Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
World's First Rapid 3D Nanoscale Printer
Melbourne's RMIT University is getting ready for what it calls the world's first rapid 3D nanoscale printer.
(MicroNano Research Facility CGI walkthrough video)
The new MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF) was launched at the university's city campus in Melbourne's CBD by vice-chancellor and president Margaret Gardner, who said the opening of the new laboratories and clean rooms is the start of an exciting new chapter in cross-disciplinary nano research."At the heart of the MicroNano Research Facility's mission is bringing together disparate disciplines to enable internationally leading research activity," said Gardner. "RMIT has long been a pioneer in this field, opening Australia's first academic clean rooms at the Microelectronics and Materials Technology Centre in 1983.
Director of the MNRF James Friend said that 10 research teams would work at the new facility on a broad range of projects, including the development of energy harvesting techniques that change the way batteries are recharged, and the building of miniaturised motors to retrieve blood clots from deep within the brain.
"This facility is all about ensuring researchers have the freedom to imagine and safely realise the impossible at tiny scales and beyond," said Friend, who is also a vice-chancellor's senior research fellow in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Science fiction writers led the way in thinking of micro scale and nanoscale manufacturing long before scientists. In his 1955 short story nanofac, Philip K. Dick describes manufacturing at the smallest possible scale.
Even earlier, in his 1937 story A Menace in Miniature, Raymond Z. Gallun clearly describes atomic-level manufacturing techniques; read about his micro robot.
Via Zdnet and MicroNano Research Facility (MNRF) .
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/28/2014)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Manufacturing ")
Varda Space Industries Orbital Factories
'... work summers in their orbital factory complex.' - Jerry Pournelle, 1976.
Boring Company Bricks Predicted In 1929
'... used to make building blocks for these invaders.' - Frank Phillips, 1929.
Is It Possible To GROW Planes And Vehicles?
'These are your rudimentary seed packages...' - Greg Bear, 2015.
Scaly-Foot Snail Works With Iron
'Micro-Scale suit tiles fabricated by genetically engineered metal affinity bacteria...'
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Athena Smart Security Guard Robot With Face Recognition
'You are who we say you are, Dr. Dakin,' Turner said.'
The FLUTE Project - A Huge Liquid Mirror In Space
'It's area, and its consequent light-gathering capacity, was many times greater than any rigid mirror...'
Robot Preachers Found To Undermine Religious Commitment
'Tell me your torments,' the Padre said, in an elderly voice marked with compassion.
CyberCab - Tesla Renames The Robotaxi
'A cybercab dogged their heels...'
SpaceHopper Microgravity Robot Lands On Its Feet
'...a slender-legged tripod surmounted by a spherical body no larger than a football.'
Brin's 1990 Novel Earth Still Full Of Predictions
'... making the point that their likenesses, every move they made, were being transmitted.'
'Whisper Mode' ala Blue Thunder Researched At Bristol
'Forest Lawn.'
Gaia - Why Stop With Just The Earth?
'But the stars are only atoms in larger space, and in that larger space the star-atoms could combine to form living matter, thinking matter, couldn't they?'
Microsoft VASA-1 Creates Personal Video From A Photo
'...to build up a video picture would require, say, ten million decisions every second. Mike, you're so fast I can't even think about it. But you aren't that fast.'
Splendid View Of Eclipse From Orbit Visualized And Repurposed By Arthur C. Clarke
'The area affected was five hundred kilometres across, and perfectly circular.'
Bespoke Environment Music From AIs
'Call 'em Winter Mute," said the other, making it two words.'
Goldene - A Two-Dimensional Sheet Of Gold One Atom Thick
'Hasan always pitched a Gauzy - a one-molecule-layer tent, opaque, feather-light, and very tough.'
SpaceX Wants A Moonbase Alpha
'And he had been sent with troops, supplies and bombs to command Russia's most trusted post, the Moonbase.'
Vast Apartment Living Will Get Even More Vast
'What is your population', I asked. 'About eighty millions.'
NASA Wants Self-Driving Or Remote-Controlled Vehicles For Lunar Astronauts
'THE autobus turned silently down the wide street of Hydropole. Robot-guided, insulated from noise and cold...'
Elon Musk Says Robotaxis Will Be Ready This August, 2024
'The car had no steering wheel, and no one drove!'
