Foresight ® No. 54 A publication of the Foresight Institute® Foresight Institute Appoints Scott Mize President Foresight Institute poised for growth Breaking News — August 3, 2004 — Foresight Institute has appointed Scott Mize to the position of President. Prior to joining Foresight Institute, Mize was co-founder of AngstroVision, Inc., a developer of nano-imaging instruments, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Nanotechnology Opportunity Report™, business consultant for Technanogy, a nanomaterials company, and advisor to Accelrys, the leading nanotechnology software company. He has 20 years of experience in the information technology, new media, and Internet industries, and has been tracking the development of the nanotechnology field for over 15 years. Foresight Institute was founded in 1986 to educate the public about nanotechnology when it was a little-known science. The Institute’s 1st Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology preceded the signing of the National Nanotechnology Initiative by 10 years. The prestigious Foresight Institute Feynman Prize in Nanotechnology has honored top nanotechnology research scientists since 1993. “This is an important step in our evolution,” said Christine Peterson, Founder and former President of Foresight Institute. “With his leadership experience and knowledge of nanotechnology, we are now prepared to take the organization to the next level. This expansion was made possible by the generous support of our benefactors, which have given Foresight a substantial financial foundation. With these resources, Foresight will expand its efforts to ensure the beneficial development and deployment of nanotechnology, and educate the public about the potential and risks of molecular machine systems.” Peterson will remain with Foresight Institute as Vice President focusing on public policy, legislative issues and education. Scott Mize, newly appointed For more information on Scott Mize: http://www.foresight.org/FI/Mize.html President of Foresight Institute Experts to Explore Advanced Nanotechnology October 22 to 24, 2004 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Foresight Institute Event Highlights Research, Applications and Policy Inside Foresight ............................ 2 Vision Weekend 2004 ................... 3 Foresight Institute is sponsoring the 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology: Senior Associates Program ......... 5 Research, Applications, and Policy, October 22-24, 2004 at the Crystal City Marriott Hotel, Washington DC area. Vision Weekend Sponsors .......... 6 “This is the first conference to focus on molecular machine systems and advanced Vision Weekend Photos ............... 7 nanotechnology,” said Christine Peterson, Vice President and founder of Foresight Institute. Self-Replicating Machines ........... 8 “The Conference targets the bottom-up goal of molecular machine systems and what this IMM Freitas Research Fund ......... 9 Next Industrial Revolution will mean for the environment, medicine, national competitiveness, and defense.” NASA-Funded Study ..................... 9 Why care about MNT .................. 10 The 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology: Research, Applications, and Policy is important for those interested in the Feynman goal for nanotechnology, including researchers, Recent Progress ......................... 12 Media Watch.54 ........................... 14 continued on page 11 No Runaway Replicators ............ 18 Thanks & Kudos .......................... 19 “This is the first conference to focus on molecular machine Foresight Purpose ...................... 19 systems and advanced nanotechnology.” Upcoming Events ........................ 20 —Christine Peterson Foresight Update No. 54 1 Molecular manufacturing: I time for a targeted conference It’s time for Foresight to innovate in nanotechnology again, as we did with the first conference and the first prizes. We need a forum Targeting where researchers with a serious interest in molecular machine systems can gather and systematically explore that goal in earnest. Molecular We also need a forum for discussion of potential applications, social implications, funding, and public policy issues. Manufacturing by Christine L. Peterson Much excellent work is being funded, but we won’t reach real molecular In 1989, Foresight held the first comprehensive research conference on manufacturing without a systems molecular nanotechnology. Initially held development program specifically focused every other year, this meeting series has over the years attracted top researchers in all of molecular nanotech’s enabling sciences, on this very challenging goal. from scanning probes to protein and DNA engineering to molecular systems modeling. Enter the 1st Conference on Advanced Nanotechnology: Starting in 1993, we launched the Foresight Institute Feynman Research, Applications, and Policy, to be held October 21-24 in Prizes to recognize important work leading toward molecular Washington, DC (http://foresight.org/Conferences/ nanotech. In 1996, we announced the Feynman Grand Prize in AdvNano2004). We’ll have one day each on research (Friday), Nanotechnology, a $250,000 prize to be awarded to the first team to applications (Saturday), and policy and funding issues (Sunday). build a nanoscale robotic arm and a computing device that We’re working on the second two days, but Friday has come demonstrates the feasibility of building a nanotechnology together very well, with Caltech Prof. William Goddard and computer. In 1997, in response to growing interest in the field, both Georgia Tech Prof. Ralph Merkle serving as co-chairs. Ray the Feynman Prizes and the Foresight Conferences started being Kurzweil has agreed to give a keynote presentation. held annually. This is our opportunity to present state-of-the-art work on all With the announcement of the U.S. National Nanotechnology aspects of molecular manufacturing–from theoretical and physical Initiative in 2000, interest took a sharp upturn, with many new experiments, to plans for using the technology in medicine and nano conferences being held by both for-profit conference firms restoring the environment, to recommendations for improved and the various professional societies. The earliest of these were funding mechanisms and public policy. We hope you’ll join us in explicitly modeled on the Foresight Conferences, with topics and Washington for this unique, first-ever meeting on the Third speakers drawn from our past meetings. We encouraged this Industrial Revolution: molecular manufacturing. development, since the goal of our work is to spread these ideas, not to sponsor large meetings. Getting other organizations to help Foresight President and DC Representative is a key part of our strategy. I’ve been running Foresight more or less continuously since it was An explosion of “nano” events: founded in 1986. Meanwhile, the Foresight viewpoint has not been presented in a general-reader book since Unbounding the Future many unfocused over a decade ago. We need a new book, and I’m excited about Based on the number of “nano” conferences now being held, this writing it—but I can’t do that and direct Foresight as well. It’s strategy is definitely working. Hundreds of such meetings are now time for a new President to lead our effort as Foresight enters held each year around the world, the most relevant of which are Phase 2. listed on our Events webpage. Many of them have significant content focusing on the molecular aspect of nanotechnology, rather Accordingly, we retained an executive search firm to find the very than top-down approaches such as nanolithography. It seems as best candidate for this position. The firm found multiple excellent though every major science and engineering professional society in candidates, but you won't be surprised to hear that our choice the U.S. has nano events now, with similar events in Asia, Europe turned out to be someone who has been a Foresight member since and Israel as well. The “nano” meme has successfully spread 1987 and Senior Associate since 1997: Scott Mize. He is highly worldwide, just as we’ve hoped and worked for. qualified in multiple dimensions and is looking forward to meeting as many of you as possible at our October conference in DC. You In the process, the focus on the goal set by Richard Feynman in can read all about him here: http://foresight.org/FI/Mize.html his famous 1959 talk, “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” and systematically explored by Eric Drexler in Nanosystems and Engines Also, as you may recall, in 2003 for the first time Foresight had a of Creation, has become blurred. Anything under 100 nanometers is full-time representative in Washington, DC. Sadly for us, Tim called nanotechnology, with some “nano” meetings including Kyger was lured away to the Pentagon in December. Since then mesoscale and even MEMS (microelectromechanical systems). we've been searching for a new person for this key post, and now Some older technologies are being retroactively renamed nanotech. we've found her: Linda Strine. She has worked with a number of Foresight leaders before and I've rarely heard such rave reviews of Similarly, the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative funds a a colleague. Read about Linda here: http:// broad variety of basic nanoscience explorations, but these do not chooseinfinitelinks.com add up to a coherent project leading to nanoproductive systems—a general ability to build with atomic precision. Much excellent Thanks for all your support, and I look forward to your help as I work is being funded, but we won’t reach real molecular