalves, then adding water to the substance to re-open them and release the trapped gas. The paper includes video footage of the process taking place under a microscope, showing gas bubbles escaping from the crystals with the introduction of water. "The process is highly controllable and because we're not breaking any strong chemical bonds, the material is completely recyclable and can be used indefinitely," Shimizu said.
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