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BASF Shows Off Some Tantalizing Nanotech

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the tech-porn dept.

Dan B. writes "The Technology section in The Age today is running a story on the current 'Next Generation' nanotech coming to a store near you from BASF. Interesting read, but I'd like some more info on the 10 hour batteries the size of a cigarette lighter."

5 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. What? by kruetz · · Score: 4, Interesting
    From the article

    Imagine never having to polish your shoes again, having glistening white teeth without visiting a dentist, or owning a mobile phone powered by a miniature battery. These are not just idle fantasies, but a reality where small things could make your wildest dreams come true.

    wow! this guy's pretty darn wild! I bet for a big night out he turns on the TV and drinks a whole light beer. I mean, c'mon - with all the possibilities for nanotechnology, having self-polishing shoes is the best he could come up with?

    it looks that just as with other technologies (www, e-commerce, ...) we're gonna have to wait for the pron industry to break new ground and lead the way ... oh, the possiblities!!! Wait a minute, don't. Eughh!

    --

    This sig intentionally left bla... dammit!
    Who's got the whiteout?
    1. Re:What? by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "wow! this guy's pretty darn wild! I bet for a big night out he turns on the TV and drinks a whole light beer. I mean, c'mon - with all the possibilities for nanotechnology, having self-polishing shoes is the best he could come up with? "

      Ugh. Did you even read the F'n A? It's really frustrating when somebody takes the time to understand the capabilities of something they understand only to have the listener get all disappointed because he didn't invent a replicator or something.

      The whole point of what he was saying was that nature has solved a LOT of problems we have today, and on the nano-level we can understand what it's doing and incorporate reserach that nature has already done into modern society. His example wasn't cool because it could make the dir resistant shoes, it was cool because it meant that they could emulate nature. The result is future materials would be longer lasting. Dare I say: mold-proof houses?

      I'd normally concede that they could have presented their case better, but in this example they described the bits of it that were interesting enough that the application was merely an example.

  2. blast processing by QEDog · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If I hate something more than a buzzword (remember Blast Processing and the Sega Genesis?), is an article that is just about a buzzword.

    --
    "There is no teacher but the enemy."-Mazer Rackham
  3. Re:ig farben by Tempelherr · · Score: 5, Interesting
    IG Farben itself has quite an extensive history for anyone interested, especially with regard to its member's roles in WWI (manufacturing chlorine gas and potassium nitrate, which helped to alleviate Germany's dependance on Chilean imports) and WWII (producing poison gases, running work camps, ie Auschwitz). It was an incredibly huge and productive industry, also producing many other things, such as artifical rubber.

    After WWII, most of the assets of the IG were transferred to Agfa, Hoechst, Bayer, and of course BASF. If I recall correctly though, the IG is actually going to be dissolved some time in 2003, though I am not sure when. Anyone know when this is scheduled to happen?

    I'm definitely looking forward to some of the products that BASF is developing, especially the hydrogen gas battery. That is going to nice if/when it ever reaches the masses.

  4. Drexler by nanobug · · Score: 5, Interesting

    At the last Foresight Conference Eric Drexler expressed his frustration at the amount of hype and effort going into research and development on this psuedo nanotechnology. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon and getting "nano" into their products.

    Real nanotechnology, often called molecular nanotechnology, consists of actual manipulation of atoms into molecules and structures with useful properties, and will make most of the current claims of nano products look extremely weak. But no-one knows exactly how to do it just yet!

    Lots of progress is being made on the research front, and they will get there, but anyone who tells you they have nanotechnology products available now or in the near future are talking about the weak versions of nanotechnology that have been around for thousands of years. See here for a better description of the distinction between weak and strong nanotechnology.