Smart Economy

Artificial Synthetic Life-Genesis 2.0 one step closer? 07-212

In the past week, Craig Venter grabbed headlines with the announcement he was close to creating a synthetic genome, housed within a bacterial cell and constructed chemically from the building blocks DNA.

Meanwhile, other scientists are working towards the even more ambitious goal of building “synthetic life” – creating an entire living cell from scratch using the basic chemical ingredients.

Last week at a meeting in Switzerland, an Italian researcher announced that he had taken a step in achieving this goal by synthesising proteins in cell-like compartments.

I can't wait for the day that it happens--Genesis 2.0 may be much closer then many people are predicting

Full story in New Scientist July 7, 2007 (Vol. 194 No’s 2611) called Life Begins Again; page 6-7 (embargoed till Juy 5th)

© 2005-2007

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Walter Derzko teaches at the Certificate Program on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, which starts in the Fall of 2007

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko"
• .......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead
• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Engineered Virus attacks bacterial biofilms 07-211

Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the USA have found that they can modify naturally occurring viruses to create targeted weapons against biofilms, tenacious bacterial communities that wreak havoc in both clinical and industrial settings.

The research was published in the June 25, 2007, issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For the full story, go here >> [...] 

© 2005-2007 '

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Walter Derzko teaches at the Certificate Program on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, which starts in the Fall of 2007

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko"
• .......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead
• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Hydrogen Economy already here: SMART-H2 Iceland on the way to commercial hydrogen systems 07-210

You don't hear much about tiny Iceland in the news every day, but it looks like isolation has its benefits, creating a "let's just do it" island mentality. Iceland is on the leading edge of a number of emerging smart technologies including energy alternatives.

Previous successful hydrogen demonstration projects in Iceland have inspired VistOrka (the largest shareholder of Icelandic New Energy) to allocate at least $3,5 million US to take the next steps into a hydrogen future based entirely on renewable energy.  The SMART-H2 (Sustainable Marine and Road Transport,- Hydrogen in Iceland), is a supported market introduction where different companies impose various demands on the hydrogen technology in mixed customer niches.  SMART-H2 involves hydrogen cars, operation of a fitted fuel cell system on board a boat, further development of hydrogen distribution, as well as research. 

VistOrka's role in SMART-H2 is to form the steering committee for the project, finance its management, subsidise hydrogen vehicles, fully finance all equipment for an auxiliary power unit (APU) on board a boat and partially support the research to follow up all parts of the project.

Many Icelandic and international partners participate in SMART-H2.  Whereas the Icelandic partners in VistOrka are public companies this undertaking shows the devotion of the Icelandic community to hydrogen development.  The organisation of this diverse and comprehensive project will be described as the project unfolds along with the partners in each phase.  The first steps are to introduce in July two A-Class fuel cell vehicles (from DaimlerChrysler) and ten retrofitted (by Quantum) Toyota Prius hydrogen vehicles in September.  Customers select the type of car that fit their service fleets and buy or lease them, and technical support is included.  The first customers are energy companies, investment funds and the Herz car rental service.  Then up to 30 cars will be provided according to demand and availability in 2008 and 2009.  The type will depend on availability and the customer's selection, preferably fuel cell cars.

The Auxiliary Power Unit (10-15 kW hybrid system) based on fuel cells and gaseous hydrogen will be designed in Iceland and installed on a 150 passengers' whale watching vessel that operates from Reykjavik.  The SMART-H2 and the hydrogen economy concept will be outlined in a showroom onboard.

Data from the performance of the equipment will be collected extensively and used in research and supportive studies which is a large part of the SMART-H2.  Research institutes, universities, Master and PhD students have been appointed in order to follow up the outcomes, not the least on economic terms.

ETA: Now

The SMART-H2 will be one of the largest H2 demonstrations in the world, the implementation phase starts in July 2007 and ends by 2010.

From end of April 2008 people in Iceland can rent a hydrogen car for an environmentally friendly sightseeing tour in Reykjavik and experience a memorable whale watching trip on a hydrogen-powered excursion at sea.

Source: Certificate program in Entrepreneurship & Innovation; University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, St George Campus. and the Marine Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association

© 2005-2007 '

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Walter Derzko teaches at the Certificate Program on Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Toronto, School of Continuing Studies, which starts in the Fall of 2007

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko"
• .......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead
• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

The other biofuel-– transfroming GM algae into biocrude 07-209

The other biofuel-– transfroming algae into biocrude

Live Fuels is a national alliance of labs and scientists dedicated to transforming genetically modified GM algae into biocrude by the year 2010.  Theoretically, algae can yield up to 20,000 gallons of oil per acre, so the U.S. could grow enough algae on 20 million acres to replace imported oil.  LiveFuels is working to make this "wild card" technology a reality.

Canada's  oilsands project and Saudi Arabia could be in trouble and may be looking for new customers down the road if this wildcard technology comes to pass

Source: FUTUREdition Arlington Institute

University Foresight 07-208

University of  Toronto President David Naylor is seeking input on the future of the university through the year 2030...see here>>[...] ;  download full report

Vertical Farming or Skyfarming 07-207

Grow Ops --Grow Operations, or sky farming as I call it,  isn’t necessary a bad idea, it’s just used for the wrong purpose --growing illegal crops. The ultimate in agricultural grow operations is being proposed for the Big Apple (pun intended) Manhattan by Columbia University Professor Dickson Despommier.

See the BBC story and Vertical Farming site where students have their presentations /proposals posted

According to his web site the advantages of Vertical Indoor Farming or Aeroculture include:

• Year-round crop production; 1 indoor acre is equivalent to 4-6 outdoor acres or more, depending upon the crop (e.g., strawberries: 1 indoor acre = 30 outdoor acres)
• No weather-related crop failures due to droughts, floods, pests
• All VF food is grown organically: no herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers
• VF virtually eliminates agricultural runoff by recycling black water
• VF returns farmland to nature, restoring ecosystem functions and services
• VF greatly reduces the incidence of many infectious diseases that are acquired at the agricultural interface
• VF converts black and gray water into potable water by collecting the water of evapotranspiration
• VF adds energy back to the grid via methane generation from composting non-edible parts of plants and animals
• VF dramatically reduces fossil fuel use (no tractors, plows, shipping.) 
• VF converts abandoned urban properties into food production centers
• VF creates sustainable environments for urban centers
• VF creates new employment opportunities We cannot go to the moon, Mars, or beyond without first learning to farm indoors on earth
• VF may prove to be useful for integrating into refugee camps
• VF offers the promise of measurable economic improvement for tropical and subtropical LDCs.  If this should prove to be the case, then VF may be a catalyst in helping to reduce or even reverse the population growth of LDCs as they adopt urban agriculture as a strategy for sustainable food production. 
• VF could reduce the incidence of armed conflict over natural resources, such as water and land for agriculture

Bioelectronics: Progress toward drug screening with a cell-transistor biosensor 07-206

To develop selective measurement techniques for diagnostics, drug research, and the detection of poisons, researchers would like to combine the high specificity of biochemical reactors with universal microelectronics.  Now, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Martinsried/Munich have shown that such bioelectronic hybrid systems are no longer just a utopian vision.  In the journal Angewandte Chemie, they describe the coupling of a receptor to a silicon chip by means of a cell-transistor interface.

Original article : Recombinant Serotonin Receptor on a Transistor as a Prototype for Cell-Based Biosensors

Press release from Angewandte Chemie here>>[...]

© 2005-2007 

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Are Smart Materials Intelligent? ( Update 2007) 07-204

from Institute for Engineering and Technology in the UK

Subject Spotlight

Are Smart Materials Intelligent? by Carolyn Yeates (Group Head, Interdisciplinary Physics Group) Updated by Mark Saxton 2007 (from Inspec Matters issue no.77 - March 1994) In recent years, there have been significant developments in the science and applications of  intelligent, or 'smart', materials.  These can be defined as materials with one or more properties (e.g. mechanical, thermal, optical, or electromagnetic properties) that can be varied in a predictable or controllable way in response to external stimuli, such as, for example, stress, temperature, moisture, pH and electric or magnetic fields. Such materials are now used in a vast number of applications, from photochromic lenses for sunglasses to military and aerospace uses. Smart structures incorporate smart materials and exhibit one or more of the following features: sensors or actuators which are either embedded within a structural material or else bonded to the surface of that material control capabilities which permit the behaviour of the material to respond to an external stimulus according to a prescribed functional relationship or control algorithm A smart structure is thus an integrated system comprising actuators, sensors and a control system. At a more sophisticated level, smart materials become intelligent when they have the ability to respond intelligently and autonomously to dynamically-changing environmental conditions. The technologies encompassed by intelligent materials are very diverse and include electrorheological fluids, fibrous materials, ceramics, photonics, microsensors, signal processing, piezoelectrics, dielectric elastomers, biomimetics, shape memory alloys, neural networks, nanotechnology, conducting and chiral polymers, liquid crystals, microactuators, biotechnology and information processing. Potential applications are similarly widespread and have excited interest in industrial, military, commercial, medical, automotive and aerospace fields. Embedded fibre-optic sensing systems are employed in many engineering disciplines to monitor critical characteristics. Several smart skins programmes have been initiated for both civil and military aircraft. Large space structures are also candidates for the incorporation of smart structural systems because of the variable service conditions in which they operate. Useful Classification Codes and Controlled Indexing Terms The wide variety of materials and applications results in intelligent materials cropping up in many parts of the Inspec Classification scheme. The most relevant sections are: A8185 Intelligent materials (inc. smart materials)  A7760 Piezoelectricity and electrostriction B0585 Intelligent materials (engineering materials science) (inc. electrorheological and magnetorheological fluids, smart materials) C3240N Intelligent sensors C3260N Intelligent actuators E1710 Engineering materials E2110 Mechanical structures E1610 Inspection and quality control E1020 Maintenance and reliability Inspec has a set of controlled terms for intelligent/smart material technology: intelligent actuators  intelligent materials intelligent sensors  intelligent structures  intelligent control Other related areas There is an extensive range of topics related to intelligent materials/structures. Some of the most useful (and most popular) codes and terms are: Classification codes Section A (Physics Abstracts) A0670D Sensing and detecting devices A4281P Fibre-optic sensors; fibre gyros A4660H Electrorheological and magnetorheological fluids        Section B (Electrical and Electronics Abstracts) B7230    Sensing devices and transducers B7230E  Fibre-optic sensors B7630    Avionic systems and aerospace instrumentation Section C (Computer and Control Abstracts) C1340E Self-adjusting systems (inc. adaptive systems)  C3120Z Control of other nonelectric variables (inc. vibration control)  C3240D Electric transducers and sensing devices  C3240H Fibre-optic sensors  C3260B Actuating and final control devices - electric equipment  C3390   Robotics  C7420   Computer applications to control engineering Section E (Manufacturing and Production Engineering) E1550   Control technology and theory E2160   Micromechanics  E2200   Mechanical components, systems and devices  E3030   Construction industry  E3644V Mechatronics industry  E3650C Aerospace industry The Advanced Materials journal in the Key Abstracts series has one particular chapter covering intelligent materials. Controlled terms             Other controlled terms which may have some connection with smart materials technology include: adaptive control aerospace control aerospace instrumentation aerospace materials aircraft instrumentation biomimetics biosensors carbon fibre reinforced plastics ceramics composite materials condition monitoring electric sensing devices electroactive polymers electrorheology fault diagnosis fibre-optic sensors fibre reinforced composites magnetostriction maintenance engineering mechatronics micromechanical devices nondestructive testing piezoelectric actuators piezoelectic materials piezoelectric transducers robots strain gauges strain measurement vibration control Finally, turning to the question posed by the title "Are Smart Materials Intelligent?", we would probably answer "not yet", but major progress has been made in recent years, with increasingly more complex and sophisticated systems under development. Inspec will continue to cover the interdisciplinary fields of research to keep you up to date with progress towards this goal. © 2005-2007  Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"© Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy " The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !! To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Success in Business? The Big Smart Secret? 07-203

If I told you there was a simple strategy to improve your chances of success in business against your competition by 200%, that was available to both small business and large established business incumbents, would you believe me? No you are right. I wouldn't either.

But there is.

Visit our newly launched  sister blog Entrepreneurship and Innovation Today to get the answer

Best USA Schools for Nanotech 07-202

Small Times, a trade journal for nanotechnology, has published an interesting listing of the best USA universities and community colleges for nanotechnology. The USA is the top country -hands down in total nanotech talent, education and research.

The study profiles 39 major research universities and ranks them according to four key criteria:

• research (PennState ranked #1),
• education (University at Albany-SUNY ranked #1),
• facilities (University at Albany-SUNY ranked #1), and
• commercialization (Arizona State University ranked #1).

For the first time, the Small Times analysis also examines the important role of community colleges in developing nanotechnology talent. .

The Small Times annual ranking of university and community college nanotechnology initiatives appears in the May/June issue of Small Times

Canada could use a similar survey

© 2005-2007

Walter Derzko -"Changing the world, one idea at a time"©

Expert, Consultant and Keynote Speaker on Emerging Smart Technologies, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Strategic Foresight, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

The Smart Technology Blog: The Smart Economy -- Read, enjoy, explore, speculate, comment !!

To arrange for an in house presentation or briefing on smart technology see here

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me or explore how we can work together

• ".....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"-old Japanese proverb
• ".......Ours is the age that is proud of machines that think and suspicious of men who try to." -- H. Mumford Jones
• ".......Without changing our patterns of thought, we will not be able to solve the problems we created with our current pattern of thought."  --A. Einstein
• ".......Change is difficult, but complacency and stagnation are surefire showstoppers..." --Walter Derzko

• ".......Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."  -- Margaret Mead

• ".......Small minds discuss people; Average minds discuss events; Great minds discuss ideas; --Anon

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page