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."
Apparently Cuervo (yes, the tequila company) is one of the top plant biotech companies too, trying to speed up the lifecycle of whatever plant it is that makes tequila.
With enough marketing, I suppose even Microsoft could be a nano-tech company - micro & nano both mean small, don't they?
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.
Given the size of the typical US vehicle it has never struck me that space would be at a premium. Let us hope that this technology will be used to make smaller & more fuel efficient cars -- we all need to drive those to mitigate the causes of climate change -- especially cars made in the USA.
...ask Matchbox to join in? They should have the obvious expertise!
I doubt this will do much for cars, because whatever they come up with will be too expensive. That's the same reason cars currently aren't being made out of titanium. If better mileage was all the car companies cared about, cars would get a few hundred mpg, but cost too much for most people to buy.
I, for one, welcome our tiny new overlords....
Ford and Boeing are in trouble. Makes me wonder whether these companies will even be relevant in a decade's time, when this technology is expected to be big. With competition from Airbus for Boeing and Ford having been replaced by Toyota, I doubt they will be strong participants in this field. Fact is, Airbus is now the largest airplane maker and not as many people want to buy Ford's vehicles.
In Korea, only old people lament the continued use the played-out /. memes.
English is easier said than done.
For all non-US readers, form deep down in their website:
(http://www.northwestern.edu/
Northwestern University is a private institution founded in 1851 to serve the Northwest Territory, an area that now includes the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. In 1853 the founders purchased a 379-acre tract of land on the shore of Lake Michigan 12 miles north of Chicago. They established a campus and developed the land near it, naming the surrounding town Evanston in honor of one of the University's founders, John Evans. After completing its first building in 1855, Northwestern began classes that fall with two faculty members and 10 students.
More on http://www.northwestern.edu/about/facts/
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As a student in a nanotech degree, it brings warmth to my heart that I'll be able to get a job once I finish Uni. Whether the term nanotechnology will lose some of its stigma as "grey goo" will have ended by then is another question. and whether I'll be able to say nanotechnology without a chorus oh "huh?"s is a better question
Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home!
In Soviet Russia, the continued use of played-out slashdot memes laments you!
After all, I am strangely colored.
but you can get a tzero by ac propulsion that does pretty good performance wise if you are looking for some sportscar. Instead of MPG look at cost per mile instead with whatever you pay for electric now for charging.
e .htm
http://www.acpropulsion.com/tzero_pages/tzero_hom
Ford wants nanotech to track profits and build new micromanagers for the dealers and suppliers.
You mean you had an extended warranty and they refused to pay for it? Did you mod it? My '01 GT is coming up on 46K, but I've got 3 more years on the extended warranty, and it's stock and I've got receipts for all the maintenance, so if my engine blew, I'd damn well expect it replaced. And get an attorney if I had to to get it replaced.
Attention zealots and haters: 00100 00100
Here's the big issue (quite literally!) that could hurt Airbus: the A380 superjumbo airliner project.
The A380 is threatening to turn into a white elephant for Airbus, mostly because it will cost many millions of US dollars/Euros to upgrade airports to accommodate the plane and because airlines are increasingly more interested in point-to-point service, which uses smaller planes. Boeing will take advantage of more point-to-point with more 777 and 787 sales, while Airbus is scrambling like mad and trying to line up financing to build the A350 for the same reason.
good for you... I didn't do anything but maintainance and mine blew up... so I suppose that makes you special?
"(I) have this unfortunate condition that causes me not to believe a single thing any politician says when a mic's on.
no, mods no upgrades... just a shitty car engine that died 100k miles to soon
Don't hate me beacuse I am telling you all my experience..... the AC ford cowards are coming out of the wood work
"(I) have this unfortunate condition that causes me not to believe a single thing any politician says when a mic's on.
I don't give a damn about American jobs- I'm Australian
Kids! Bringing about Armageddon can be dangerous. Do not attempt it in your home!