Thursday, February 1, 2007

Picture of the day


Volkswagen Nanospyder


LA Auto Show, Volkswagen Nanospyder

Recyclable; collision sensors; built by "billions of tiny nanomachines."

Credit: LA Auto Show

link to full article

Quote of the day

"We envision biocompatible surgical nanorobots that can find and eliminate isolated cancerous cells, remove microvascular obstructions and recondition vascular endothelial cells, perform 'noninvasive' tissue and organ transplants, conduct molecular repairs on traumatized extracellular and intracellular structures, and even exchange new whole chromosomes for old ones inside individual living human cells."

~Robert A. Freitas, Jr. link



"I am certain that nanotechnology holds huge promise. In medicine. In energy. In computer processing. In so many areas. But unless environmental, health, and safety issues are addressed in a way that fosters public understanding and support for nanotechnology, that potential is in jeopardy. I, for one, am unwilling to let that happen."

~U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR)



"We're very optimistic that nanotechnology can markedly improve cancer therapy."

~James Baker, Director, the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and the Biological Sciences.

2057 - The Body

Last night I watched 2057 – The Body. See yesterday’s post on The City, and Tuesday’s bit on The World for more on the series.

The theme for this production could be titled "A Day In The Life Of A Regular Guy" or "How Falling Out A Window Can Save Your Life."

As were the first two in the series, The Body is the highest-grade of educational production. The CGI is flawless, and the acting quite good. The science is plausible, and the near-future technologies promising.

Covered here: Intelligent homes, city-wide ‘net, privacy concerns, flying cars, artificial blood products, very advanced diagnosis, treatment, imagery, and printed organs, robotic sentries, robotic surgery, and remote surgery (teleoperation).

Again, I highly recommend this production. In fact, I will be talking it up every chance I get, and will write a blog note on the series as a whole, shortly.

Michio Kaku once again makes a very pertinent statement: "One thing we know for sure, hold onto your hats because, in the next 50 years, its gonna be a wild ride!"

To learn more about this program, visit:
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/2057/about/about.html