Nanotechnology: the next big idea
Week 3: Pop Culture
Maryse de la Giroday
6-week course
SFU Liberal Arts & Adults 55+ program
Old business
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kevlar
dendrimer
quantum spin
Niels Bohr hydrogen atom model
Google, medications, and magnetic particles
Sourcing nanomaterials
Where does Tony Ryan’s pollution go after it’s
captured in clothing fibres?
• Naturally occurring carbon nanotubes
Kevlar (1 of 2)
• Developed in 1965 by Stephanie Kwolek at
DuPont, poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide)
(PPTA), or Kevlar, is a para-aramid synthetic
fiber deriving its strength from interchain
hydrogen bonding. It finds use in flexible
energy and electronic systems, but is most
commonly associated with bullet-proof body
armour.
(http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/2014/09
/oxide-armour-kevlar-stab-resistance)
Kevlar (2 of 2)
• Presentation #MS+PS+TF-ThA4, “Multifunctional
Fabrics via Tungsten ALD on Kevlar,” authored by Sarah
Atanasov, B. Kalanyan and G.N. Parsons, will be at 3:20
p.m. ET on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2014.
• researchers will describe how they were able to
“weave” high-strength, highly conductive yarns made
of tungsten metal on Kevlar — aka body armor
material — by using atomic layer deposition (ALD), a
process commonly used for producing memory and
logic devices. (http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=15053 Oct.
31, 2014)
Dendrimers
• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=13659 (June 6,
2014; video)
• I conflated them with aptamers: Dr. Maria
DeRosa’s research examines a type of nucleic
acid called ‘aptamers’ that can fold into 3D
nanoscale shapes capable of binding tightly to
a specific molecular target.
(http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=4923)
Quantum spin
• In quantum mechanics and particle physics,
spin is an intrinsic form of angular momentum
carried by elementary particles, composite
particles (hadrons), and atomic nuclei.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spin_%28physic
s%29)
Quantum spin
• Physicist: “Spin” or sometimes “nuclear spin” or “intrinsic
spin” is the quantum version of angular momentum. Unlike
regular angular momentum, spin has nothing to do with
actual spinning. Normally angular momentum takes the form
of an object’s tendency to continue rotating at a particular
rate. Conservation of regular, in-a-straight-line momentum is
often described as “an object in motion stays in motion, and
an object at rest stays at rest”, conservation of angular
momentum is often described as “an object that’s rotating
stays rotating, and an object that’s not rotating keeps not
rotating”. (http://www.askamathematician.com/2011/10/qwhat-is-spin-in-particle-physics-why-is-it-different-from-justordinary-rotation/)
Quantum spin
• What does it really mean that particle has a spin of
up/down? And how is spin actually meassured? [sic]
• Answer: Your confusion probably arises not from the
technical details of spin measurement, but the peculiar
nature of quantum mechanics. The spin state of electron
can be arbitrary aligned, so there are infinite possible spin
states, not just up and down. But all these states live in a 2dimensional vector space, and up and down states are one
sets of basis vectors of this space. In other words, any spin
state may be written as linear combination of up and down
states (or left and right states).
Quantum spin
• Designating up and down states as the basis is
analogous to choosing coordinate system; they are
arbitrary and do not establish a preferential orientation
in space. Another peculiar thing about quantum
physics is the measurement induced "collapse" of
quantum state. Whatever the initial orientation, if you
measure spin along z axis, the outcome can only be up
and down, with certain probability. Now since a left
state tilts neither upward or downward, it is naturally
the possibility of each outcome is 50%.
(http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/31443/w
hat-does-it-really-mean-that-particle-has-a-spin-of-updown-and-how-is-spin-ac)
Niels Bohr and the hydrogen atom
model (solar system model)
• In atomic physics, the Rutherford–Bohr model or Bohr
model, introduced by Niels Bohr in 1913, depicts the atom
as a small, positively charged nucleus surrounded by
electrons that travel in circular orbits around the nucleus—
similar in structure to the solar system, but with attraction
provided by electrostatic forces rather than gravity. After
the cubic model (1902), the plum-pudding model (1904),
the Saturnian model (1904), and the Rutherford model
(1911) came the Rutherford–Bohr model or just Bohr
model for short (1913). The improvement to the Rutherford
model is mostly a quantum physical interpretation of it.
• The Bohr model has been superseded, but the quantum
theory remains sound.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr_model)
Science facts from school
• How many senses do you have?
• Which of the following are magnetic: a tomato,
you, paperclips?
• What are the primary colours of pigments and
paints?
• What region of the tongue is responsible for
sensing bitter tastes?
• What are the states of matter?
• (http://theconversation.com/five-science-factswe-learnt-at-school-that-are-plain-wrong-33258)
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• Google is in the early stages of creating tiny, magnetic
nanoparticles that will be able to search the human body
for cancer and other diseases, The Wall Street Journal’s
Alistair Barr and Ron Winslow report. [behind a paywall]
• Google’s goal is “an early heads-up” on disease to
ultimately facilitate more effective treatment by making
medicine proactive instead of reactive.
• Google’s particles will be less than 1/000 the width of a red
blood cell and would attach themselves to specific cells,
proteins, and other molecules inside the body. For
example, Google could coat its nanoparticles with an
antibody that would recognize and attach to a protein on
the surface of a tumor cell.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• Google is also working on a wearable device that
would attract and count the particles. In that way,
the system would be used for testing and
monitoring health: You could be alerted through
the wearable if a lot of the particles were
attaching to tumor cells. Google admits, however,
that it still needs to better understand what
constitutes as a healthy level of disease-carrying
molecules in the blood and what would be a
cause for a concern.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• Google would likely let people consume its
nanoparticles through a pill, but is reportedly
at least five to seven years away from a
product that would be approved by doctors.
• (https://my.news.yahoo.com/google-makingmagnetic-nanoparticles-search172700907.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&ut
m_medium=twitter)
Google, medications, magnetic
particles: details please
• ‘Andrew] Conrad’s track record demands that we
take this seriously. In the 1990s the molecular
biologist’s work led to a test that dramatically
reduced the time and cost it took to test blood
and plasma donations for HIV and other viruses.
He continued his ground-breaking research as
chief scientist at LabCorp, but after spending time
with Sergey Brin and others at Google, he
decided that he could reach for most audacious
goals at that company’s well-funded advanced
lab, which has been the source of projects like
self-driving cars, Google Glass, and Project Loon.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• Conrad, 50, is a surfing aficionado who sports
a blonde goatee and a wry sense of humor. He
gave BACKCHANNEL a rare interview about his
new project as well as an overview of what his
team is doing at Google X.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• ... Most of the time people are not sick. That
means monitoring would have to be done
continuously. You have to measure all the time
because if you only measure once a year when
people visit he [sic] doctor—or in men’s cases,
once a decade—you’re going to miss huge swaths
of the possibility of detecting disease early. So we
have to make a continuous monitoring and
measuring device. Since it’s continuous, it has to
be something people wear, right? ...
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• So the radical solution was to move away from the
episodic, “Wait ‘til you feel a big lump in your chest
before you go into the doctor” approach, and do a
continuous measurement of key biological markers
through non-invasive devices. And we would do that by
miniaturizing electronics. We can make a little
computer chip which has three hundred and sixty
thousand transistors on it, yet it’s the size of a piece of
glitter. One of the other ways is to functionalize
nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are the smallest
engineered particles, the smallest engineered
machines or things that you can make. Nature does its
business on the molecular level or the cellular level.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• ... We use Star Trek as our guiding force around
Google because there used to be a computer
called Tricorder —you’d talk to it and it would
answer any question. That’s what we’re really
looking for at Google X. We want to have a
Tricorder where Dr. McCoy will wave this thing
and say “Oh, you’re suffering from Valerian death
fever.” And he’d then give some shot in a person’s
neck and they’d immediately get better. We
won’t do the shots—our partners will do the
shots. But we’re hoping to build the Tricorder.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• You say you decorate the nanoparticles. I’ve also
heard the word painting. I’m having trouble
wrapping my mind around how you paint a
nanoparticle.
• It’s done with chemistry. The core of the
nanoparticle is iron oxide. So you take all the little
particles, you can’t see individual ones, but you
take a spoonful of particles, and you throw it into
a mix of almost a polymer, like paint, that coats
the outside. And coating the outside of it makes it
permissible to attach other things to the surface.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• ... When a sodium molecule comes into the
nanoparticle, it causes the nanoparticle to
fluoresce light at a different color. So by collecting
those nanoparticles at your wrist, where you
have a device that detects these changes, we can
see what color they’re glowing, and that way you
can tell the concentration of sodium. In another
case, by having a magnet at your wrist you can
tell whether the nanoparticles are bound to
cancer cells. …
• ...
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• What about false positives?
• This goes back to our Baseline Study. We are
looking at thousands of normal, healthy
people and we’re going to measure everything
we can think to measure in an effort to
answer questions like how many cancer cells
should a normal healthy person have, Zero? I
don’t know. One? I don’t know. Ten? I don’t
know.
Google, medications, magnetic
particles
• Because we might have cancer going around all
the time but the immune system stifles it. So if
you really want to be proactive, you need a
ground truth. And the baseline is enrolling
thousands of super healthy people, measuring all
these things on them, then putting these devices
on them to make sure we know what do when
we’re looking for someone who’s transitioning
from health to disease.
• (https://medium.com/backchannel/were-hopingto-build-the-tricorder-12e1822e5e6a0
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• The term “moon shot” has been getting tossed
around a lot lately, mostly by Google X, the
search company’s publicity arm.
• Ahem, secret lab.
• The last time was last Friday, when the Wall
Street Journal broke the news of a biomedical
research study being planned by Google X, which
it crowned “Google’s New Moonshot” and rated
as the company’s “most ambitious and difficult
science project ever.”
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• But the research, called the Baseline Study,
sounded pretty ordinary to me—measure the
genes and blood chemistry of 175 healthy
people (and eventually thousands more) and
try to establish some molecular information
about what normal looks like.
• It makes you wonder what qualifies as a moon
shot. On Twitter, some genome researchers
had the same feeling:
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• Google’s moon shots now include
autonomous cars, Google Glass, high-altitude
blimps that beam Internet service to the
ground below, contact lenses that monitor
glucose, a life extension company with plans
to “solve death,” and something involving
walking robots. Half these projects were
announced in the last eight months.
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• There’s also something slightly hokeysounding about Baseline. The Google X
manager running the study, Andrew Conrad,
previously cofounded the California Health &
Longevity Institute. That’s an upscale spa near
Malibu where the well-heeled can pick from a
menu that includes acupuncture treatments,
healthy cooking lessons, or sitting inside a 64slice CT scanner.
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• It was funded by Conrad’s previous
benefactor, the 91-year-old billionaire David
Murdock, who is the chairman of Dole Foods,
and who has plans to live to be 125 by eating
only healthy foods. In fact, the $4,000
executive physicals offered at the spa
(technicians check your vitamin levels and
scour your scans for cancer while you get a
massage) sounds vaguely like the workups the
175 volunteers will get as part of Baseline.
Response to Google X projects
(moonshot projects: Baseline Study)
• And then there’s simply the matter of scale.
Google has been building a team of “70 to 100”
experts in biomedical imaging and analysis,
according to the WSJ. That’s not small, but it’s
not moon-shot-sized either. About 400,000
people worked for the Apollo program, a massive
undertaking that at times ate up as much as 4
percent of the U.S. GDP. (July 29, 2014 MIT
Technology Review
http://www.technologyreview.com/view/529591
/whats-a-moon-shot-worth-these-days/
Response to Google X projects (moonshot
projects: magnetic particles)
• Other labs are already hard at work at exploring
the potential nanoparticles, experts noted. "The
idea isn't new," said Laurent Levy, founder and
chairman of a French company, Nanobiotix,
which is looking at the use of nanoparticles in
cancer radiotherapy. "It's not science fiction -- it
is achievable," he told AFP, saying that the
technology is likely to start coming on stream
within a decade.
(http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnologynews/newsid=37911.php )
Response to Google X projects (moonshot
projects: magnetic particles)
• Some nanotechnology experts, however, have
responded by asking whether Google’s project is more
science fiction than medical reality.
• “It’s very exciting that a company with Google’s
financial firepower is taking on this big challenge,” says
Chad Mirkin, who directs the International Institute for
Nanotechnology at Northwestern University. But he
says that what Google has described is “an intent to do
something, not a discovery or a pathway to get there.”
At this point, he says, the technology is speculative: it’s
basically “a good Star Trek episode.”
Response to Google X projects (moonshot
projects: magnetic particles)
• In addition to challenges in delivering the nanoparticles
and reading a signal from them, another key question
is whether the system will be safe, says MIT professor
Robert Langer. Indeed, says John McDonald, a
professor at Georgia Tech, “one of the big hurdles we
had with magnetic nanoparticles was their toxicity.”
McDonald says that “Although anything is possible, I
think there may be more effective ways to detect
cancer and other diseases at an early stage than the
approach envisioned by Google.”
(http://www.technologyreview.com/news/532181/real
ity-check-for-googles-nanoparticle-health-tests/ MIT
Technology Review Oct. 31, 2014)
Real research on magnetic
nanoparticles
• Magnetic nanoparticles as contrast agents in
the diagnosis and treatment of cancer by Juan
Gallo, Nicholas J. Long, and Eric O. Aboagye.
DOI: 10.1039/C3CS60149H (Review Article)
Chem. Soc. Rev., 2013, 42, 7816-7833 First
published on the web 21st June 2013
Real research on magnetic
nanoparticles
• Conclusions and Outlook: As demonstrated by the
examples highlighted in this review, the application of
nanotechnology to human health, although still in its initial
stages, is very promising. The main advantage of
nanoparticle formulations is the possibility of using the
nanoparticles as a functional platform onto which a
number of different ligands can be assembled. This not only
allows the simultaneous delivery of different drugs, or
drugs and imaging probes (not treated in this review),
together with targeting molecules to gain specificity, but
also allows the multivalent presentation of ligands (giving
even more versatility to the system as weaker targeting
molecules can be used) and provides a higher local
concentration of the drugs in their final location.
Sourcing nanomaterials (1 of 3)
• http://www.nanowerk.com/nanotechnology/nanomaterial/supplier
s_plist.php?page=1&mat=&subcat1=np
• ABC Nanotech (South Korea)
– Producer of silver and silica nanoparticles and nano coatings.
• ABCR (Germany)
– ABCR supplies speciality chemicals, including nanomaterials, to
pharmaceutical, chemical and material science oriented companies
worldwide.
• ...
• American Dye Source, Inc. (Canada)
– American Dye Source, Inc. is a manufacturer of high quality materials
for many different applications.
• American Elements (USA)
– Manufacturer of advanced and engineered materials including ultra
high purity refining (99.9999%) and nanoparticles.
Sourcing nanomaterials (2 of 3)
• Antaria (Australia)
– A manufacturer of advanced nanomaterials and nanomaterials
products in Australia.
• ApNano Materials (USA)
– Commercializes proprietary technology for nanospheres and
nanotubes made from inorganic compounds.
• ...
• Chengyin Technology (PR China)
– Producer of nanoparticles.
• Cline Scientific (Sweden)
– The company develops and sells tools for biomedical research based
on nanotechnologies. Our products range from nanoparticles in
suspensions to engineered surfaces for applications within stem cell
research.
Sourcing nanomaterials (3 of 3)
• Comar Chemicals (South Africa)
– The company manufactures iron based nanoparticle
colloids and carboxylates
• ...
• Cytodiagnostics (Canada)
– Cytodiagnostics is a biotechnology company that focuses
on providing and developing nanotechnology derived
products and services for the international life science
market.
• DA NanoMaterials (USA)
– A joint venture between DuPont and Air Products,
develops and manufactures colloidal silica sols and
particles for electronic applications.
Where does Tony Ryan’s pollution go
after it’s captured in clothing fibres?
• Message sent Nov. 3, 2014
Naturally occurring carbon nanotubes?
• Yes, we think so: Naturally produced carbon nanotubes
in Chemical Physics Letters 373 (2003) 272–276
• Maybe no: Do single-walled carbon nanotubes occur
naturally? In Nature Nanotechnology 3, 310 (2008)
doi:10.1038/nnano.2008.139
• Maybe yes: Are Carbon Nanotubes a Naturally
Occurring Material? Hints from Methane CVD Using
Lava as a Catalyst in Current Nanoscience VOLUME: 7
(2011) ISSUE: 3 DOI: 10.2174/157341311795542543
Older debates within the nanotech
community set the stage
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Top/down engineering
Bottom/up engineering
Self-assemblers/self-assembly
Goo (gray and green)
Fear of nanotechnology (scientists were very
concerned after the GMO and stem cell
debacles)
Drexler, the popularizer and
proselytizer is quite polarizing
• K. Eric Drexler, an engineer who studied with
Feynman, popularized nanotechnology with
his book Engines of Creation (1986) plarized
the community and set the stage for goo
• His latest book is Radical Abundance (2013).
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=UU_qq
MD08PFrDfPREoBEL6IQ&feature=player_detai
lpage&v=ylOCEmlnyHk
Bitter nanotechnology debates
(Smalley)
• The Drexler–Smalley debate [2001 – 3] on
molecular nanotechnology was a public dispute
between K. Eric Drexler, the originator of the
conceptual basis of molecular nanotechnology,
and Richard Smalley, a recipient of the 1996
Nobel prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the
nanomaterial buckminsterfullerene. The dispute
was about the feasibility of constructing
molecular assemblers, which are molecular
machines which could robotically assemble
molecular materials and devices by manipulating
individual atoms or molecules.
Bitter nanotechnology debates
(Smalley)
• The concept of molecular assemblers was central
to Drexler's conception of molecular
nanotechnology, but Smalley argued that
fundamental physical principles would prevent
them from ever being possible. The two also
traded accusations that the other's conception of
nanotechnology was harmful to public perception
of the field and threatened continued public
support for nanotechnology research.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drexler%E2%80%9
3Smalley_debate_on_molecular_nanotechnology
]
Bitter nanotechnology debates (Joy)
• Grey goo (also spelled gray goo) is a hypothetical end-ofthe-world scenario involving molecular nanotechnology in
which out-of-control self-replicating robots consume all
matter on Earth while building more of themselves, ...
• The term gray goo was coined by nanotechnology pioneer
Eric Drexler in his 1986 book Engines of Creation.[4] In 2004
he stated, "I wish I had never used the term 'gray goo'. …”
• Bill Joy, one of the founders of Sun Microsystems, discussed
some of the problems with pursuing this technology in his
now-famous 2000 article in Wired magazine, titled "Why
the Future Doesn't Need Us". In direct response to Joy's
concerns, the first quantitative technical analysis of the
ecophagy scenario was published in 2000 by nanomedicine
pioneer Robert Freitas. ...
Bitter nanotechnology debates (Prince
Charles)
• In Britain, Prince Charles called upon the Royal
Society to investigate the "enormous
environmental and social risks" of
nanotechnology in a planned report, leading
to much media commentary on gray goo. The
Royal Society's report on nanoscience was
released on 29 July 2004, and declared the
possibility of self-replicating machines to lie
too far in the future to be of concern to
regulators.[9]
Bitter nanotechnology debates (Prince
Charles)
• More recent analysis has shown that the danger
of gray goo is far less likely than originally
thought.[by whom?][10] However, other longterm major risks to society and the environment
from nanotechnology have been identified.[11]
Drexler has made a somewhat public effort to
retract his gray goo hypothesis, in an effort to
focus the debate on more realistic threats
associated with knowledge-enabled
nanoterrorism and other misuses. ..
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo]
Challenging Feynman’s role as the
source of nanotechnology thinking
• Chris Toumey, cultural anthropologist [Ph.D.
1987 from Univ. of North Carolina – Chapel
Hill] who works in the anthropology of
science. Since 2003 he has worked on societal
and cultural issues in nanotechnology.
Professor at University of South Carolina
• http://www.christoumey.org/?page_id=25
Challenging Feynman’s role as the
source of nanotechnology thinking
• 2008 Reading Feynman into Nanotechnology: A Text
for a New Science. Techné, 13(3):133-168.
• The results in Table 1 show a total of 3 citations in the
1960s and 4 in the 1970s. This scant record in the two
decades before the arrival of the STM and the AFM
corroborates some impressionistic comments. Tim
Appenzeller wrote, “The fact that many of Feynman‟s
ideas have now become reality doesn‟t mean they
caught on at the time” (Appenzeller 1991:1300). … And
according to Adam Keiper, “Although Feynman‟s
lecture is, in retrospect, remembered as a major event,
it didn‟t make much of a splash in the world of science
at the time” (Keiper 2003:18-19).
Challenging Feynman’s role as the
source of nanotechnology thinking
• I received replies from four of the people associated with the STM,
the AFM, and the manipulation of atoms, namely, G. Binnig, D.
Eigler, C. Quate, and H. Rohrer. I received nothing at the time from
C. Gerber, and was unable to locate E. Schweizer. These nano
luminaries, as I call them, responded to my queries by saying
uniformly that Feynman‟s “Plenty of Room” had no influence on
their work on the STM, the AFM, or the manipulation of atoms.
Rohrer said that their STM work was influenced “not whatsoever”
by Feynman‟s paper. “Binnig and I neither heard of Feynman's
paper until Scanning Tunneling Microscopy was widely accepted in
the scientific community a couple of years after our first
publication, nor did any referee of our papers ever refer to it... It
might have been even after the Nobel [Prize].”
Challenging Feynman’s role as the
source of nanotechnology thinking
• Regarding the general influence of “Plenty of Room” on
nanotech as a whole, Rohrer responded, “I think it had
no influence whatsoever.” Rohrer has written a short
unpublished comment on “Plenty of Room” in which
he praised the boldness and brilliance of Feynman‟s
vision, but he reminded the reader that nanotech‟s
scientific community proceeded without knowing
about “Plenty of Room.” “Feynman‟s lecture remained
practically unnoticed during nearly three decades,
while the miniaturization progressed in the same time
at a fantastic pace, driven by the needs of the data
processing industry” (Rohrer Undated). [From
Toumey’s paper]
Challenging Feynman’s role as the
source of nanotechnology thinking
• … locates the origin of the field in a 1959 lecture
by Richard Feynman titled, “There’s Plenty of
Room at the Bottom,” which [Colin] Milburn
notes contains images and concepts lifted directly
from Robert Heinlein’s celebrated 1942 short
story, “Waldo,” about a scientist who
manufactures an interface that can reproduce
itself at ever smaller scales, until it reaches the
nanolevel, allowing him to manipulate matter at
the molecular level through actions at the
macrolevel.
Challenging Feynman’s role as the source
of nanotechnology thinking: writers
• Indeed, nanotechnology was described in
detail by science fiction writers long before it
was studied in the lab; what is surprising is
that the writings of scientists working in the
field differ little in form from those science
fiction stories.
• Discussion of Colin Milburn ‘s Nanovision
(http://innovate.ucsb.edu/354-colin-milburnnanovision-part-i-science-and-fiction)
Comparison of Feynman’s 1959
description
• … I want to build much the same device – a
master-slave system which operates electrically.
But I want the slaves to be made especially
carefully by modern large-scale machinists so
that they are one-fourth the scale of the "hands"
that you ordinarily maneuver. So you have a
scheme by which you can do things at onequarter scale anyway – the little servo motors
with little hands play with little nuts and bolts;
they drill little holes; they are four times smaller.
Comparison of Feynman’s 1959
description
• Aha! So I manufacture a quarter-size lathe; I
manufacture quarter-size tools; and I make, at
the one-quarter scale, still another set of hands
again relatively one-quarter size! This is onesixteenth size, from my point of view. And after I
finish doing this I wire directly from my largescale system, through transformers perhaps, to
the one-sixteenth-size servo motors. Thus I can
now manipulate the one-sixteenth size hands. …
(http://www.zyvex.com/nanotech/feynman.html)
Feynman and Robert Heinlein’s Waldo
(1942)
• … Eventually this leads Waldo to fabricate a
nanomanipulator through an ingenious
method: he uses his Waldo to manufacture a
smaller Waldo, which manufactures a smaller
Waldo, right on down to at least the cellular
level, so that Waldo can study and manipulate
neurons using his bare hands.
Feynman and Robert Heinlein’s Waldo
• Colin Milburn notes in “Nanovision” that the
entire field of nanotechnology is born out of this
vision, borrowed by Richard Feynman for his
catalyzing 1959 lecture, “There’s Plenty of Room
at the Bottom,” in which he describes “a set of
master and slave hands, so that by operating a
set of levers here, you control the ‘hands’
there…” (Milburn 48) Thus Feynman draws
directly on “Waldo” for his primary vision of
nanotechnology, which launched the scientific
field. (http://innovate.ucsb.edu/740-robertheinlein-waldo)
Nano and literature
• 1881: Russian writer Nikolai Leskov wrote The Tale of Crosseyed Lefty from Tula and the Steel Flea, which included the
concept of text that can be seen only through a microscope
at 5,000,000 times magnification.[6]
• 1931: Boris Zhitkov wrote a short story called Microhands
(Микроруки), where the narrator builds for himself a pair
of microscopic remote manipulators, and uses them for
fine tasks like eye surgery. When he attempts to build even
smaller manipulators to be manipulated by the first pair,
the story goes into detail about the problem of regular
materials behaving differently on a microscopic scale.
(Inspiration for Waldo?)
Nano and literature
• 1956 short story The Next Tenants by Arthur C. Clarke
describes tiny machines that operate at the
micrometre scale – although not strictly nanoscale
(billionth of a meter), they are the first fictional
example of the concepts now associated with
nanotechnology.
• Stanislaw Lem's 1964 novel The Invincible involves the
discovery of an artificial ecosystem of minuscule
robots, although like in Clarke's story they are larger
than what is strictly meant by the term
'nanotechnology'.
Nano and literature
• Robert Silverberg's 1969 short story How It Was when the
Past Went Away describes nanotechnology being used in
the construction of stereo loudspeakers, with a thousand
speakers per inch.[5]
• The 1984 novel Peace on Earth by Stanislaw Lem tells about
small bacteria-sized nanorobots looking as normal dust
(developed by artificial intelligence placed by humans on
the Moon in the era of cold warfare) that has later came to
Earth and are replicating, destroying all weapons, modern
technology and software, leaving living organisms (as there
were no living organisms on the Moon) intact. [goo]
Nano and literature
• The 1985 novel Blood Music by Greg Bear (originally a
1983 short story) features genetically engineered white
blood cells that eventually learn to manipulate matter
on an atomic scale. [goo]
• The 1991 Novelization of Terminator 2: Judgment Day,
authored by Randall Frakes, expands the origin story of
the T-1000 Terminator through the inclusion of a
prologue set in the future. It is explained that the T1000 is a 'Nanomorph', that was created by Skynet,
through the use of programmable Nanotechnology.
This was only implied in the film itself.
Nano and literature
• Neal Stephenson's 1995 novel The Diamond Age
is set in a world where nanotechnology is
commonplace. Nanoscale warfare, fabrication at
the molecular scale, and self-assembling islands
all exist.
• The Trinity Blood series features an alien
nanomachine found on Mars which is present in
the body of the protagonist, Abel Nighroad.
These nanomachines are known as Krusnik
nanomachines, and feed on the cells of vampires.
Nano and literature
• Nanobots (called Nanoes) are central to Stel Pavlou's
novel Decipher (2001).
• Michael Crichton's novel Prey (2002) was one of the
earliest nanotechnology-themed books to reach a
mainstream audience and is a cautionary tale about
the possible risks of developing nanotechnology.[7] In
Prey, a swarm of molecule-sized nanorobots develop
intelligence and become a large scale threat. [gooish
and feared/loathed by nanotech community:
http://spectrum.ieee.org/techtalk/semiconductors/devices/pop_culture_and_nanote
ch_a_tel]
Nano and literature
• Robert Ludlum's 2005 novel The Lazarus Vendetta
also focuses around nanotechnology, focusing
mainly on its ability to cure cancer.
• J. C. Lansing's 2011 novel The Book of Kur depicts
the rebuilding of the entire world using nanobots
provided by an ancient Sumerian god.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology_in
_fiction)
Nano and literature (left out?)
• James Blish (Surface Tension [1952 short story] described
here:
http://hplusmagazine.com/2009/09/16/nanopeople/)
• Theodore Sturgeon (Microcosmic God, 1941) “a scientist
who creates a microcosmic civilization able to evolve and
innovate more rapidly than human society” from:
Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology edited
by David Guston
(http://books.google.ca/books?id=vyp1AwAAQBAJ&pg=PR
34&lpg=PR34&dq=theodore+sturgeon+nano&source=bl&o
ts=oenArcjeS&sig=n54JYhxzQ73FP5vgUxK3bt8wB8Y&hl=en&sa=X&e
i=VxJUVPy9HNO4oQTq_4D4Dw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBg#v=on
epage&q=theodore%20sturgeon%20nano&f=false)
Nano on the screen (tv, movies, and
games)
• In the Star Trek universe, from Star Trek: The Next
Generation onward, the Borg use nanomachines,
referred to as nanoprobes, to assimilate individuals
into their collective.
• On the television show Red Dwarf, nanobots played a
notable role in series VII to IX. Nanobots are
nanotechnology created to be a self-repair system for
androids like Kryten as they can also change anything
into anything else. Kryten's nanobots grow bored of
their duties and take over the ship Red Dwarf, leaving
the crew to try and recapture it aboard the smaller
Starbug. ...
Nano on the screen (tv, movies, and
games)
• Nanotechnology appeared several times in the TV
series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, in the
form of the replicators and the Asurans,
respectively. A "nanovirus" is also seen in
Stargate Atlantis.
• In Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001), a criminal
blows up a tanker trunk containing a nanobot
virus that instantly kills thousands. [goo?]
Nano on the screen (tv, movies, and
games)
• In the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks, a scientist
creates nanobots programmed to clean up oil
spills. [goo]
• In the 2004 film I, Robot, nanites are used to
wipe out artificial intelligence in the event of a
malfunction and are depicted as a liquid
containing tiny silver objects. [gooish]
Nano on the screen (tv, movies, and
games)
• In the 2005 Doctor Who television episode
The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances a metal
cylinder falling from space and lands in the
time of World War 2 era London, breaks
releasing nanobots which transform every
human it comes into contact with into a gas
mask-wearing zombie, like its first contact, a
child.
Nano on the screen (tv, movies, and
games)
• In Total Annihilation nanobots are used to build
structures.
• In some games of the Mortal Kombat series, the
character Smoke is a cloud of nanobots.
• In System Shock 2 (1999), "nanites" are used as
currency as well as a type of weapon ammo.
• In Deus Ex (2000), nanotechnology is an important part
of both the plot and game mechanics. A very
dangerous technology in the wrong hands, it provides a
number of abilities to the protagonist.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology_in_ficti
on)
Eidos and Deus Ex
• How Real Science Shaped Game "Deus Ex"'s
Tech Magic by Susan Karlin
– The popular game series Deus Ex taps real-world
science for its latest installment of a transhuman
dystopia.
• Aug. 16, 2011 re: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Eidos and Deus Ex
• Will Rosellini is a science fiction purist. So
much so that when his favorite video game-Eidos Montreal’s Deus Ex series--started
phoning in the science, he offered to consult
for free so their next venture would ring a
little more true and present a plausible future
of enhanced humans.
Eidos and Deus Ex
• [Rosellini] helms a research company, the Dallasbased MicroTransponder, that develops
implantable wireless neurotransmitters to help
control disorders such as tinnitus, pain, strokeinduced motor loss, and post-traumatic stress.
The technology uses tiny electronic devices inside
the body to electrically stimulate, reset, or
override faulty nerve cells.
• (http://www.fastcompany.com/1773935/howreal-science-shaped-game-deus-exs-tech-magic)
Eidos and Deus Ex
• Deus Ex Wikia (nanotechnological
augmentation)
– Nano-augmentation is the most advanced form of
human augmentation. It uses nanites to give
people the ability to do things that they couldn't
normally do, for example, seeing in the dark,
turning invisible, having immense strength,
immunity from toxins and physical trauma, and
more.
Eidos and Deus Ex
• The Omar are an example of extreme nanoaugmentation - they have been so heavily nanoaugmented that they no longer resemble humans at
all, rather cyborgs with no skin and respirators for
faces; the exact opposite of what the
nanotechnology was created for. Nano-augmentation
is the advanced equivalent of physiopharmaceutical
augmentation and mechanical augmentation.
• http://deusex.wikia.com/wiki/Nanotechnologi
cal_augmentation
Eidos, Deux Ex, and reality
• The Sun [UK newspaper] Mixes Up 'Sarif
Industries' (From 'Deus Ex') With Real
Company, Credits It For Cybernetic Eyeball
– The company doesn't quite exist.
– Yes, it has a website. But the only place Sarif
Industries has ever done business is inside the
video game Deus Ex: Human Revolution.
Eidos, Deux Ex, and reality
– Admittedly the website is pretty convincing - with
its own stock ticker, news page and conceptual
gallery. But perhaps the aggressive cyber-punk
"hacks" present on every page should have been a
bit of a giveaway…
• http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/10/16
/sarif-industries-the-sun_n_4108549.html
FDA approves first retinal implant for
adults with rare genetic eye disease
• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the
Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, the first implanted
device to treat adult patients with advanced retinitis
pigmentosa (RP). The device, which includes a small video
camera, transmitter mounted on a pair of eyeglasses, video
processing unit (VPU) and an implanted retinal prosthesis
(artificial retina), replaces the function of degenerated cells
in the retina (a membrane inside the eye) and may improve
a patient’s ability to perceive images and movement. The
VPU transforms images from the video camera into
electronic data that is wirelessly transmitted to the retinal
prosthesis. (http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/P
ressAnnouncements/ucm339824.htm
• Feb. 14, 2013
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35FwmiPE
9tI [BRAHE battle: Rosalind Franklin]
• Maurice Wilkins defence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_Wilkins
• STAGE: Scientists, Technologists & Artists
Generating Exploration
(http://www.stage.ucsb.edu/competition/)
– 3rd cycle (2010) STAGE winner: Photograph 51
about Rosalind Franklin
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• A slate of six science-centric, in-the-works pics have been
selected to receive grants from the Tribeca Film Institute
Sloan Filmmaker Fund, including one produced by Darren
Aronofsky and Rachel Weisz.
• The grant program from TFI, the nonprofit affiliated with
the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
hands out coin to narrative film projects that dramatize
science or tech issues, or feature scientists in central roles.
• Aronofsky, Weisz and fellow producer Ari Handel team on
scribe Anna Ziegler's "Photograph 51," based on her own
play about Rosalind Franklin's role in determining the
double-helix structure of DNA.
(http://www.stage.ucsb.edu/competition/news/photograp
h-51/variety_photograph-51.pdf April 2011)
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• Iron Man 2 (science and entertainment
exchange) http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=1055
• Webinar on collaborating with Hollywood
http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=7828
• The Simpsons (Simon Singh)
– http://www.salon.com/2013/10/27/one_doh_thr
ee_homer_simpson_is_a_math_genius_really/
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• Without doubt, the most mathematically sophisticated
television show in the history of primetime
broadcasting is The Simpsons. ...
• ...
• ... the show's writing team includes several mathematical
heavyweights. Al Jean, who worked on the first series and is
now executive producer, went to Harvard University to study
mathematics at the age of just 16. Others have similarly
impressive degrees in maths, a few can even boast PhDs, and
Jeff Westbrook resigned from a senior research post at Yale
University to write scripts for Homer, Marge and the other
residents of Springfield. (http://www.theguardian.com/tvand-radio/2013/sep/22/the-simpsons-secret-formula-mathssimon-singh )
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• … a new Creative Science Studio opening at
the School of Cinematic Arts at the University
of Southern California (USC). From Dave’s
(Pasco Phronesis) post,
– It [Creative Science Studio] will start this fall at
USC, where its School of Cinematic Arts makes
heavy use of its proximity to Hollywood, and
builds on its history of other projects that use
science, technology and entertainment in other
areas of research.
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• The studio will not only help studios improve the
depiction of science in the products of their
students, faculty and alumni (much like the
Science and Entertainment Exchange), but help
scientists create entertaining outreach products.
In addition, science and engineering topics will be
incorporated into the School’s curriculum and be
supported in faculty research.
• http://pascophronesis.wordpress.com/2010/04/1
0/another-sciencehollywood-partnership-thistime-with-opie/ April 2010
Interplay between pop culture and
science
• This announcement reminds me a little bit of an IBM/USC initiative
in 2008 (from the news item on Nanowerk),
– For decades Hollywood has looked to science for inspiration, now IBM
researchers are looking to Hollywood for new ideas too.
– The entertainment industry has portrayed possible future worlds
through science fiction movies – many created by USC’s famous
alumni – and IBM wants to tap into that creativity.
– At a kickoff event at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, five of IBM’s top
scientists met with students and alumni of the school, along with
other invitees from the entertainment industry, to “Imagine the World
in 2050.” The event is the first phase of an expected collaboration
between IBM and USC to explore how combining creative vision and
insight with science and technology trends might fuel novel solutions
to the most pressing problems and opportunities of our time.
• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=939
Interplay between pop culture, science
and education
• The Walking Dead, collaborated with the
Canvas Network and the University of
California, Irvine on an online course.
– Society, Science Survival: Lessons from AMC’s The
Walking Dead
– MOOC (massive open online course)
– This course drew over 65,000 students globally
– Interdisciplinary: it was taught by faculty members
from public health, social sciences, physics, and
mathematics
Interplay between pop culture, science
and education
• the expected course outcomes describe:
• Describe how infectious diseases—like a
zombie epidemic—spread and are managed
• Apply various models of society and Maslow’s
hierarchy of needs to existing and emerging
societies as a means for understanding human
behavior
• Analyze existing social roles and stereotypes
as they exist today and in an emerging world
Interplay between pop culture, science
and education
• Debate the role of public health organizations in
society
• Describe how mathematical equations for population
dynamics can be used to study disease spread and
interventions
• Apply concepts of energy and momentum
appropriately when analyzing collisions and other
activities that either inflict or prevent damage
• Summarize multiple methods for managing stress in
disaster situations
(http://pascophronesis.wordpress.com/2014/10/31/zo
mbie-classes-can-be-serious/0
Interplay between pop culture, science
and education
• "This initiative was an experiment to determine
whether a pop-culture MOOC in a
multidisciplinary format would create a
compelling academic experience. The answer--an
unequivocal 'yes,'" says Instructure's co-founder
Brian Whitmer. "This different audience provided
us with new insights that will shape the way we
approach designing and developing MOOCs going
forward. By acting as a springboard for exploring
academic ideas in contemporary media, this
course illustrates the potential for pop culture to
serve as a modern-day literature review."
Interplay between pop culture, science
and education
• More here:
– http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2014/01/
walking_dead_uc_irvine_mooc.php
– http://www.instructure.com/downloads/twdmooc-feedback.pdf
Math and the movies (Canadian style)
• There was a Canadian animated film, Ryan,
which both won an Academy Award and
involved significant collaboration between a
mathematician and an animator …
• video https://www.nfb.ca/film/ryan/
Math and the movies (Canadian style)
• Karan Singh is an Associate Professor at the University of
Toronto, where co-directs the graphics and HCI lab, DGP. His
research interests are in artist driven interactive graphics
encompassing geometric modeling, character animation
and non-photorealistic rendering. As a researcher at Alias
(1995-1999), he architected facial and character animation
tools for Maya (Technical Oscar 2003). He was involved with
conceptual design and reverse engineering software at
Paraform (Academy award for technical achievement 2001)
and currently as Chief Scientist for Geometry Systems Inc.
He has worked on numerous film and animation projects
and most recently was the R+D Director for the Oscar
winning animation Ryan (2005)
• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=939
Nano and rap
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZBZUO6zqU (serious)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=
annotation_712179&feature=iv&src_vid=7nJMin
RT9xs&v=Si1b3GIRiOw (vampire)
• Coma Niddy
• More on materials, videos, etc. on
http://nisenet.org/ Nanoscale Informal Science
Education Network (funded by US National
Science Foundation)
Nano and comic books
Nano and comic books
• It’s tough to explain how the shield works, in part because
it behaves differently under different circumstances.
Sometimes the shield is thrown and becomes embedded in
a wall; but sometimes it bounces off of walls, ricocheting
wildly. Sometimes the shield seems to easily absorb
tremendous force; but sometimes it is damaged by the
attacks of Cap’s most powerful foes.
• “However, from a scientific perspective, it’s important to
remember that we’re talking about the first law of
thermodynamics,” says Suveen Mathaudhu, a program
manager in the materials science division of the U.S. Army
Research Office, adjunct materials science professor at NC
State University and hardcore comics fan. “Energy is
conserved. It doesn’t disappear, it just changes form.
Nano and comic books
• Captain America’s shield as a supercapacitor
(http://web.ncsu.edu/newsarchive/abstract/science/captain-americasshield/)
• Extracts on FrogHeart: Captain America,
Wolverine, Iron Man, and Thor on The
Abstract, North Carolina State University’s
news blog (April 2014)
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
• Iron Man III and Extremis
– When a bio-tech weapon of mass destruction was
unleashed, Tony Stark threw himself onto the
bleeding edge between science and alchemy,
combining nanotechnology and his Iron Man
armor. The result, which debuted in Iron Man,
Vol. IV, issue 5, was the Extremis Armor, Model
XXXII, Mark I, which made him the most powerful
hero in the world–but not without a price.
–…
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
• There were two key parts to this Extremis-enhanced
suit. The first part is the golden Undersheath, the
protective interface between Stark’s nervous system
and the second chief part, the External Suit Devices
(ESDs), a.k.a. the red armor plating.
– The Undersheath to the Iron Man suit components was
super-compressed and stored in the hollows of Stark’s
bones. The sheath material exited through skeletal pores
and slid between all cells to self-assemble a new “skin”
around him. This skin provides a complete interface to the
Iron Man suit components and can perform numerous
other functions. (The process in reverse withdrew the
Undersheath back into these specially modified areas of
Tony Stark’s bone marrow tissue.)
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
– The Undersheath is a nano-network that
incorporates peptide-peptide logic (PPL), a
molecular computational system made of
superconducting plastic impregnated molecular
chains. The PPL handles, among other things:
memory, critical logic paths, comparative “truth”
tables, automatic response look-up tables, data
storage, communication, and external sensing
material interface.
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
The lattice assembly is a stress-compression truss
with powered interstitial joints. This can surround
the PPL material and guide it through Stark’s body.
This steerable, motile lattice framework is
commanded by the PPL molecule computational
mentality. The metallic component to the lattice
is a controlled mimetic artifact that can take on
the characteristics of most elements. Even
unusual combinations of behaviors such as
extreme hardness and flexibility.
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
– The External Suit Devices (ESDs), the red armor plates,
were made via mega-nano technology that has
assembled atoms into large, discreet effectors. This
allows for the plates to be collapsable [sic] to very
small volumes for easy storage and carried in Stark’s
briefcase. The ESDs were commanded by the
Undersheath and were self-powered by high-capacity
Kasimer plates. They were equipped with large arrays
of nano-fans that allow flight. Armoring-up was done
by drawing the suit to Stark via a vectored repulsor
field, just lightly pushing them from different angles.
((http://www.ironmanarmory.com/Extremis_Armor.ht
ml))
Nano and comic books (Iron Man 3)
• Lattice Assembly
(http://www.ironmanarmory.com/Extremis_Armor.html)
Dance your PhD
• 2012 winner of Dance your PhD (Science
Magazine)
• ("Nanostructures give alloy super strength)
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaNRAc8z
a7s
Commentary on Iron Man 3
• http://www.frogheart.ca/?p=9971 (video from
Emory)