NIST Call for White Papers
Late last week, the National Institute for Standards and Technologies (NIST) issued a call for white papers “to support, promote, and accelerate innovation in the United States through high-risk, high-reward research in areas of critical national need." The call was issued through NIST's Technology Innovation Program (TIP), and covers a multitude of areas seeking coverage, including nanotechnology and nanomaterials.
"In this call for white papers, TIP is seeking information in all areas of critical national need, but also seeks information to assist TIP in further defining several topic areas under development. White papers may discuss any area of critical national need of interest to the submitter, or may address any of the following topic areas: civil infrastructure, complex networks and complex systems, energy, ensuring future water supply, manufacturing, nanomaterials/nanotechnology, personalized medicine, and sustainable chemistry."
More information on submitting White Papers to TIP can be found here, and the deadlines for submission are: January 15, March 9, May 11, and July 13, 2009.
Nanosoccer, sure. But How Big is the Trophey?
Its Friday of a short week, so of course we're getting a little goofy. We ran across this story this morning and couldn't resist passing it on. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is hosting a nanosoccer tournament, of sorts.
These soccer tournaments are meant to encourage research at the nano levels for motion and movement: "NIST’s conducts its nanosoccer competitions and demonstrations in conjunction with RoboCup, an international organization dedicated to using the game of soccer as a testing ground for the robotics technologies of the future. NIST’s goal in coordinating competitions between the world’s smallest robots—known as nanobots (nanoscale robots)—is to show the feasibility and accessibility of technologies for fabricating MicroElectroMechanical Systems (MEMS), tiny mechanical devices built onto semiconductor chips and measured in micrometers (millionth of a meter)."
The most recent demonstration just occurred earlier this week at the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh. While data from this demonstration does not appear to be available, check out what they did at the 2007 demonstration. Other highlights include the demonstration video "Bend it like NIST: Tiny Soccer Players Pave Way for Microrobots."
I just have a few questions. Fist, do they play with buckyballs? Second, how big can the trophey really be? And third, are these guys available for our upcoming soccer tournament this summer? We can use all the help we can get.
