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Ford, Boeing and NU Form Nanotech Alliance
spoonyfork wrote to mention an article detailing a collaboration between Ford, Boeing and Northwestern to research how nanotechnology can improve car and plane design. From the article: "Ford hopes the alliance will help it build more fuel-efficient cars and engines that are more durable because they run cooler. The research also will focus on designing vehicles that run on alternative energy sources, such as hydrogen and electricity. Nanotechnology should allow batteries for hybrid vehicles that produce more energy while weighing less and taking up less space, Stevens said. CEO Bill Ford Jr. recently said half of the company's models will have hybrid capabilities by 2010. By making batteries and other components smaller, it opens up space for more features that consumers want in their vehicles, Stevens said. Designers will be forced to make fewer compromises when choosing materials and amenities."
My money's on NU as it would be hardest for them to go bankrupt.
Ford deserves credit for at least making some effort.
Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it.
As if the seats weren't small enough...
If you get this, we're 10 of a kind.
I think we need a new term - say, picotech - with a strict definition "you know what every atom is doing". That way the real nanotech companies (single nanotube devices; but not bulk composites -- and molecular memory guys) could have a menaingful label; and all the chemists who think that the materials science label is so 90s can use nanotech without confusing anyone.
...ask Matchbox to join in? They should have the obvious expertise!
I, for one, welcome our tiny new overlords....
In Soviet Russia, the continued use of played-out slashdot memes laments you!
After all, I am strangely colored.