From the IEE news forum on 23 Jan 2002: Optical nanotechnologies lab

Pirelli Labs, the new high-tech center of the Pirelli group, and the Microphotonics Center of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have announced a five-year-long framework agreement for advanced research in the field of photonics. In the first year Pirelli Labs will make an investment of $2 million.

MIT has pioneered the use of nanotechnology in realizing optical integrated circuits (ICs) capable of high-level functionality. In addition to groundbreaking research creating the building blocks of optical ICs, MIT researchers have for the first time demonstrated that such building blocks -- waveguides, bends and splitters -- can be integrated with active structures such as lasers, amplifiers and modulators.

Pirelli and MIT scientists will study a new generation of integrated optical systems based on nanotechnologies. Pirelli's goal is to utilize all of the wavelengths available in a fiber-optic cable to maximize the amount of data transmitted on each fiber and create a breakthrough in the field of broadband telecommunications.

MIT Microphotonics Center

J. Craig Venter, the pioneer scientist who helped crack the human genome, resigned as president of Celera Genomics Group, the company he formed, to make way for someone with more experience developing drugs. ... The move comes as Celera attempts to transform itself from a provider of genetic information into a pharmaceuticals discoverer and manufacturer. Venter has limited experience in the pharmaceuticals business. ... Celera's shares fell 6.46 percent on the news. ... Venter said in a statement he will spend more time in his role as chairman of the board of the Rockville, Maryland-based Institute for Genomic Research, not-for-profit gene research organization he helped start in 1992.

Craig Venter resigns as head of Celera

Columbia University philosophy professor Philip Kitcher latest book is about the role of science in the modern world.

From the publisher: "Noted philosopher of science Philip Kitcher examines the intense debate about the role that science plays in shaping our lives. He examines in particular the sharp divide that separates purists who believe that the pursuit of scientific knowledge is always valuable and necessary, on the one hand, from others who believe that it invariably serves the interest of those in positions of power, on the other. He rejects both perspectives and works out a more realistic image of the sciences -- one that allows for the possibility of scientific truth, but nonetheless permits social consensus to determine which avenues to investigate. He then proposes a democratic and deliberative framework for responsible scientists to follow. Kitcher's nuanced yet controversial analysis and conclusion will be of interest to a wide range of readers interested in the sciences."

(For a review of this book, see the 25 Jan 2002 issue of _Science_:
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/summary/295/5555/633a
This is just an abstract page; subscription required for full text. The reviewer seemed to find it a thought-provoking book, but said he disagreed with many of Kitcher's arguments. On one point: "He also questions the claim that there is a basic difference between science and technology, a view I strongly hold.")

_Science, Truth, and Democracy_ by Philip Kitcher

"Biomedical science faces two critical questions in the 21st century. ... How do we ensure that our enormous investment in biomedical research makes a difference for the safety as well as for the health of ordinary people? ... In this new world, it is clear that science must follow new directions. ... The events of the past few months have dramatically illustrated that our strongest defense against bioterrorism of any kind must be at the local level.
... [T]he other, older question: How do we apply science to health? ... We also need to ask: Who will translate the research results into diagnostic tools and lifesaving treatments? ... Whether the battle is against cancer or bioterrorism, there are doors for which we have not yet found the keys. We must open those doors carefully, never letting our science get ahead of our ethics. ... [I]f citizens are educated about where we are going in genetic research, about the way anthrax and smallpox work, and about the promise of stem cells, they will make better decisions for their families, their communities, and their nation."

Donna Shalala, president of the University of Miami, is a former US Secretary of Health and Human Services.

New Directions for Biomedical Science | Donna Shalala in Science

This is a book about "Bohemian society" as it was in 1889. The entire book is available in both inline web page images and as PDF page images. It begins:

"In a country house near the city of B---- lived a lady of cultivated mind and manners, "a noble woman nobly planned." Well read and familiar with such writers as Tyndall, Huxley, Spencer and other scientists, and being rather cosmopolitan in tastes, liked to gather about her, people who had -- as she termed it -- ideas. At times there was a strange medley of artists, authors, religious enthusiasts, spiritualists, philanthropists and even philosophers. On the evening of which I write there was the usual peculiar gathering, and each one is expressing his or her views freely and unrestrainedly.

The visionary and dreamer said: 'Let me describe a modern Utopia of which I have often dreamed and thought.'" ...

Bohemian Society, by Lydia Leavitt, published 1889

Lucas Mast responds to Dorothy Denning's "Why I Love Biometrics" article.

On Thursday, January 24, Joseph Atick of Visionics, Mark Rotenberg of EPIC, Dorothy Denning of Georgetown, and John Woodward Jr. of RAND met at The Cato Institute in DC for a policy forum on the topic of biometrics. Three documents, including this one and "Nameless in Cyberspace" (which discusses Georgia's HB1630), were distributed to attendees.

Biometrics: Hold On, Chicken Little

Advanced Training Systems; Batteries/Fuel Cells; Bioengineering/ChemBio Defense; Directed Energy Weapons; High Bandwidth/Reachback Communications; Remote Sensing; Signature Reduction; Underwater Communications; Unmanned Systems.

"Come and interact with real special operation forces including US Navy SEALS, and US Army Green Berets. Learn their equipment. Talk to their engineers."

Scientists Helping America

The rumor mill is running at full speed with news of a secret project at Intel designed to keep pace with AMD should customers continue to ignore the Itanium processor. In short, it's Intel's answer to AMD's Hammer technology.

It appears there are two competing, divisive "camps" within Intel, split between the Itanium promoters in Santa Clara, California and x86 promoters in Hillsboro, Oregon. (Is this just healthy competition, or does it reflect an absence of strategic vision?)

Interesting sales figures on Itanium: in the first quarter they were available (May 2001 to September 2001), only 162 Itanium CPUs were sold (if you exclude a large special-purpose order by IBM).

Intel's Plan B chip stirs internal debate

Based on the insights of leading scientists, ethicists, and other authorities, the book offers authoritative recommendations regarding the use of existing stem cell lines versus new lines in research, the important role of the federal government in this field of research, and other fundamental issues.

Stem Cells and the Future of Regenerative Medicine

Broadband: Bringing Home the Bits provides a contemporary snapshot of technologies, strategies, and policies for improving our communications and information infrastructure. It explores the potential benefits of broadband, existing and projected demand, progress and failures in deployment, competition in the broadband industry, and costs and who pays them. Explanations of broadband's alphabet soup -- HFC, DSL, FTTH, and all the rest -- are included as well. The report's finding and recommendations address regulation, the roles of communities, needed research, and other aspects, including implications for the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Broadband: Bringing Home the Bits