Dr. Dobb's Journal August 2000
Regular ink, such as that deposited by inkjet printers, is a jumble of particles. But a new ink, developed at Sandia National Laboratories (http://www.sandia.gov/), self-assembles into orderly layers of nanoscopic pores, which can form usable nanostructures. This new "intelligent" ink can be printed inexpensively using ordinary inkjet printers or with lithographic pens. The ability to simply print out a functioning nanoscopic material would be a tremendous time-saver over the current lithographic process of producing molds, masks, or photoresists as the first step in production.
At the nanoscopic level, intelligent ink could be used in conjunction with computer-aided design software to print out a variety of functional structures. The Sandia group has developed a prototype for monitoring the pH of fluids transported by capillary action, and a structure that could act as a waveguide for directing laser light.
The breakthrough is the development of so-called "ligands" within the ink. Ligands are active molecules that are able to bind to other molecules to form a new compound or complex. They can therefore be used to analyze any gas or fluid, laser light, or electric or magnetic fields passing through.
According to Sandia project leader Jeff Brinker, "We should be able to fabricate a substance that organizes itself to build a fluidic channel network instead of having to painstakingly design and cut one. With positive ligands in the mix to act upon incoming channels, we would have the equivalent of an analytical machine that built itself instead of needing construction."
The European Space Agency (http://www .esa.int/) has launched a study of "technologies and concepts found in Science Fiction, in order to obtain imaginative ideas potentially viable for long-term development by the European space sector." The Innovative Technologies from Science Fiction for Space Applications (ITSF) study has opened a mailing list and a web site (http://itsf.spaceart.net/), where anyone can submit outlines of science-fiction technologies.
"Some people tend to see Science Fiction as pure imagination with no serious scientific background," the project's web site explains. "The ITSF study is an opportunity to see not only if SF does indeed express ideas that are ahead of their time (in the field of space technologies), but also whether they could actually be developed." The submission form asks for a description of the technology, source and context of the idea, and a "feasibility assessment." (Feasibility categories are "Tried & Tested," "Under Development," "Rejected as Unfeasible," "Requires New Technology," and "Untried.")
Among the technologies already submitted are H.G. Wells's gravity-defying Cavorite (Requires New Technology); Arthur C. Clarke's space catapults and space elevators (Untried); Frank Herbert's still suits (Feasibility Not Known); and Star Trek's impulse drive (Under Development). In the Tried & Tested category, there's Robert Heinlein's outlandish science-fiction premise of a Waldo. "A severely disabled scientist, Waldo Farthingwaite-Jones, has to live in a zero-G space habitat and to develop substitutes to his atrophied muscles. Waldoes! Heinlein's concept was successful enough for the real thing, now ubiquitous, to be named after his character," writes submitter Caliban.
We look forward to the appearance of Soylent Green under "Enabling Technologies."
A graduate student at the University of Rochester has developed a computer program that performs actions based on the recognition of brain signals. Wearing a virtual-reality helmet and running Jessica Bayliss's program, users have successfully turned lights on and off and brought a virtual car to a stop simply by looking at the object to be controlled and thinking the commands "Turn off!" and "Stop!," respectively.
Bayliss's program is able to detect the brain's weak electrical signals in a room full of normal activity. Previous experiments have required absolutely quiet environments. The program listens for a brain signal called the "P300 evoked potential," which is a signal denoting recognition ("That's it!"). Combined with a person looking at a certain object, the program can determine what action should be taken (turning on and off, stopping, and so on).
Bayliss's program currently works in a virtual apartment and requires users to wear helmets with dozens of electrodes attached to the head using a gooey gel. Dry sensors are expected to be available soon, and the next step is to try the brain recognition system with real objects rather than virtual ones. Ultimately, the system may be of tremendous benefit to paralyzed people, among others.
Richard Bloch, a pioneer in the development of digital computers, has died of cancer at the age of 78.
While serving as chief operations officer at the Harvard University Computation Laboratory in the 1940s, Bloch helped design and program the Mark I digital computer. He also invented automatic error detection -- parity checking -- which is still used in most computer memory systems. Bloch was a graduate of Harvard, and served in the Navy during World War II. Bloch worked at Raytheon, Honeywell, General Electric, and was chairman and chief executive of Artificial Intelligence Corporation and Meiko Scientific Corporation.
Researchers at Given Imaging (http:// www.givenimaging.com/) have developed an ingestible camera that records digital images of the gastrointestinal tract.
The tiny camera and light source are encased in a disposable capsule that is swallowed like a pill. During the camera's journey, patients wear a belt that contains a digital recording device. The camera provides up to six hours of continuous recordings; its location is calculated from the strength of the signal from the built-in light source. It takes about 24 hours for the device to pass through the human system. The ingestible endoscope provides a painless, convenient, and sterile method for testing for irregularities in human bowels. Given Imaging has successfully tested the device on humans in Israel and is now working on obtaining FDA approval.