/* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** Published every 10.6 days or so by Phillip Thorne ** Volume 2, Issue 31: Tuesday, 04 December 2000 ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** ** "A goal without a deadline is just a wish." ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */ OBSERVATIONS & C: Orthography, XF Mytharc, spellchecking, noisy candy. ERRATA & O+A+A: "Flesh and Blood", missing email address. SF OVERVIEW: B5 widebox, Demolished Man, Dune, E.S.P.ers, Mutant X... CONFERENCE DIGEST: 8th Foresight Conference, Talks 6-8,11,13 of 33. CONVENTION DIGEST: Philcon 2000, Vernor Vinge's author GoH speech. plus Legalese, acknowledgements and opt-in/out instructions. /* *************************************************************************** ** OBSERVATIONS & COGITATIONS ** My orthographic rebellion - rules to rewrite by ** "X-Files" Mytharc online - seven years of spooky alien conspiracy goo ** Prose:spellcheck::code:compiler ** Wonka "Xploder" bar - now with mysterious noises ** ************************************************************************ */ In this iss, I'm inaugurating a minor rebellion against standard English orthography and style, as a rebellion against overmuch typing, to avoid the flavor of confusion suffered by software-newbies deciphering shell syntax literals, and as a step towards TharSpeak, a language invented (tho' described but briefly) in R.Mayer's unpub'd-in-progress SF RPG, _Celestial Worlds Discovered_. My rules include but are not necessarily limited to: 1. Use as many pronounceable abbrevs as possible, without descending to telegraphese. 2. Force commas and dots to act like other text delimiters (emphasis *, title-indicia _, &c), regardless of the rules promulgated in _Commas Are Our Friends_ (Joe Devine, 1991) -- except when in dialogue. 3. Use scientific notation and postfix units for currency -- it's consistent, but funny lookin'. 4. Drop any spaces from initialed names; with a monospaced font, "J.R.R.Tolkien" is far more cohesive than "J. R. R. Tolkien". 5. Drop the periods in "eg" and "ie". 6. Use "&c" not "etc.". After seven seasons, you worry that you can't remember when someone was last abducted, or the identity of that dark-haired lady with The Smoking Man? Bewildered X-ophiles can consult the X-Files Mytharc Tracker, at www.thex-files.com/features/mytharc/. For a Macromedia Shockwave Flash application (with optional RealVideo clips), the GUI's actually quite good (albeit entirely non-resizable). You can mine data by place (with a zooming world map), time, character, or theme. Matching episodes appear as highlighted dots on a timeline that resembles a bundle of Black Oil wriggly slugs from the movie. Bewarned: if you enter at the top of the site, there's the requisite non-avoidable Flash intro, plus scripting that somehow causes the entire browser window (MSIE) to shake. Some commentators (eg at Philcon2000) have noted that today's kids have grown reliant upon the crutch of software spellcheckers. Myself, I can't code without a compiler/interpreter -- which was a real bummer on hardcopy programming exams at college. Of course, my current primary language *is* Perl, which exhibits sufficient surprising behavior that it's probably safer to trust /a posteriori/ execution over /a priori/ predictions. There was a new item in the candy vending machine today -- the Wonka "Xploder: Tongue Crackling Chocolate" bar. Ingredients: milk chocolate, sugar, crisped rice, lactose, cocoa butter, corn syrup, carbon dioxide added. Bite into one, examine the wound, and you'll think it's a Nestlé Crunch bar -- until you notice the inclusions are sugar-sparkly, and skull- hear the scintillating raindrop noise against your teeth and palate (but not tongue) of -- I dunno, CO2 evaporating from sugar clathrates? The mouth effect somehow continues even after you swallow. Weird, but definitely worthy of the Wonka name. The low-price-matching guarantee at Sears department stores is honored even for prices found at eMerchants (but not eAuctions), at least in the A/V department. [Reported by M.Keller.] Ever had the experience of completing 90% of a project, then stalling when the last 10% takes longer than the rest? That's especially galling with a time-relevant periodical ("freshness expiration...); delay publication, and any relative refs ("today", "yesterday") must be changed. It's probably a good thing I'm not a professional journalist... Hence, today's masthead, which I spotted in the Sunday comics ("Adam@Home", Brian Basset, Universal Press Syndicate). (A Google search indicates it's a popular aphorism, but I'm not up to finding the original source right now. Where's a copy of _Bartlett's_ when you need one?) /* *************************************************************************** ** ERRATA & OMISSIONS, ADDENDA & ADMISSIONS ** ************************************************************************ */ 2.30 Upcoming... Although both tv.excite.com and my local newspaper missed it (I'm told TVGuide didn't), "Star Trek Voyager" did indeed air this w-29- nov, delayed by NHL to 22:00. The two-hour "Flesh and Blood" special (eps 709-710) featured the return of the reptile-skinned Hirogen hunters and the holodeck technology Janeway had provided in 419 "The Killing Game, pt.2". See www.startrek.com/production/voyager7/synopses.html for details and dates of upcoming eps. Oops! A second /mea culpa/: the encore presentation of "Flesh and Blood" was z-2-dec-16:00 to 18:00, on wpsg-57-upn. Something is amiss at my hosting service... Any email directed to a nonexistent account at underbase.org should arrive in the "catchall" account. I created oodles of nonexistant "thorne-NNNN" addresses for IW2000, for tracking purposes, and over the past month, several emails so- addressed arrived safely. However, I've confirmed a reader's report that it's *not* working now. Should nsx@underbase.org bounce, please use thorne@underbase.org or pethorne@earthlink.net. [From L.Thompson.] /* *************************************************************************** ** SF OVERVIEW ** B5 SFC widebox, Demolished Man film, Dune on SFC, E.S.P.ers TV, ** Invisible Man S2, Men in Black 2, Mutant X TV, Trek cable rights, ** Star Wars Galaxies. ** ************************************************************************ */ "B5" SFC widebox flubbed... series creator/writer/execp JMS has reported that yes, the season 1 prints of "Babylon 5" were incorrectly converted to widescreen/letterbox format; apparently by the lab contracted by WB fed the wrong prints into their system. Season 5 is correct, and 2-4 are now being scrutinized. [Relayed by L.Thompson.] "Demolished Man" film announced... by Paramount, based on Alfred Bester's Hugo-winning 1953 novel about telepaths. Yes, that's where JMS got the Psi-Cop's name. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] "Dune" on SFC... Each of the three eps reflects one section of the novel, and will air three times per night, in immediate succession. Forget the 1984 de Laurentis/David Lynch film. Pronunciations are F.Herbert. We get the Stilgar-Paul rivalry, the Baron's perversions, Feyd's attempt to assassinate him, and the Fremen Sietch orgy. (Sensitive/prudish viewers: that's probably in the second ep, and the US signal is appropriately blurred.) Princess Irulan has an expanded role, possibly to prep viewers for her presence in later books/planned future miniseries ("Dune Messiah" is in pre-script). [From SPACE.com's ongoing coverage.] "E.S.P.ers" TV announced... a one-hour SF adventure series, for CBS by 20FoxTV, featuring a detective and psychics who investigate paranormal phenomena. Jason Alexander (actor "Seinfeld") and Ira Steven Behr (execp "DS9") will execp. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] "The Invisible Man" season 2... the remaining 8 episodes of the first season will air on SFC in jan-2001 as "season 2"; at the same time, a second set of 22 will begin filming. [From SPACE.com.] "Men in Black 2" film announced... the sequel to the 1997 film will shoot in jun-2001, now that payment terms have been negotiated with T.L.Jones and W.Smith. May-2001's SAG strike permitting, I suppose. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] "Mutant X" TV announced... a TV series based on the Marvel comic, in f2001, for Tribune Stations, by (MarvelMed/FireworksEnt). Fireworks produces "Andromeda", now airing on Tribune stations along with EFC and the (Xena- Lost World-Relic Hunter-&c) block. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] "Trek" cable rights sold... {TNG DS9 Vgr mov1-5}, by ParamountDomTV to TNN (The National Network, fka The Nashville Network), possibly for 3.64e8$US. That's 6.9e5$US per each of the 527 eps, but don't expect them anytime soon: {TNG-179-f2001 DS9-176-f2004 Vgr-172-f2006}. Viacom owns both Paramount and TNN. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] "Star Wars Galaxies" game... that's the name of the upcoming massive multiplayer online RPG by (LucasArts/Sony Online Entertainment/Verant Interactive). Community building (at starwarsgalaxies.com) begins now, though the game isn't due till late 2001. [From scifi.com's Sci Fi Wire.] Abbreviations... 20FoxTV: 20th Century Fox Television, execp: executive producer, FireworksEnt: Fireworks Entertainment, MarvelMed: Marvel Media, ParamountDomTV: Paramount Domestic Television, WB Warner Bros. /* *************************************************************************** ** CONFERENCE DIGEST ** 8th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology ** 2-5 November 2000, Bethesda, Maryland ** Platform presentations 6-8,11,13 of 33 ** ** 06, P.H.Handel: Quantum 1/f proximity effect in nanotechnology ** 07, K.W.Lyons: An open architecture for virtual reality in nano- ** scale manipulation measurement and manufacturing (M3) ** 08, P.Weiss: Placement, control and isolation of molecules ** via directed assembly ** 11, K.Schulten: Theory and modeling of biological nanodevices ** 13, P.G.Gillespie: Manipulating a molecular motor by changing ** substrate inhibitor sensitivity ** ************************************************************************ */ This is the second of probably six installments abstracting the 33 platform presentations at last month's 8th Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology. Please note that all details have been filtered through my own amateur generalist understanding of the many fields represented (quantum physics, organic chemistry, scientific computing, solid-state silicon engineering) and may include major misrepresentations of research findings, status and intentions. Such confusion is more likely in abstracts with lower Understandability ratings. At the very least, these paragraphs should indicate which keywords tend to co-occur. Interested readers are encouraged to websearch on the relevant terms, since I haven't yet managed to do it for you. ********************************************************************* Talk 6 Peter H. Handel, Univ Missouri-St.Louis Quantum 1/f proximity effect in nanotechnology Understandability: 1/5 Many of the presenters had difficult accents, many viewfoils were apparently recycled from discipline-specific conferences, and a few topics lacked any obvious connection to molecular nanotechnology (in the engineering/manufacturing sense). Handel's presentation suffered from all of these, and consisted mostly of a long mathematical derivation. Some choice statements: "There are many device applications; I'd like to jump over those ... Our whole existence in time and space is due to this: noise currents with 1/f amplitude ... fundamental fluctuation of all process rates and all cross-sections the way I define them." The upshot seems to be: the quantum 1/f effect does not linearly scale down to the nanoscale, and is not as great an impediment as you'd expect. This has implications for the permissible spacing of quantum wires. ********************************************************************* Talk 7 Kevin W. Lyons, NIST An open architecture for virtual reality in nano-scale manipulation measurement and manufacturing (M3) Understandability: 4/5 Motivation: to create a scientific/engineering software foundation to support measurement/standardization for the US manufacturers. Prior efforts have created software models to describe "conventional scale assembly", models which perform realtime calculations of rigid body dynamics, gravity, and simple friction. Nanoscale assembly is different: gravity has been replaced by Van der Waals, electrostatic, electrodynamic, and surface tension forces. Synthetic visualizations are needed, plus hints to users to disregard inappropriate macroscale "common sense". Simulating the full gamut of nanoscale forces is too time-consuming for realtime interaction. Instead, M3 aims to extract key information from larger/slower models; the user can explore that subset as a supplement, enhancing visual/tactile understanding. NIST's "model-centric" architecture must coordinate/synchronize multiple I/O devices, eg realtime control of optical tweezers and feedback through haptic (tactile) controls. Their efforts aren't so much concerned with the functionality of the application, as with ensuring the model can adequately represent the key aspects of a nanoscale devices and the processes that measure/manufacture it. This promotes the interoperability of other emerging applications. At this time, they've defined the initial architecture, coding framework and collaborative framework (in UML). They're working to eliminate failure modes. They're waiting for a later generation of haptic devices that can represent torques. ********************************************************************* Talk 8 Paul Weiss, Pennsylvania State Univ, Dept of Chemistry Placement, control and isolation of molecules via directed assembly Understandability: 3/5 Motivation: create nanoelectronic devices with SAMs containing multiple types of thiol chain. To organize them, define surface interfaces, including defect types and density, to control mixing vs. separation of monolayers. Currently popular in research, organic chains with a sulfur foot can organize themselves on a Au(111) surface (substrate) as a SAM (self- assembled monolayer), like pencils jostling in a box, or the lipids in a cell membrane. Two different varieties of chain can phase-separate (segregate themselves) by appropriate choice of terminal (opposite the sulfur) and internal groups. When tugged with an SPM, what actually moves is an adsorbate-substrate complex, since the S-Au bond is stronger than Au-Au. An altered chain has altered electron transport properties, and thus looks different to an STM -- and to a nanoelectronic circuit. The designer can vary the thiol head, the functional groups on the chain, the chain's length, and the terminal group. A device needs multiple types of molecule in specific locations, not a homogenous mixture. The fabrication process has three steps: 1. Heat the SAM in a bath of the original thiol, healing film defects, growing the domains (clusters of rods), and removing substrate defects. 2. Heat the SAM in neat solvent, desorbing the thiolate. 3. Immerse in the second thiol solution, grafting new molecules onto existing domains. Otherwise miscible molecules are now segregated! To build a molecular switch, you need to insert a fully conjugated molecule with an inbuilt dipole into a SAM alkanethiol film. Question: how many of these molecules are needed for switching behavior, or for persistence (as a memory element)? To do: use control of SAMs with electron-beam lithography to produce smaller on-chip features. First, etch two parent electrodes on a surface at the minimum distance achievable, creating two small, square hills. Second, deposit multiple thiol/carboxylate layers, turning the hills into round mountains bounding a very specifically-sized valley. Third, add a metal coat to the hills. Finally, deposit a third electorde in the valley. To do: create an artificial molecular motor based on tetrahedral carbon. The rotor is shaped like a caltrop (one of those nasty spiked anti-horse weapons), with three feet and a vertical shaft, and is placed between several electrostatic terminals built with standard STL. ********************************************************************* Talk 11 Klaus Schulten, Univ of Illinois Urbana-Champlain, Beckman Inst Theory and modeling of biological nanodevices Understandability: 3/5 See: www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/namd/ NAMD is a molecular dynamics simulation package, for fast calculation of full electron states and constant pressure ensembles of 1e6-plus atoms. It's scalable to thousands of CPUs, and runs on the IBM Blue Gene, Origin, the Pittsburg Supercomputing Center's teraflop, SP3, and T3E clusters. It uses Tcl for scripting, and its data file is compatible with CHARMM and X-PLOR. NAMD2 uses NpT simulation. (The group is currently working at GFlops, but will soon have access to a TFlops machine, hence 100 times the power. Blue Gene's architecture would provide another 100-fold improvement, and they're close to an agreement with IBM for NAMD to be a primary protein-folding package.) VMD is a package for interactive molecular dynamics and visualization. It runs under both MSWindows and Unix. It also uses Tcl, and supports stereo 3D displays and haptic feedback. (Pic: VMD sends commands to NAMD, which responds with coordinates. Both communicate with BioCORE.) Studied: the passive elasticity of muscle, as each domain (alpha-helix) stretches and as hydrogen bonds snap one-by-one. (The group doesn't actually know the timescale for H-bond *re*connection, since the simulation covers only a few nanoseconds and the full folding process is a thousand times longer.) Studied: The retinal system. Every atom (protein, lipid, water) is now known, so proton-pumping can be described starting from the properties of the bulk phase. Studied: the purple (photosynthetic) membrane of halobacteria, which contains a protein that assembles in triads to form hexagonal proton pumps. Studied: the full photosynthetic unit of purple bacteria, as found in _Rs. molischianum_ and _Rb. sphaeroides_. A computationally-derived search model was used to interpret crystallographic data. LH-II consists of 24 chlorophylls and 8 carotenoids supported by multiple peptide helices. NAMD can compare the experimental and predicted times of electron transfer (the various stages take 40fs-35ps). For nanotechnologists: these complex psuedomechanical systems all operate at physiological temperatures despite vibration. (Pic: cross-section of cytoplasm-periplasm membrane, with many photon- capturing LH-II feeding to one LH-I with an RC (reaction center) core. Nearby, bc1 passes protons to ATPase. From both the RC and bc1 hang a cytochrome C2.) ********************************************************************* Talk 13 Peter G. Gillespie, Oregon Health Science Univ Manipulating a molecular motor by changing substrate inhibitor sensitivity Understandability: 4/5 Lining the snail-shaped COCHLEA of the inner ear is a strip of nerve tissue called the ORGAN OF CORTI, composed of so-called HAIR CELLS; these are the actual transducers of hearing. Each cell sprouts hundreds of STEREOCILIA, lined up in neat rows of increasing height. Each cilium is tied to the next-higher by a narrow fiber, the TIP LINK. When a cilium bends in response to a passing pressure wave in the fluid-filled cochlea, the tip link tugs open a MEMBRANE CHANNEL on the next-taller cilium, initiating a neural impulse. This channel is linked to an ADAPTATION MOTOR on an actin fiber, which can tow it through the cell membrane to reduce the tip link tension after a sustained stimulus; this implements HABITUATION. The system can detect a wave of only 0.2nm against a background of 2nm brownian motion. Question: what is this motor? It's probably a form of MYOSIN, since that's the only motor molecule known to be associated with actin. Problem: the myosin family is huge, over a hundred types in 17 families; eg mice have 35-plus myosin genes. It's known that deleting the genes for myosin-VI, -VII or -XV causes deafness in both mice and humans. The target: myosin-I-beta, over 100 molecules of which occur in each stereocilium. The standard knockout technique (whereby the gene's expression is inhibited organism-wide) could have unexpected and confounding effects. Instead, they'll use a newer technique: inhibit its activity on a short timescale, by engineering a mutation into the gene, delivering the gene to the hair cells, waiting for it be expressed, then delivering the inhibitor. They alter the 61st residue (amino acid) from tryptophan to glycine (Y61G), increasing the size of the ATP binding site. It still uses (hydrolyzes) ATP normally, but now an N^6-modified ADP inhibits it (the myosin sticks to the actin). The result: the hair cell no longer habituates! Implications: a general tool for investigating the role of particular myosin isozymes, and a generalizable technique to determine the role of a known protein in a well-characterized biochemical system. Engineering: In nanoengineering, a system could be built with multiple isozymes, each response to a different inhibitor. /* *************************************************************************** ** CONVENTION DIGEST ** Philcon 2000 ** 17-19 November 2000, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ** Author Guest-of-Honor Speech ** Presented by Vernor Vinge, sat-18-nov-16:00 ** ************************************************************************ */ In _Marooned in Realtime_ (fic, 1986) Vinge describes a TECHNOLOGICAL SINGULARITY, the asymptote of exponentially increasing human/AI capability, after which things are Very Different. The notion has gained currency among futurists and tech enthusiasts. Gregory Stock in _Metaman_ (nonfic, 1993) posits that the Earth's biosphere, population and techbase have already evolved into a superorganism with a drive for self-preservation. Following that notion, it's possible the Singularity could occur without our notice; collaboration might simply increase until the ensemble behavior is superhuman (if not self-aware). Marc Stiegler in _Earthweb_ (fic, 1999) uses the concept of IDEA FUTURES, in which financial speculators bet not on the price of commodities, but on the odds of events (political, technological, &c) transpiring. "In a sense, a high-level technological civilization is a creativity engine," Vinge continues. With sufficient collaboration, a nation could implement a "just-in-time military" that would select its hardware as- needed, always getting the best and latest. Such a system could be militarily unassailable; its only vulnerability would be its "higher senses." Eg an opponent could appeal to the moral sensibilities of its components/citizens. In the past, complex problems were solved with complex mechanisms, but today we have simple mechanisms driven by computers. Compare the linkages behind the printball of an IBM Selectric typewriter with the printhead of an inkjet printer. On the other hand, a car with electronic fuel injection can be much harder to diagnose than one with timing belt, camshaft and valves. Embedded controls/systems are "the hidden glue holding the technological world together." Now enable the embedded controls to communicate, and you get "the fuzzy fringe of the internet." Eventually, internet:embsys::fish:plankton. Today, the accessibility of GPS transmissions is the root of any number of applications unforeseen by the original designers. One study indicates it can be used to determine not only the position and altitude of an aircraft, but also its attitude, by placing receivers at multiple points (nose, tail, wingtips) and noting their differential locations. Now extend the notion of GPS. Rather than many receivers each listening to the signals of a few satellites, make every device a transceiver, emitting an identity-coded signal. Using UWB (ultrawideband) RF, vast numbers of these devices could be used in a small area without violating FCC interference regs. Each of these LOCALIZERS would determine its position relative to the others with simple time-of-flight calculations, and though its individual range is short, packet-relay networking unbounds it. Like GPS, cheap ubiquitous localizers could have unexpected benefits. Vinge cited his membership in an HMI (human-machine interface) conference panel with fellow authors M.Swanwick and B.Sterling. Place a localizer on each item of your personal property (the idea went), and you couldn't misplace them; thus liberating your attention for other pursuits. Assembly robots now use complex vision systems to determine the position and orientation of a workpiece; but with a localizer, the workpiece itself could direct the robot where it is. As with the inkjet printheads, a heterogenous solution evolves to simple software. Localizers are one technology that allows you to "postpone irrevocable decisions." You could have have instant/throwaway telecom infrastructure, by airdropping solar-powered high-bandwidth localizers across the service area. (This creates a new form of pollution, in the shape of localizers that fall into shadowed areas.) Wearable computers with HUDs (heads-up displays) could map a virtual GUI onto any surface. A room of huds-wearing people could collaborate in "consensus imagery", with their localizers providing the positional data to seamlessly map graphics onto the live background, updated fast/precisely enough to track head movement. Most of the old bad things can still happen, but they can be ameliorated by the fuzzy internet. In the 1995 Kobe earthquake, the Japanese emergency communications system quickly failed -- but radios and human- carried laptops still worked. Then there are the new bad things: "criminal illusion", "remote domination", "ubiquitous law enforcement"; even someone suborning your fridge. Plus, there's now a single point of failure: the EMP of a nuke airblast could kill embsys over a wide area. Vinge proposes some backups to the useful-but-opaque technology of embsys and localizers. Consumers can encourage manufacturers to produce non- embsys products, devices comprehensible with 1900-level tech. The SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) practices with techniques through 1650, but an analagous hobbyist movement could maintain knowledge of pre- microprocessor technologies through, say, 1950. See also: The DARPA-funded "Smart Dust" program at the Univ of California, at: http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~pister/SmartDust/ . Localizers, huds and consensual imaging make major appearances in Vinge's 1999 novel, _A Deepness in the Sky_. Vinge expounded on similar topics in _Wired_ magazine, www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.01/forward.html. /** ************************************************************************ ** Legalese ** Acknowledgments ** Opt-in/out Instructions ** *********************************************************************** */ The set of creative works herein reviewed and analyzed, including the subset {books, movies, TV shows, toys}, are the property of their respective copyright holders. No infringement or endorsement is expressed, implied or intended. The original reviews and analyses are themselves copyright 2000 by Phillip Thorne. In this issue, certain data (not otherwise acknowledged) have been obtained and aggregated from: Excite TV tv.excite.com The Internet Movie Database imdb.com The Sci-Fi Channel scifi.com SPACE.com space.com Star Trek Continuum startrek.com Upcoming Movies upcomingmovies.com If you're receiving this newsletter, you've probably intentionally subscribed to it, or possibly you're interested in special conference/convention/tradeshow coverage. In any case, to cancel yoursubscription, send an email message to nsx@underbase.org (or thorne@underbase.org, or pethorne@earthlink.net) with the words "UNSUBSCRIBE NON-SEQUITUR" in the subject line and/or body. Capitalization and punctuation don't matter, since there's absolutely no automation behind the subscription process. Still. /* *************************************************************************** ** *************************************************************************** ** The Non-Sequitur Express ** http://nsx.underbase.org/ ** Volume 2, Issue 31: Tuesday, 04 December 2000 ** Copyright 2000 Phillip Thorne, nsx@underbase.org, pethorne@earthlink.net ** *************************************************************************** ** ************************************************************************ */