Tuesday Sighting - T4Bacteriophage

Images catch my eyes faster than headlines. Here’s one that crossed my path recently:

Title: Artificial Nano "T4 Bacteriophage"

Description: "T4 Bacteriophage" is a virus like the robot in the living body.

Credit: Reo Kometani & Shinji Matsui (University of Hyogo)

That image is one among many you will find at the webpage for The 49th International Conference on Electron, Ion and Photon Beam Technology and Nanofabrication Bizarre/Beautiful Micrograph Contest

see http://www.zyvexlabs.com/EIPBNuG/2005MicroGraph.html

Those images serve as just one of many ways to illustrate our rapidly expanding understanding of the unique properties of nanoscale materials, our ability to control their dimensions, and consequently their properties. These new understandings will inevitably lead to massive change in the products we buy, and the society we live in.

Jack is Back

Friend and colleague Jack Uldrich is making waves again in the “nanopool.” His new book, titled Jump the Curve: 50 Essential Strategies for Dealing with Emerging Technologies, brings to bear his all-encompassing insight into advanced technologies, including those enabled by nanoscale materials.

From an October 1, 2007 Nanotechnology Now posting:
Noted Author Unveils New Website Dedicated to Exponential Advances in Technology

The amount of technological progress that is afoot is nothing short of revolutionary. To help leaders in all fields understand the accelerating pace of this change as well as provide them with the unique insights and innovative ideas necessary to better prepare their organizations for this radical advance, noted author and well-respected global futurist, Jack Uldrich has unveiled a new website: http://jumpthecurve.net

The new website compliments Uldrich's forthcoming book…and will be written in the same user-friendly way as his best-selling book The Next Big is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Business.

Read the rest of the story at http://www.nanotech-now.com/news.cgi?story_id=25313

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from JTC:

It is still difficult to obtain money, but for bright, motivated people with good ideas there is plenty of money to be found. To this end, many of the exponential advances … are now being funded by large corporations with deep pockets.

…it is important to understand that today’s accelerating pace of technological change implies, among other things, that society will likely experience the equivalent of 50 years of progress (at the old 20th century rate of change) in the next 10 to 15 years. And everywhere I look today—in the fields of nanotechnology, robotics, synthetic biology, information technology and the cognitive sciences—I see the modern day equivalent of the Sputnik launch. … just as Sputnik led to advances in communications and, in the process, the creation of entirely new industries, today’s technological advances are going to do the same thing—only they will do so in a timeframe that is exponentially faster than what we have experienced in the past half century.

Look for JTC early 2008.

In closing: Jack has an amazing ability to distill the best bits from the noise, and convert the insights gained into language fit for most levels of understanding, from CEO to person-on-the-street. Pay attention to what he says, if not for the fact that “Jack does know Jack about advanced technologies” then for the way he makes it accessible to diverse groups of stakeholders.