Nanotechnology is great despite what you may have read in the Michael Crichton novel “Prey”. I suppose the only problem is that our hands are too big.
There has been a new breakthrough in the manufacturing of nano particles and by breakthrough I mean research by college students. Metallic glass can be used to create a mold that is very durable and suited to casting nano size particles.
The most immediate application for this technology (aside from a space elevator) would be their use in making nano solar panels. These nanosolar panels are already being mass produced worldwide but are obviously limited by the time is takes to create atom sized machines.
This is a good segue into why certain kinds of patents are bad. The worst kind, I just have to mention, is the patenting of Genes and the reasons are endless and I would have thought obvious. The more relevant kinds of bad patents are the ones that stifle the use of innovative new technologies. Lets say that this nanoimprint technology discovered by Yale is licensed to an established solar power company. This seems fine except they didn’t license the technology to use it, they just don’t want to compete with it.
Call it a pre-emptive strike on progress. The new technology will sit on the shelf so the old technology can continue turning a profit.
Oddly enough the same thing often happens in Hollywood. A major studio will often buy scripts that are similar to something they are producing so as to avoid competition at the box office.
References:
http://www.technologyreview.com/business/22167/?a=f
http://www.nanosolar.com/index.html
Filed under: Solar Power | Tagged: alternative energy, Nanotechnology, Solar Power | 9 Comments »
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