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After more than 20 years of basic nanoscience research andmore than fifteen years of focused R&D under the NNI, applications of nanotechnology are delivering in both expected and unexpected ways on nanotechnologys promise to benefit society.
Nanotechnology is helping to considerably improve, even revolutionize, many technology and industry sectors: information technology, homeland security, medicine, transportation, energy, food safety, and environmental science, among many others. Described below is a sampling of the rapidly growing list of benefits and applications of nanotechnology.
Many benefits of nanotechnology depend on the fact that it is possible to tailor the structures of materials at extremely small scales to achieve specific properties, thus greatly extending the materials science toolkit. Using nanotechnology, materials can effectively be made stronger, lighter, more durable, more reactive, more sieve-like, or better electrical conductors, among many other traits. Many everyday commercial products are currently on the market and in daily use that rely on nanoscale materials and processes:
Nanotechnology has greatly contributed to major advances in computing and electronics, leading to faster, smaller, and more portable systems that can manage and store larger and larger amounts of information. These continuously evolving applications include:
Nanotechnology is already broadening the medical tools, knowledge, and therapies currently available to clinicians. Nanomedicine, the application of nanotechnology in medicine, draws on the natural scale of biological phenomena to produce precise solutions for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Below are some examples of recent advances in this area:
Nanotechnology is finding application in traditional energy sources and is greatly enhancing alternative energy approaches to help meet the worlds increasing energy demands. Many scientists are looking into ways to develop clean, affordable, and renewable energy sources, along with means to reduce energy consumption and lessen toxicity burdens on the environment:
In addition to the ways that nanotechnology can help improve energy efficiency (see the section above), there are also many ways that it can help detect and clean up environmental contaminants:
Nanotechnology offers the promise of developing multifunctional materials that will contribute to building and maintaining lighter, safer, smarter, and more efficient vehicles, aircraft, spacecraft, and ships. In addition, nanotechnology offers various means to improve the transportation infrastructure:
Please visit the Environmental, Health, and Safety Issues and the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues pages on nano.gov to learn more about how the National Nanotechnology Initiative is committed to responsibly addressing these issues.
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Applications of Nanotechnology - National Nanotechnology Initiative
Field of applied science addressing the control of matter on atomic and (supra)molecular scales
Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.[1][2] A more generalized description of nanotechnology was subsequently established by the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which defined nanotechnology as the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers. This definition reflects the fact that quantum mechanical effects are important at this quantum-realm scale, and so the definition shifted from a particular technological goal to a research category inclusive of all types of research and technologies that deal with the special properties of matter which occur below the given size threshold. It is therefore common to see the plural form "nanotechnologies" as well as "nanoscale technologies" to refer to the broad range of research and applications whose common trait is size.
Nanotechnology as defined by size is naturally broad, including fields of science as diverse as surface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics, energy storage,[3][4] engineering,[5] microfabrication,[6] and molecular engineering.[7] The associated research and applications are equally diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly,[8] from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to direct control of matter on the atomic scale.
Scientists currently debate the future implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, biomaterials energy production, and consumer products. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials,[9] and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios. These concerns have led to a debate among advocacy groups and governments on whether special regulation of nanotechnology is warranted.
The concepts that seeded nanotechnology were first discussed in 1959 by renowned physicist Richard Feynman in his talk There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, in which he described the possibility of synthesis via direct manipulation of atoms.
The term "nano-technology" was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974, though it was not widely known. Inspired by Feynman's concepts, K. Eric Drexler used the term "nanotechnology" in his 1986 book Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology, which proposed the idea of a nanoscale "assembler" which would be able to build a copy of itself and of other items of arbitrary complexity with atomic control. Also in 1986, Drexler co-founded The Foresight Institute (with which he is no longer affiliated) to help increase public awareness and understanding of nanotechnology concepts and implications.
The emergence of nanotechnology as a field in the 1980s occurred through convergence of Drexler's theoretical and public work, which developed and popularized a conceptual framework for nanotechnology, and high-visibility experimental advances that drew additional wide-scale attention to the prospects of atomic control of matter. In the 1980s, two major breakthroughs sparked the growth of nanotechnology in the modern era. First, the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981 which provided unprecedented visualization of individual atoms and bonds, and was successfully used to manipulate individual atoms in 1989. The microscope's developers Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer at IBM Zurich Research Laboratory received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986.[10][11] Binnig, Quate and Gerber also invented the analogous atomic force microscope that year.
Second, fullerenes were discovered in 1985 by Harry Kroto, Richard Smalley, and Robert Curl, who together won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.[12][13] C60 was not initially described as nanotechnology; the term was used regarding subsequent work with related carbon nanotubes (sometimes called graphene tubes or Bucky tubes) which suggested potential applications for nanoscale electronics and devices. The discovery of carbon nanotubes is largely attributed to Sumio Iijima of NEC in 1991,[14] for which Iijima won the inaugural 2008 Kavli Prize in Nanoscience.
A nanolayer-base metalsemiconductor junction (MS junction) transistor was initially proposed by A. Rose in 1960, and fabricated by L. Geppert, Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng in 1962.[15] Decades later, advances in multi-gate technology enabled the scaling of metaloxidesemiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) devices down to nano-scale levels smaller than 20nm gate length, starting with the FinFET (fin field-effect transistor), a three-dimensional, non-planar, double-gate MOSFET. At UC Berkeley, a team of researchers including Digh Hisamoto, Chenming Hu, Tsu-Jae King Liu, Jeffrey Bokor and others fabricated FinFET devices down to a 17nm process in 1998, then 15nm in 2001, and then 10nm in 2002.[16]
In the early 2000s, the field garnered increased scientific, political, and commercial attention that led to both controversy and progress. Controversies emerged regarding the definitions and potential implications of nanotechnologies, exemplified by the Royal Society's report on nanotechnology.[17] Challenges were raised regarding the feasibility of applications envisioned by advocates of molecular nanotechnology, which culminated in a public debate between Drexler and Smalley in 2001 and 2003.[18]
Meanwhile, commercialization of products based on advancements in nanoscale technologies began emerging. These products are limited to bulk applications of nanomaterials and do not involve atomic control of matter. Some examples include the Silver Nano platform for using silver nanoparticles as an antibacterial agent, nanoparticle-based transparent sunscreens, carbon fiber strengthening using silica nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes for stain-resistant textiles.[19][20]
Governments moved to promote and fund research into nanotechnology, such as in the U.S. with the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which formalized a size-based definition of nanotechnology and established funding for research on the nanoscale, and in Europe via the European Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development.
By the mid-2000s new and serious scientific attention began to flourish. Projects emerged to produce nanotechnology roadmaps[21][22] which center on atomically precise manipulation of matter and discuss existing and projected capabilities, goals, and applications.
In 2006, a team of Korean researchers from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the National Nano Fab Center developed a 3nm MOSFET, the world's smallest nanoelectronic device. It was based on gate-all-around (GAA) FinFET technology.[23][24]
Over sixty countries created nanotechnology research and development (R&D) government programs between 2001 and 2004. Government funding was exceeded by corporate spending on nanotechnology R&D, with most of the funding coming from corporations based in the United States, Japan and Germany. The top five organizations that filed the most intellectual patents on nanotechnology R&D between 1970 and 2011 were Samsung Electronics (2,578 first patents), Nippon Steel (1,490 first patents), IBM (1,360 first patents), Toshiba (1,298 first patents) and Canon (1,162 first patents). The top five organizations that published the most scientific papers on nanotechnology research between 1970 and 2012 were the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, University of Tokyo and Osaka University.[25]
Nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. This covers both current work and concepts that are more advanced. In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, high-performance products.
One nanometer (nm) is one billionth, or 109, of a meter. By comparison, typical carbon-carbon bond lengths, or the spacing between these atoms in a molecule, are in the range 0.120.15 nm, and a DNA double-helix has a diameter around 2nm. On the other hand, the smallest cellular life-forms, the bacteria of the genus Mycoplasma, are around 200nm in length. By convention, nanotechnology is taken as the scale range 1 to 100 nm following the definition used by the National Nanotechnology Initiative in the US. The lower limit is set by the size of atoms (hydrogen has the smallest atoms, which are approximately a quarter of a nm kinetic diameter) since nanotechnology must build its devices from atoms and molecules. The upper limit is more or less arbitrary but is around the size below which the phenomena not observed in larger structures start to become apparent and can be made use of in the nano device.[26] These new phenomena make nanotechnology distinct from devices which are merely miniaturised versions of an equivalent macroscopic device; such devices are on a larger scale and come under the description of microtechnology.[27]
To put that scale in another context, the comparative size of a nanometer to a meter is the same as that of a marble to the size of the earth.[28] Or another way of putting it: a nanometer is the amount an average man's beard grows in the time it takes him to raise the razor to his face.[28]
Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology. In the "bottom-up" approach, materials and devices are built from molecular components which assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition.[29] In the "top-down" approach, nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.[30]
Areas of physics such as nanoelectronics, nanomechanics, nanophotonics and nanoionics have evolved during the last few decades to provide a basic scientific foundation of nanotechnology.
Several phenomena become pronounced as the size of the system decreases. These include statistical mechanical effects, as well as quantum mechanical effects, for example the "quantum size effect" where the electronic properties of solids are altered with great reductions in particle size. This effect does not come into play by going from macro to micro dimensions. However, quantum effects can become significant when the nanometer size range is reached, typically at distances of 100 nanometers or less, the so-called quantum realm. Additionally, a number of physical (mechanical, electrical, optical, etc.) properties change when compared to macroscopic systems. One example is the increase in surface area to volume ratio altering mechanical, thermal and catalytic properties of materials. Diffusion and reactions at nanoscale, nanostructures materials and nanodevices with fast ion transport are generally referred to nanoionics. Mechanical properties of nanosystems are of interest in the nanomechanics research. The catalytic activity of nanomaterials also opens potential risks in their interaction with biomaterials.
Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show different properties compared to what they exhibit on a macroscale, enabling unique applications. For instance, opaque substances can become transparent (copper); stable materials can turn combustible (aluminium); insoluble materials may become soluble (gold). A material such as gold, which is chemically inert at normal scales, can serve as a potent chemical catalyst at nanoscales. Much of the fascination with nanotechnology stems from these quantum and surface phenomena that matter exhibits at the nanoscale.[31]
Modern synthetic chemistry has reached the point where it is possible to prepare small molecules to almost any structure. These methods are used today to manufacture a wide variety of useful chemicals such as pharmaceuticals or commercial polymers. This ability raises the question of extending this kind of control to the next-larger level, seeking methods to assemble these single molecules into supramolecular assemblies consisting of many molecules arranged in a well defined manner.
These approaches utilize the concepts of molecular self-assembly and/or supramolecular chemistry to automatically arrange themselves into some useful conformation through a bottom-up approach. The concept of molecular recognition is especially important: molecules can be designed so that a specific configuration or arrangement is favored due to non-covalent intermolecular forces. The WatsonCrick basepairing rules are a direct result of this, as is the specificity of an enzyme being targeted to a single substrate, or the specific folding of the protein itself. Thus, two or more components can be designed to be complementary and mutually attractive so that they make a more complex and useful whole.
Such bottom-up approaches should be capable of producing devices in parallel and be much cheaper than top-down methods, but could potentially be overwhelmed as the size and complexity of the desired assembly increases. Most useful structures require complex and thermodynamically unlikely arrangements of atoms. Nevertheless, there are many examples of self-assembly based on molecular recognition in biology, most notably WatsonCrick basepairing and enzyme-substrate interactions. The challenge for nanotechnology is whether these principles can be used to engineer new constructs in addition to natural ones.
Molecular nanotechnology, sometimes called molecular manufacturing, describes engineered nanosystems (nanoscale machines) operating on the molecular scale. Molecular nanotechnology is especially associated with the molecular assembler, a machine that can produce a desired structure or device atom-by-atom using the principles of mechanosynthesis. Manufacturing in the context of productive nanosystems is not related to, and should be clearly distinguished from, the conventional technologies used to manufacture nanomaterials such as carbon nanotubes and nanoparticles.
When the term "nanotechnology" was independently coined and popularized by Eric Drexler (who at the time was unaware of an earlier usage by Norio Taniguchi) it referred to a future manufacturing technology based on molecular machine systems. The premise was that molecular-scale biological analogies of traditional machine components demonstrated molecular machines were possible: by the countless examples found in biology, it is known that sophisticated, stochastically optimized biological machines can be produced.
It is hoped that developments in nanotechnology will make possible their construction by some other means, perhaps using biomimetic principles. However, Drexler and other researchers[32] have proposed that advanced nanotechnology, although perhaps initially implemented by biomimetic means, ultimately could be based on mechanical engineering principles, namely, a manufacturing technology based on the mechanical functionality of these components (such as gears, bearings, motors, and structural members) that would enable programmable, positional assembly to atomic specification.[33] The physics and engineering performance of exemplar designs were analyzed in Drexler's book Nanosystems.
In general it is very difficult to assemble devices on the atomic scale, as one has to position atoms on other atoms of comparable size and stickiness. Another view, put forth by Carlo Montemagno,[34] is that future nanosystems will be hybrids of silicon technology and biological molecular machines. Richard Smalley argued that mechanosynthesis are impossible due to the difficulties in mechanically manipulating individual molecules.
This led to an exchange of letters in the ACS publication Chemical & Engineering News in 2003.[35] Though biology clearly demonstrates that molecular machine systems are possible, non-biological molecular machines are today only in their infancy. Leaders in research on non-biological molecular machines are Dr. Alex Zettl and his colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories and UC Berkeley.[1] They have constructed at least three distinct molecular devices whose motion is controlled from the desktop with changing voltage: a nanotube nanomotor, a molecular actuator,[36] and a nanoelectromechanical relaxation oscillator.[37] See nanotube nanomotor for more examples.
An experiment indicating that positional molecular assembly is possible was performed by Ho and Lee at Cornell University in 1999. They used a scanning tunneling microscope to move an individual carbon monoxide molecule (CO) to an individual iron atom (Fe) sitting on a flat silver crystal, and chemically bound the CO to the Fe by applying a voltage.
The nanomaterials field includes subfields which develop or study materials having unique properties arising from their nanoscale dimensions.[40]
These seek to arrange smaller components into more complex assemblies.
These seek to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly.
These seek to develop components of a desired functionality without regard to how they might be assembled.
These subfields seek to anticipate what inventions nanotechnology might yield, or attempt to propose an agenda along which inquiry might progress. These often take a big-picture view of nanotechnology, with more emphasis on its societal implications than the details of how such inventions could actually be created.
Nanomaterials can be classified in 0D, 1D, 2D and 3D nanomaterials. The dimensionality play a major role in determining the characteristic of nanomaterials including physical, chemical and biological characteristics. With the decrease in dimensionality, an increase in surface-to-volume ratio is observed. This indicate that smaller dimensional nanomaterials have higher surface area compared to 3D nanomaterials. Recently, two dimensional (2D) nanomaterials are extensively investigated for electronic, biomedical, drug delivery and biosensor applications.
There are several important modern developments. The atomic force microscope (AFM) and the Scanning Tunneling Microscope (STM) are two early versions of scanning probes that launched nanotechnology. There are other types of scanning probe microscopy. Although conceptually similar to the scanning confocal microscope developed by Marvin Minsky in 1961 and the scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) developed by Calvin Quate and coworkers in the 1970s, newer scanning probe microscopes have much higher resolution, since they are not limited by the wavelength of sound or light.
The tip of a scanning probe can also be used to manipulate nanostructures (a process called positional assembly). Feature-oriented scanning methodology may be a promising way to implement these nanomanipulations in automatic mode.[57][58] However, this is still a slow process because of low scanning velocity of the microscope.
Various techniques of nanolithography such as optical lithography, X-ray lithography, dip pen nanolithography, electron beam lithography or nanoimprint lithography were also developed. Lithography is a top-down fabrication technique where a bulk material is reduced in size to nanoscale pattern.
Another group of nanotechnological techniques include those used for fabrication of nanotubes and nanowires, those used in semiconductor fabrication such as deep ultraviolet lithography, electron beam lithography, focused ion beam machining, nanoimprint lithography, atomic layer deposition, and molecular vapor deposition, and further including molecular self-assembly techniques such as those employing di-block copolymers. The precursors of these techniques preceded the nanotech era, and are extensions in the development of scientific advancements rather than techniques which were devised with the sole purpose of creating nanotechnology and which were results of nanotechnology research.[59]
The top-down approach anticipates nanodevices that must be built piece by piece in stages, much as manufactured items are made. Scanning probe microscopy is an important technique both for characterization and synthesis of nanomaterials. Atomic force microscopes and scanning tunneling microscopes can be used to look at surfaces and to move atoms around. By designing different tips for these microscopes, they can be used for carving out structures on surfaces and to help guide self-assembling structures. By using, for example, feature-oriented scanning approach, atoms or molecules can be moved around on a surface with scanning probe microscopy techniques.[57][58] At present, it is expensive and time-consuming for mass production but very suitable for laboratory experimentation.
In contrast, bottom-up techniques build or grow larger structures atom by atom or molecule by molecule. These techniques include chemical synthesis, self-assembly and positional assembly. Dual polarisation interferometry is one tool suitable for characterisation of self assembled thin films. Another variation of the bottom-up approach is molecular beam epitaxy or MBE. Researchers at Bell Telephone Laboratories like John R. Arthur. Alfred Y. Cho, and Art C. Gossard developed and implemented MBE as a research tool in the late 1960s and 1970s. Samples made by MBE were key to the discovery of the fractional quantum Hall effect for which the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded. MBE allows scientists to lay down atomically precise layers of atoms and, in the process, build up complex structures. Important for research on semiconductors, MBE is also widely used to make samples and devices for the newly emerging field of spintronics.
However, new therapeutic products, based on responsive nanomaterials, such as the ultradeformable, stress-sensitive Transfersome vesicles, are under development and already approved for human use in some countries.[60]
Because of the variety of potential applications (including industrial and military), governments have invested billions of dollars in nanotechnology research. Prior to 2012, the USA invested $3.7 billion using its National Nanotechnology Initiative, the European Union invested $1.2 billion, and Japan invested $750 million.[61] Over sixty countries created nanotechnology research and development (R&D) programs between 2001 and 2004. In 2012, the US and EU each invested $2.1 billion on nanotechnology research, followed by Japan with $1.2 billion. Global investment reached $7.9 billion in 2012. Government funding was exceeded by corporate R&D spending on nanotechnology research, which was $10 billion in 2012. The largest corporate R&D spenders were from the US, Japan and Germany which accounted for a combined $7.1 billion.[25]
As of August 21, 2008, the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies estimates that over 800 manufacturer-identified nanotech products are publicly available, with new ones hitting the market at a pace of 34 per week.[20] The project lists all of the products in a publicly accessible online database. Most applications are limited to the use of "first generation" passive nanomaterials which includes titanium dioxide in sunscreen, cosmetics, surface coatings,[62] and some food products; Carbon allotropes used to produce gecko tape; silver in food packaging, clothing, disinfectants and household appliances; zinc oxide in sunscreens and cosmetics, surface coatings, paints and outdoor furniture varnishes; and cerium oxide as a fuel catalyst.[19]
Further applications allow tennis balls to last longer, golf balls to fly straighter, and even bowling balls to become more durable and have a harder surface. Trousers and socks have been infused with nanotechnology so that they will last longer and keep people cool in the summer. Bandages are being infused with silver nanoparticles to heal cuts faster.[63] Video game consoles and personal computers may become cheaper, faster, and contain more memory thanks to nanotechnology.[64] Also, to build structures for on chip computing with light, for example on chip optical quantum information processing, and picosecond transmission of information.[65]
Nanotechnology may have the ability to make existing medical applications cheaper and easier to use in places like the general practitioner's office and at home.[66] Cars are being manufactured with nanomaterials so they may need fewer metals and less fuel to operate in the future.[67]
Scientists are now turning to nanotechnology in an attempt to develop diesel engines with cleaner exhaust fumes. Platinum is currently used as the diesel engine catalyst in these engines. The catalyst is what cleans the exhaust fume particles. First a reduction catalyst is employed to take nitrogen atoms from NOx molecules in order to free oxygen. Next the oxidation catalyst oxidizes the hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide and water.[68] Platinum is used in both the reduction and the oxidation catalysts.[69] Using platinum though, is inefficient in that it is expensive and unsustainable. Danish company InnovationsFonden invested DKK 15 million in a search for new catalyst substitutes using nanotechnology. The goal of the project, launched in the autumn of 2014, is to maximize surface area and minimize the amount of material required. Objects tend to minimize their surface energy; two drops of water, for example, will join to form one drop and decrease surface area. If the catalyst's surface area that is exposed to the exhaust fumes is maximized, efficiency of the catalyst is maximized. The team working on this project aims to create nanoparticles that will not merge. Every time the surface is optimized, material is saved. Thus, creating these nanoparticles will increase the effectiveness of the resulting diesel engine catalystin turn leading to cleaner exhaust fumesand will decrease cost. If successful, the team hopes to reduce platinum use by 25%.[70]
Nanotechnology also has a prominent role in the fast developing field of Tissue Engineering. When designing scaffolds, researchers attempt to mimic the nanoscale features of a cell's microenvironment to direct its differentiation down a suitable lineage.[71] For example, when creating scaffolds to support the growth of bone, researchers may mimic osteoclast resorption pits.[72]
Researchers have successfully used DNA origami-based nanobots capable of carrying out logic functions to achieve targeted drug delivery in cockroaches. It is said that the computational power of these nanobots can be scaled up to that of a Commodore 64.[73]
Commercial nanoelectronic semiconductor device fabrication began in the 2010s. In 2013, SK Hynix began commercial mass-production of a 16nm process,[74] TSMC began production of a 16nm FinFET process,[75] and Samsung Electronics began production of a 10nm process.[76] TSMC began production of a 7nm process in 2017,[77] and Samsung began production of a 5nm process in 2018.[78] In 2019, Samsung announced plans for the commercial production of a 3nm GAAFET process by 2021.[79]
Commercial production of nanoelectronic semiconductor memory also began in the 2010s. In 2013, SK Hynix began mass-production of 16nm NAND flash memory,[74] and Samsung began production of 10nm multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory.[76] In 2017, TSMC began production of SRAM memory using a 7nm process.[77]
An area of concern is the effect that industrial-scale manufacturing and use of nanomaterials would have on human health and the environment, as suggested by nanotoxicology research. For these reasons, some groups advocate that nanotechnology be regulated by governments. Others counter that overregulation would stifle scientific research and the development of beneficial innovations. Public health research agencies, such as the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health are actively conducting research on potential health effects stemming from exposures to nanoparticles.[80][81]
Some nanoparticle products may have unintended consequences. Researchers have discovered that bacteriostatic silver nanoparticles used in socks to reduce foot odor are being released in the wash.[82] These particles are then flushed into the waste water stream and may destroy bacteria which are critical components of natural ecosystems, farms, and waste treatment processes.[83]
Public deliberations on risk perception in the US and UK carried out by the Center for Nanotechnology in Society found that participants were more positive about nanotechnologies for energy applications than for health applications, with health applications raising moral and ethical dilemmas such as cost and availability.[84]
Experts, including director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies David Rejeski, have testified[85] that successful commercialization depends on adequate oversight, risk research strategy, and public engagement. Berkeley, California is currently the only city in the United States to regulate nanotechnology;[86] Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2008 considered enacting a similar law,[87] but ultimately rejected it.[88]
Nanofibers are used in several areas and in different products, in everything from aircraft wings to tennis rackets. Inhaling airborne nanoparticles and nanofibers may lead to a number of pulmonary diseases, e.g. fibrosis.[89] Researchers have found that when rats breathed in nanoparticles, the particles settled in the brain and lungs, which led to significant increases in biomarkers for inflammation and stress response[90] and that nanoparticles induce skin aging through oxidative stress in hairless mice.[91][92]
A two-year study at UCLA's School of Public Health found lab mice consuming nano-titanium dioxide showed DNA and chromosome damage to a degree "linked to all the big killers of man, namely cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and aging".[93]
A Nature Nanotechnology study suggests some forms of carbon nanotubes a poster child for the "nanotechnology revolution" could be as harmful as asbestos if inhaled in sufficient quantities. Anthony Seaton of the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland, who contributed to the article on carbon nanotubes said "We know that some of them probably have the potential to cause mesothelioma. So those sorts of materials need to be handled very carefully."[94] In the absence of specific regulation forthcoming from governments, Paull and Lyons (2008) have called for an exclusion of engineered nanoparticles in food.[95] A newspaper article reports that workers in a paint factory developed serious lung disease and nanoparticles were found in their lungs.[96][97][98][99]
Calls for tighter regulation of nanotechnology have occurred alongside a growing debate related to the human health and safety risks of nanotechnology.[100] There is significant debate about who is responsible for the regulation of nanotechnology. Some regulatory agencies currently cover some nanotechnology products and processes (to varying degrees) by "bolting on" nanotechnology to existing regulations there are clear gaps in these regimes.[101] Davies (2008) has proposed a regulatory road map describing steps to deal with these shortcomings.[102]
Stakeholders concerned by the lack of a regulatory framework to assess and control risks associated with the release of nanoparticles and nanotubes have drawn parallels with bovine spongiform encephalopathy ("mad cow" disease), thalidomide, genetically modified food,[103] nuclear energy, reproductive technologies, biotechnology, and asbestosis. Dr. Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor to the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, concludes that there is insufficient funding for human health and safety research, and as a result there is currently limited understanding of the human health and safety risks associated with nanotechnology.[104] As a result, some academics have called for stricter application of the precautionary principle, with delayed marketing approval, enhanced labelling and additional safety data development requirements in relation to certain forms of nanotechnology.[105]
The Royal Society report[17] identified a risk of nanoparticles or nanotubes being released during disposal, destruction and recycling, and recommended that "manufacturers of products that fall under extended producer responsibility regimes such as end-of-life regulations publish procedures outlining how these materials will be managed to minimize possible human and environmental exposure" (p. xiii).
The Center for Nanotechnology in Society has found that people respond to nanotechnologies differently, depending on application with participants in public deliberations more positive about nanotechnologies for energy than health applications suggesting that any public calls for nano regulations may differ by technology sector.[84]
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Nanotechnology - Wikipedia
Slowly but surely, quantum computing is getting ready for its closeup.
Google made headlines in October 2019 upon proclaiming that it had achieved the long-anticipated breakthrough of quantum supremacy. Thats when a quantum computer is able to perform a task a conventional computer cant. Not in a practical amount of time, anyway. For instance, Google claimed the test problem it ran would have taken a classical computer thousands of years to complete though some critics and competitors called that a gross exaggeration.
IBM, for one, wasnt having it. The other big player in quantum, it promptly posted a response essentially arguing that Google had underestimated the muscle of IBM supercomputers which, though blazingly fast, arent of the quantum variety.
Tech giant head-butting aside, Googles achievement was a genuine milestone one that further established quantum computing in the broader consciousness and prompted more people to wonder: What will these things actually do?
But even once quantum computing reigns supreme, its potential impact remains largely theoretical. But thats more a reflection of quantum computings still-fledgling status than unfulfilled promise.
Before commercial-scale quantum computing is a thing, however, researchers must clear some major hurdles. Chief among them is upping the number of qubits, units of information that these impressive pieces of hardware use to perform tasks. Whereas classical computer bits exist as 1s or 0s, qubits can be either or both simultaneously. Thats key to massively greater processing speeds, which are necessary to simulate molecular-level quantum mechanics.
Despite quantums still-hypothetical nature and the long road ahead, predictions and investment abound. Google CEO Sundar Pichai likened his companys recent proof-of-concept advancement to the Wright brothers 12-second flight: Though very basic and short-lived, it demonstrated whats possible. And whats possible, experts say, is impressive indeed.
From cybersecurity to pharmaceutical research to finance, here are some ways quantum computing facilitates major advancements.
More on Quantum Computing5 Skills You Need to Launch a Quantum Computing Career
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Quantum computing and artificial intelligence may prove to be mutual back-scratchers. As VentureBeat explained, advances in deep learning will likely increase our understanding of quantum mechanics while at the same time fully realized quantum computers could far surpass conventional ones in data pattern recognition. Regarding the latter, IBMs quantum research team has found that entangling qubits on the quantum computer that ran a data-classification experiment cut the error rate in half compared to unentangled qubits.
What this suggests, an essay in the MIT Technology Review noted, is that as quantum computers get better at harnessing qubits and at entangling them, theyll also get better at tackling machine-learning problems.
IBMs research came in the wake of another promising machine-learning classification algorithm: a quantum-classical hybrid run on a 19-qubit machine built by Rigetti Computing.
Harnessing [quantum computers statistical distribution] has the potential to accelerate or otherwise improve machine learning relative to purely classical performance, Rigetti researchers wrote. The hybridization of classical compute and quantum processors overcame a key challenge in realizing that aim, they explained.
Both are important steps toward the ultimate goal of significantly accelerating AI through quantum computing. Which might mean virtual assistants that understand you the first time. Or non-player-controlled video game characters that behave hyper-realistically. The potential advancements are numerous.
I think AI can accelerate quantum computing," Googles Pichai said, "and quantum computing can accelerate AI.
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The list of partners that comprise Microsofts so-called Quantum Network includes a slew of research universities and quantum-focused technical outfits, but precious few business affiliates. However, two of the five NatWest and Willis Towers Watson are banking interests. Similarly, at IBMs Q Network, JPMorgan Chase stands out amid a sea of tech-focused members as well as government and higher-ed research institutions.
That hugely profitable financial services companies would want to leverage paradigm-shifting technology is hardly a shocker, but quantum and financial modeling are a truly natural match thanks to structural similarities. As a group of European researchers wrote last year, [T]he entire financial market can be modeled as a quantum process, where quantities that are important to finance, such as the covariance matrix, emerge naturally.
A lot of recent research has focused specifically on quantums potential to dramatically speed up the so-called Monte Carlo model, which essentially gauges the probability of various outcomes and their corresponding risks. A 2019 paper co-written by IBM researchers and members of JPMorgans Quantitative Research team included a methodology to price option contracts using a quantum computer.
Its seemingly clear risk-assessment application aside, quantum in finance could have a broad future. If we had [a commercial quantum computer] today, what would we do?Nikitas Stamatopoulos, a co-author of the price-options paper, wondered. The answer today is not very clear.
Location: Redmond, Washington
The world has a fertilizer problem that extends beyond an overabundance of poop. Much of the planets fertilizer is made by heating and pressurizing atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, a process pioneered in the early 1900s by German chemist Fritz Haber.
The so-called Haber process, though revolutionary, proved quite energy-consuming: some three percent of annual global energy output goes into running Haber, which accounts for more than one percent of greenhouse gas emissions. More maddening, some bacteria perform that process naturally we simply have no idea how and therefore cant leverage it.
With an adequate quantum computer, however, we could probably figure out how and, in doing so, significantly conserve energy. In 2017, researchers from Microsoft isolated the cofactor molecule thats necessary to simulate. And theyll do that just as soon as the quantum hardware has a sufficient qubit count and noise stabilization. Googles CEO told MIT he thinks the quantum improvement of Haber is roughly a decade away.
Related ReadingQuantum Computing Movies: How Realistic Are They?
Location: Berkeley, California
Recent research into whether quantum computing might vastly improve weather prediction has determined its a topic worth researching! And while we still have little understanding of that relationship, many in the field view it as a notable use case.
Ray Johnson, the former CTO at Lockheed Martin and now an independent director at quantum startup Rigetti Computing, is among those whove indicated that quantum computings method of simultaneous (rather than sequential) calculation will likely be successful in analyzing the very, very complex system of variables that is weather.
While we currently use some of the worlds most powerful supercomputers to model high-resolution weather forecasts, accurate numerical weather prediction is notoriously difficult. In fact, it probably hasnt been that long since you cursed an off-the-mark meteorologist.
Location: London, England
To presidential candidate Andrew Yang, Googles quantum milestone meant that no code is uncrackable. He was referring to a much-discussed notion that the unprecedented factorization power of quantum computers would severely undermine common internet encryption systems.
But Googles device (like all current QC devices) is far too error-prone to pose the immediate cybersecurity threat that Yang implied. In fact, according to theoretical computer scientist Scott Aaronson, such a machine wont exist for quite a while. But the looming danger is serious. And the years-long push toward quantum-resistant algorithms like the National Institute of Standards and Technologys ongoing competition to build such models illustrates how seriously the security community takes the threat.
One of just 26 so-called post-quantum algorithms to make the NISTs semifinals comes from, appropriately enough, British-based cybersecurity leader Post-Quantum. Experts say the careful and deliberate process exemplified by the NISTs project is precisely what quantum-focused security needs. As Dr. Deborah Franke of the National Security Agency told Nextgov, There are two ways you could make a mistake with quantum-resistant encryption: One is you could jump to the algorithm too soon, and the other is you jump to the algorithm too late.
Location: Toronto, Ontario
The real excitement about quantum is that the universe fundamentally works in a quantum way, so you will be able to understand nature better, Googles Pichai told MIT Technology Review in the wake of his companys recent announcement. Its early days, but where quantum mechanics shines is the ability to simulate molecules, molecular processes, and I think that is where it will be the strongest. Drug discovery is a great example.
One company focusing computational heft on molecular simulation, specifically protein behavior, is Toronto-based biotech startup ProteinQure. Flush with $4 million in recent seed funding as of 2019, it partners with quantum-computing leaders (IBM, Microsoft and Rigetti Computing) and pharma research outfits (SRI International, AstraZeneca) to explore QCs potential in modeling protein.
Thats the deeply complex but high-yield route of drug development in which proteins are engineered for targeted medical purposes. Although its vastly more precise than the old-school trial-and-error method of running chemical experiments, its infinitely more challenging from a computational standpoint. As Boston Consulting Group noted, merely modeling a penicillin molecule would require an impossibly large classical computer with 10-to-the-86th-power bits. For advanced quantum computers, though, that same process could be a snap and could lead to the discovery of new drugs for serious maladies like cancer, Alzheimers and heart disease.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Biogen is another notable company exploring quantum computings capacity for drug development. Focused on neurological disease research, the biotech firm announced a 2017 partnership with quantum startup 1QBit and Accenture.
Location: Stuttgart, Germany
QCs potential to simulate quantum mechanics could be equally transformative in other chemistry-related realms beyond drug development. The auto industry, for example, wants to harness the technology to build better car batteries.
In 2018, German car manufacturer Daimler AG (the parent company of Mercedes-Benz) announced two distinct partnerships with quantum-computing powerhouses Google and IBM. Electric vehicles are mainly based on a well-functioning cell chemistry of the batteries, the company wrote in its magazine at the time. Quantum computing, it added, inspires justified hope for initial results in areas like cellular simulation and the aging of battery cells. Improved batteries for electric vehicles could help increase adoption of those vehicles.
Daimler is also looking into how QC could potentially supercharge AI, plus manage an autonomous-vehicle-choked traffic future and accelerate its logistics. It follows in the footsteps of another major Teutonic transportation brand: Volkswagen. In 2017, the automaker announced a partnership with Google focused on similar initiatives. It also teamed up with D-Wave Systems in 2018.
Location: Wolfsburg, Germany
Volkswagens exploration of optimization brings up a point worth emphasizing: Despite some common framing, the main breakthrough of quantum computing isnt just the speed at which it will solve challenges, but the kinds of challenges it will solve.
The traveling salesman problem, for instance, is one of the most famous in computation. It aims to determine the shortest possible route between multiple cities, hitting each city once and returning to the starting point. Known as an optimization problem, its incredibly difficult for a classical computer to tackle. For fully realized QCs, though, it could be much easier.
D-Wave and VW have already run pilot programs on a number of traffic- and travel-related optimization challenges, including streamlining traffic flows in Beijing, Barcelona and Lisbon. For the latter, a fleet of buses traveled along distinct routes that were tailored to real-time traffic conditions through a quantum algorithm, which VW continues to tweak after each trial run. According to D-Wave CEO Vern Brownell, the companys pilot brings us closer than ever to realizing true, practical quantum computing.
Location: College Park, Maryland
In the search for sustainable energy alternatives, hydrogen fuel, when produced without the use of fossil fuels, is serving to be a viable solution for reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Most hydrogen fuel production is currently rooted in fossil fuel use, though quantum computing could create an efficient avenue to turn this around.
Electrolysis, the process of deconstructing water into basal hydrogen and oxygen molecules, can work to extract hydrogen for fuel in an environmentally-friendly manner. Quantum computing has already been helping research how to utilize electrolysis for the most efficient and sustainable hydrogen production possible.
As of 2019, IonQ performed the first simulation of a water molecule on a quantum device, marking as evidence that computing is able to approach accurate chemical predictions. As of 2022, IonQ released Forte, its newest generation of quantum systems allowing software-configurability and greater flexibility for researchers and other users. Theres hopes that the power of quantum computing can further climate change solution research on a large and accelerated scale.
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Quantum computing has become a hot topic amongst the tech industry, though one particular company is keeping it cool. ColdQuanta is known for its use of cold atom quantum computing, in which laser-cooled atoms can act the role as qubits. With this method, fragile atoms can be kept cold while the operating system remains at room temperature, allowing quantum devices to be used in various environments.
To aid in research conducted by NASAs Cold Atom Laboratory, ColdQuantas Quantum Core technology was successfully shipped to the International Space Station in 2019. The technology has since been expected to be used to support communications, global positioning, and signal processing applications. ColdQuanta has also been signed in multi-million dollar contracts by U.S. government agencies to develop quantum atomic clock and ion trap system technologies as of 2021.
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10 Quantum Computing Applications & Examples to Know | Built In
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Resveratrol is a class of plant micronutrients called polyphenols. Polyphenols are organic chemicals that plants make to survive drought or attack from disease. These compounds are found in plant foods and have a variety of health benefits.
Resveratrol is found in peanuts, berries, and grapes. It is also found in red wine in higher amounts. Resveratrol has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties to protect you against diseases like cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimers disease.
The anti-inflammatory effects of resveratrol make it a good remedy for arthritis, and skin inflammation. Also, resveratrol has antibacterial and antifungal properties that help treat infections of the urinary and digestive tracts.
Polyphenols like resveratrol are important to protect the body from free radical cellular damage. Free radicals form in the body naturally when your body breaks down food, you breathe in cigarette smoke, or if you are exposed to radiation. They are unstable and attack cells. They are also responsible for the development of some age-related diseases.
Resveratrol can prevent these common conditions:
Cancer
Many studies indicate that resveratrol could help prevent and treat certain types of cancer. Its anti-tumor effects include inhibiting cancer cell growth, cell signaling, angiogenesis, and promoting cell death.
Studies have found that resveratrol negatively affects cancer at all stages of development. Most importantly, researchers have found that resveratrol makes chemotherapy more effective by blocking chemotherapy-resistant proteins.
Cardiovascular Disease
Numerous studies have explored resveratrols role in preventing and managing cardiovascular (heart-related) disease. Resveratrol exhibits protective effects against blood vessel damage. Studies also show that it lowers cholesterol levels and prevents blood clots.
Many researchers have concluded that resveratrol is a valuable micronutrient that can prevent heart disease in those at risk and help treat people with progressing cardiovascular conditions.
Dementia and Alzheimers Disease
The anti-inflammatory properties of resveratrol are effective in controlling inflammation throughout the body, including the brain. Neuroinflammation (inflammation of parts of the nervous system) is one factor that contributes to the progression of brain-related problems, such as Alzheimers disease, dementia, and multiple sclerosis.
One study followed participants with Alzheimers disease for 52 weeks to observe the therapeutic effects of resveratrol. One control group received a placebo, while another received resveratrol. For the group with the placebo, neurological biomarkers continued to decline over the observational period. However, the group receiving daily doses of resveratrol saw stabilization in those same biomarkers.
While further study is needed, the outcome of this study seems promising for the use of resveratrol in the future.
Diabetes
Resveratrol has demonstrated health benefits for people with Type 2 diabetes in several studies. For example, researchers commonly see improvements in serum lipid (cholesterol) and glucose (sugar) levels after treating test subjects with resveratrol.
The studies show that resveratrol reverses insulin resistance, lowers blood sugar levels, and even lowers elevated blood pressure, a condition many people with diabetes have.
The amount of resveratrol naturally contained in foods is considered safe for daily consumption. Low to medium doses of resveratrol are considered safe, even when taken for long periods. Higher doses of up to 3,000 milligrams per day can be taken safely for up to six months, but some people have reported stomach upset.
You may want to avoid resveratrol supplements in these situations:
Bleeding Disorders
Resveratrol decreases blood clotting. If you have a blood clotting disorder and are at risk for bleeding, you should avoid taking resveratrol supplements.
Estrogen Sensitivity
Resveratrol can act like the hormone estrogen in the body. If you have an estrogen-sensitive condition like endometriosis, uterine fibroids, or reproductive cancers, do not take resveratrol.
Surgery
Due to resveratrols blood-thinning properties, you should stop taking any resveratrol supplements two weeks before surgery.
Medication Interactions
Resveratrol slows blood clotting. If taken with anticoagulant (non-clotting) medications, you are at increased risk of bleeding. Anticoagulants include warfarin, heparin, naproxen, ibuprofen, and aspirin.
Resveratrol occurs naturally in some plant foods. You can add resveratrol to your diet by eating foods like peanuts, grapes, blueberries, raspberries, and mulberries. Red wine is also a good source of resveratrol.
You can also find resveratrol supplements in the vitamin section of your grocery store. There is no recommended daily allowance for resveratrol. Supplements may contain 100 milligrams, 250 milligrams, or 500 milligrams of resveratrol per capsule.
SOURCES:
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: Resveratrol for Alzheimers disease.
Biomedicines: Resveratrol: A Double-Edged Sword in Health Benefits.
Endocrinology: Resveratrol Acts as a Mixed Agonist/Antagonist for Estrogen Receptors and .
Europe PMC: Advances in resveratrol studies.
Inflammation & Allergy-Drug Targets: Anti-Inflammatory Responses of Resveratrol.
Inflammation: Effects of Resveratrol in Inflammatory Arthritis.
International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents: Antibacterial and antifungal properties of resveratrol.
Mayo Clinic: Antioxidants.
Mayo Clinic: Red wine and resveratrol: Good for your heart?
Nutrition and Metabolism: Effects of resveratrol on glucose control and insulin sensitivity in subjects with type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis.
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The Bahamas' Attorney General Defends Country's Regulatory Regime Amid FTX 'Debacle' - CoinDesk
The Bahamas is made up of over 700 islands, islets and cays in the Atlantic Ocean. "Bahamas" may refer to the country or the largest island chain it shares with the Turks and Caicos Islands. The last official census took place in 1990, finding a population of 255,000.
The capital and largest city is Nassau, with a population of 255,000. The next-largest city is Freeport, with a population of about 50,000.
The population of the Bahamas is 85% African, 12% European and 3% Asian and 3% Latin Americans. Baptists account for 35% of the population, followed by Anglican (15%), Roman Catholic (13%) and Pentecostal (8%). The region was originally inhabited by the Lucayan, a branch of Arawakan-speaking Taino, although they were later shipped to Hispaniola for slavery by the Spaniards, who never colonized the Bahamas. For most of the 16th century, the islands were abandoned.
Afro-Bahamians are nationals with primary ancestry in West Africa. Afro-Bahamians represent the largest ethnic group in the country, accounting for 85%, with a Haitian community of around 80,000. There are also 17,000 Whites living in the country.
European Bahamians number 38,000 and are primarily descendants of English Puritans and American Loyalists who came to the islands in the 17th and 18th century. The account for 12% of the population and the largest minority group. The Bahamas is currently growing at a rate of around 1.5%. At this rate, the country will reach 396,000 by 2020.
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I was a little surprised that "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" wasn't on the top 250. Almost everyone loves this film. It was a major breakthrough for movies. The cartoon world meets reality.
Bob Haskins is to die for in this film, he plays such a great American detective and he didn't have much to work with. After all when he was talking to Roger, he wasn't really talking to anybody since it was a cartoon character. I love the way he develops his role so much, how he goes from this stick-to-the-book and all cartoons are bad to this lovable goofy guy due to Roger's insatiable love for life and cartoons. It's silly because it's a cartoon, but Roger and Bob clicked so well and are unforgettable.
Christopher Lloyd... shudder! This guy gave me so many nightmares as a kid from his character as the judge. The ending where he reveals his true form, he is just terrifying and effective. Jessica Rabbit is so cool and sexy for a cartoon. She's just too much fun for this movie and is wonderful as a cartoon. "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way". My favorite scene is without a doubt when Eddie(played by Bob) is looking for Jessica and meets the crazy look-a-like in Toon Town. Just great and hilarious.
Come on, fans! This is a terrific movie and deserves to be on the top 250 films of all time! It's a break through for cinema history and movies in general. It's a great one! I'd highly recommend this for the family and friends or just a Saturday with nothing to do.
10/10
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The filmmaker fidgets with that peculiar breathlessness once again throughout Midsommar, a terrifically juicy, apocalyptic cinematic sacrament that dances around a fruitless relationship in dizzying circles. We are not stuffed inside a cavernous house of horrors this time around. But be prepared to feel equally suffocated by a ravenous family (albeit, a chosen, cultish kind) all the same. In the midst of wide-open pastoral surroundings we may be, but Aster still wants us to crave and kick for oxygen, perhaps in a less claustrophobic and more agoraphobic fashion. The tangible dread in Midsommaroftentimes alleviated by welcome flashes of comedy, always charged by tight choreography and Pogorzelskis atmospheric compositionsis so recognizably out of Hereditary that you'll immediately distinguish the connective headspace responsible for both tales.
And yet, this superb psychedelic thriller sowed somewhere amid an outdoorsy mother!, a blindingly lit Dogville and fine, a contemporary The Wicker Man, is different by way of Asters loosened thematic restraint. You wont exactly feel lost while disemboweling Asters inviting beast, but you can certainly argue that the sun never sets on the films cosmically vast subject matter: reaping notions of (white) male privilege, American entitlement (that literally pisses on whats not theirs) and most prominently, female empowerment. And this is also a fitting way to describe the location where most of the story unfolds, under nearly 24-hour sun. We are in a remote, hidden-from-view Swedish village nested somewhere in Hlsingland, among tranquilly dressed Harga folk who celebrate summer through initially quaint, but increasingly bizarre and downright petrifying rituals. There is only a slack sense of yesterday and tomorrow in Asters locale of choice where an endless string of hallucinatory traditions are exercised in broad daylight.
The folkloric practices start off appealingly enougha misleading gust of peace (superbly countered by The Haxan Cloaks skin-crawling score) breezes in the air while heady drugs dissolve in tempting cups of tea. But how did we even get here and find ourselves among these hippy-dippy proceedings cloaked in white linen? Well, we followed Florence Pugh, Asters second fearless female lead after Toni Collette,playing a grieving character marked by something unspeakable. In a deeply scarred, emotionally unrestricted performanceyou might hear her screams in your nightmaresPugh plays Dani, a graduate student aiming to put some distance between herself and an extreme case of trauma involving her bipolar sister. (A stunning prologue unravels the details of the tragic ordeal with top-shelf narrative economy.) And Dani isnt on her own. In fact, she embarks upon the picturesque Scandinavian adventure as an outsider at first, tagging along some fellow scholars of academia, a group that includes her self-absorbed longtime boyfriend Christian (Jack Reynor, convincingly egotistical). Also in the clan are Christians buddies Josh (William Jackson Harper)headed to the festivities for academic researchthe blabber-mouthed Mark (Will Poulter, so hysterically douchey that he earns the jesters cap hed wear later on), and Pelle (Vilhelm Blomgren), the brainchild of the operation as well as a member of the makeshift family that would host the group.
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American astronaut, naval aviator and aeronautical engineer
Roger Bruce Chaffee (; February 15, 1935 January 27, 1967) was an American naval officer, aviator and aeronautical engineer who was a NASA astronaut in the Apollo program.
Chaffee was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he became an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Central High School in 1953, and accepted a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship. He began his college education at Illinois Institute of Technology, where he was involved in the fraternity Phi Kappa Sigma. He transferred to Purdue University in 1954, continuing his involvement in Phi Kappa Sigma and obtaining his private pilot's license.
After graduating from Purdue in 1957 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Chaffee completed his Navy training and was commissioned as an ensign. He began pilot training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, flying aircraft such as the T-34, T-28, and A3D. He became quality and safety control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 (VAP-62). His time in this unit included taking crucial photos of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis, earning him the Air Medal. He was promoted to lieutenant commander in 1966.
Along with thirteen other pilots, Chaffee was selected to be an astronaut as part of NASA Astronaut Group 3 in 1963. He served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) for the Gemini 3 and Gemini 4 missions and received his first spaceflight assignment in 1966 as the third-ranking pilot on Apollo 1. In 1967, he died in a fire along with fellow astronauts Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Ed White during a pre-launch test for the mission at what was then the Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34, Florida. He was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor and a second Air Medal.
Roger Bruce Chaffee was born on February 15, 1935, in Grand Rapids, Michigan,[1] the second child of Donald Lynn Chaffee (19101998) and Blanche May (Mike) Chaffee (ne Mosher; 19121996). He had an older sister, Donna, born two years earlier. In January 1935, in their hometown of Greenville, Michigan, his father was diagnosed with scarlet fever, so his mother moved in with her parents in Grand Rapids, where Roger was born. The family spent the next seven years in Greenville before moving to Grand Rapids, where his father took a job as the chief Army Ordnance inspector at the Doehler-Jarvis plant.[4] Chaffee's interest in aerospace was sparked at a young age when his father, a former barnstorming pilot, took him on his first flight at the age of seven. Chaffee was thrilled by the flight and soon after started building model airplanes with his father.
Chaffee excelled as a Boy Scout, earning his first merit badge at the age of thirteen. He earned ten more badges that year. Many of these awards were typically earned by the older scouts. He continued his success by earning four more badges at the age of fourteen. He earned four badges for each of the next two years, almost all the badges available at the time. After becoming an Eagle Scout, he managed to earn another ten merit badges, for which he was awarded the bronze and gold palms. Between his camping trips with his family and his involvement with the Boy Scouts, Chaffee developed a passion for the outdoors.
Chaffee attended the Dickinson School in Grand Rapids, and later graduated from Central High School in the top 20% of his class in 1953. Turning down a possible appointment to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, he accepted a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) scholarship, and in September 1953 enrolled at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He performed well, making the Dean's List and finishing with a B+ average. While enrolled, he joined Phi Kappa Sigma.[4]
Chaffee was passionate about flying, and had a strong aptitude for science and engineering. To apply those talents, he transferred to Purdue University in the autumn of 1954 to attend the school's well-known aeronautical engineering program.[4] Before arriving in West Lafayette, he reported for an 8-week tour on USSWisconsin as a part of the NROTC program. To qualify, he had to finish training and pass further tests. He initially failed the eye exam, but the physician permitted him to retake it the next morning, and he passed. He was then allowed to tour on Wisconsin to England, Scotland, France, and Cuba. Upon his return to American soil, he worked as a gear cutter.[4]
After starting classes at Purdue, Chaffee sought out a job to complement his coursework and involvement in the Phi Kappa Sigma social fraternity. His first job during his sophomore year was working as a server at one of the women's residences, but he disliked the job and sought new employment. He was hired as a draftsman at a small business near Purdue. As a junior, he was hired as a teaching assistant in the Mathematics Department to teach classes to freshman students.[4] He also joined the Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Gamma Tau engineering honor societies.[10]In 1955, Chaffee took four flying lessons, but he did not have enough money to get his private pilot's license. Two years later, the NROTC sponsored flight training for him to become a naval aviator. He soloed on March 29, 1957, and obtained his private pilot's license on May 24, 1957. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree, with distinction, in aeronautical engineering at Purdue in 1957.
Chaffee met his future wife Martha Louise Horn on a double blind date in September 1955. They started dating, and he proposed to her on October 12, 1956. They married in Oklahoma City, Martha's hometown, on August 24, 1957. Martha was a homemaker. The couple had two children, Sheryl Lyn (born in 1958) and Stephen (born in 1961).[14]
After graduation, Chaffee completed his Navy training on August 22, 1957, and received commission as an ensign. Following his honeymoon, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USSLake Champlain for a six-week assignment in Norfolk with the Naval Air Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. By the time Chaffee arrived at the base, the ship had already left port. He temporarily worked at the base until October 1957, when he attended flight school at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. He started his training by flying the T-28 and the T-34. He was posted to Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas, from August 1958 to February 1959 as a part of Advanced Training Unit 212.[16] In Kingsville, he trained on the F9F Cougar jet fighter. His daughter Sheryl was born the day before he left for his first aircraft carrier training. He was awarded his naval aviator wings in early 1959.[1][4]
Chaffee was transferred to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, Florida, to continue his training. His first project was not flying, but repairing an A3D twin-engine jet photo reconnaissance plane. This plane was typically flown by pilots with the rank of lieutenant commander or above, but Chaffee became so familiar with the plane from repairing it he became one of the youngest pilots ever to fly it. He joined Attack Squadron 44 (VA-44) in September 1959, and from October 1959 to March 1960 he trained with Heavy Attack Squadron 3 (VAH-3).[16]
There's only room for one mistake. You can buy the farm only once.
Roger Chaffee
Chaffee received a variety of assignments and participated in multiple training duties over the next several years, spending most of his time in photo reconnaissance squadrons. He was stationed at NAS Jacksonville as safety officer and quality control officer for Heavy Photographic Squadron 62 (VAP-62) flying the A3D.[1][10] He wrote a quality control manual for the squadron, although some of his peers saw this as too demanding. By coincidence, he was assigned to a mission where he flew over Cape Canaveral, during which aerial photographs of future launch sites were taken.
Between April 4, 1960, and October 25, 1962, including during the critical time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Chaffee flew 82 missions over Cuba, sometimes up to three per day, and achieved over 100 flight hours each month. Some of these trips included shuttling three men per plane back and forth to Guantanamo Bay, including the pilot, co-pilot, and the photographer.[16] Some biographies credit him with flying the U-2 plane to spy on Cuba, but this is erroneous since he was a Navy pilot and the U-2 was an Air Force plane.
After this, Chaffee undertook aircraft carrier flight training, including time spent on USSSaratoga performing both day and night flights. He said of day flying, "Setting that big bird down on the flight deck was like landing on a postage stamp"; and of night flying, "Getting catapulted off that flight deck at night is like getting shot into a bottle of ink!" While working in Jacksonville, he concurrently worked on a master's degree. He was on a cruise to Africa when his son Stephen was born in Oklahoma City.
During Chaffee's Navy service he logged more than 2,300 hours flying time, including more than 2,000 hours in jet aircraft.[1][4] On February 1, 1966, he was promoted to lieutenant commander.[16]
The world itself looks cleaner and so much more beautiful. Maybe we can make it that waythe way God intended it to beby giving everybody that new perspective from out in space.
Roger Chaffee[23]
In August 1962, Chaffee confided in his family that he had submitted an application for the NASA astronaut training program, and informed his superiors of his desire to train as a test pilot for astronaut status. In mid-1962, he was accepted in the initial pool of 1,800 applicants for the third group of NASA astronauts.[4] After his naval tour was over, and he had racked up over 1,800 hours of flying time, the Navy offered him the opportunity to continue work on his master's degree. In January 1963, he entered the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to work on his Master of Science degree in reliability engineering.[10]
While at AFIT, Chaffee continued participating in astronaut candidate testing as the pool of candidates dropped to 271 in mid-1963. It was noted during testing that he had a very small lung capacity but he used it better than most people with greater capacity. On his return from a hunting trip to Fairborn, Ohio, on October 14, 1963, he found a message from NASA in Houston, Texas. He called them back, and discovered he had been chosen as an astronaut.[4] On October 18, 1963, it was officially announced that he was one of fourteen chosen for NASA's third group of astronauts.[1] He said, "I was very pleased with the appointment. I've always wanted to fly and perform adventurous flying tasks all my life. Ever since the first seven Mercury astronauts were named, I've been keeping my studies up."
Phase one of training for the third group of astronauts began in 1964 in lecture halls. Lectures in several fields were supplemented with trips to locations with geological significance so the astronauts gained hands-on experience. As well as piloting the spacecraft, the astronauts were to perform scientific experiments and measurements on the Moon. The astronauts traveled to the Grand Canyon to learn about geography and to Alaska, Iceland, and Hawaii to learn about rock formations and lava flows.[4]
The second phase was contingency training, which focused on astronauts learning the skills required to survive if the landing did not occur where planned. The group started their training by being dropped off in the middle of the jungle in Panama. They performed the survival training in pairs, carrying only their parachutes and survival kits. Chaffee, with help from his Boy Scout training, foraged for enough food to survive during the three-day training mission. Following the jungle training, the astronauts traveled to an entirely different environment: the desert of Reno, Nevada. For clothing, the astronauts had only long underwear, shoes, and robes they manufactured from their parachutes. Lizards and snakes were the main source of food, and the astronauts used their parachutes as makeshift tents for shelter for the two days of desert training.[4]
The third and final phase was operational training for the astronauts. This focused on giving them hands-on experience using the instruments and equipment required during their spaceflight. They received training in the effects of microgravity and rapid acceleration. The astronauts spent time in simulators, aboard cargo planes that simulated weightlessness, underwater to practice extravehicular activities (EVAs), and on visits to manufacturing plants to check on the progress of the hardware.[4]
Every astronaut was required to have a specialty, and Chaffee's specialty was communications. He focused on the Deep Space Instrumentation Facility (DSIF), which the astronauts needed for navigation in space.
At the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Chaffee served as capsule communicator (CAPCOM) in March 1965 for Gemini 3.[29] Later that year, he was CAPCOM, along with Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Eugene Cernan, for the Gemini 4 mission, in which Ed White performed the first spacewalk by an American.[1][4] As CAPCOM, Chaffee relayed information between the crew members and the Director of Flight Operations, Chris Kraft.[4] He never got a seat on a Gemini mission, but was assigned to work on flight control, communications, instrumentation, and attitude and translation control systems in the Apollo program.[10] During this time, along with Grissom, he also flew chase planes at an altitude of between 30,000 and 50,000 feet (9,100 and 15,200m) to take motion pictures of the launch of an uncrewed Saturn 1B rocket.[4]
Chaffee received his first spaceflight assignment in January 1966, when he was selected for the first crewed Apollo-Saturn flight, AS-204. At the time, he was the youngest American astronaut to be selected for a mission.[31] Joining Command Pilot Grissom and Senior Pilot White, he replaced the injured Donn F. Eisele in the third-ranked pilot position.[4] Eisele required surgery for a dislocated shoulder, which he sustained aboard the KC-135 weightlessness training aircraft. He was reassigned to a second Apollo crew, commanded by Wally Schirra.[31]
The crew announcement was made public on March 21, 1966. The two-week flight of Apollo1 was to test the spacecraft systems and the control and ground tracking facilities.[4] While Chaffee had monitored the manufacture of the Gemini spacecraft, he had not witnessed the building of the Apollo spacecraft. Three days after being selected for the Apollo1 crew, he flew to the North American Aviation Plant in Downey, California, to see it.[4]
Later in April, the crew traveled to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to study stars that were programmed into their flight computer. In October, the six crewmembers planned to test the spacecraft in sea level and altitude conditions. The failure of an oxygen regulator prevented them from performing the vacuum test, but they managed to complete the sea level test. They also performed egress tests, where capsule simulators were dropped in the Gulf of Mexico under various conditions and the crew had to exit the spacecraft. The crew was able to spend time with their families at Christmas. Chaffee entered a local Christmas decoration contest and he received first prize.[4] Four Purdue astronauts were requested to attend the Rose Bowl as guests of honor. Grissom, Gene Cernan, Armstrong, and Chaffee attended the game on January 2. Progress on pre-mission activities was nearing completion; NASA announced on January 23, 1967, that February 21 would be the target launch date. The primary and backup crews moved back to the Cape for the last few weeks of training. They had their own living quarters, a private waiter and chef, and gymnasium to remain fit.
On January 27, 1967, Grissom, White and Chaffee were participating in a "plugs-out" countdown demonstration test at Cape Kennedy in preparation for the planned February 21 launch. Chaffee was sitting at the right side of the cabin.[4] His main role was to maintain communications with the blockhouse. A momentary power surge was detected at 23:30:55 GMT, which was believed to accompany an electrical short in equipment located on the lower left side of the cabin, the presumed ignition source for the fire. At 23:31:04 GMT, a voice was heard declaring, "[We]'ve got a fire in the cockpit." Most investigative listeners believe that voice was Chaffee's.
Assigned emergency roles called for Grissom, in the left-hand seat, to open the cabin pressure vent valve, after which White in the center seat was to open the plug door hatch, while Chaffee in the right-hand seat was to maintain communications. Grissom was prevented from opening the valve by the intensity of the fire, which started in that region and spread from left to right. Despite this, White removed his restraints and apparently tried in vain to open the hatch, which was held closed by the cabin pressure. The increasing pressure finally burst the inner cabin wall on the right-hand side at 23:31:19 GMT. After approximately thirty seconds of being fed by a cabin atmosphere of pure oxygen at pressures of 16.7 to 29psi (115 to 200kPa), and now fed by nitrogen-buffered ambient air, the primary fire decreased in intensity and started producing large amounts of smoke, which killed the astronauts. Chaffee lost consciousness because of a lack of oxygen which sent him into cardiac arrest. He died from asphyxia due to the toxic gases from the fire, with burns contributing to his death.
Failed oxygen and ethylene glycol pipes near the fire's origin point continued burning an intense secondary fire which melted through the cabin floor. By the time firefighters were able to open the hatch, the fire had extinguished itself. The back of Chaffee's couch was found in the horizontal position, with the lower portion angled towards the floor. His helmet was closed and locked, his restraints were undone, and the hoses and electrical connections to the suit remained connected. As he was farthest from the origin of the fire, he suffered the least burn and suit damage.
Shortly after the AS-204 fire in 1967, NASA Associate Administrator for Manned Spaceflight George Mueller announced the mission would be officially designated as Apollo 1.[45][46] The capsule underwent a significant redesign as a result of the disaster. The atmosphere in the cabin was changed from 100% oxygen to a 60% oxygen and 40% nitrogen environment at launch. The astronauts' spacesuits, originally made of nylon, were changed to beta cloth, a non-flammable, highly melt-resistant fabric woven from fiberglass and coated with Teflon. There were other changes, including replacing flammable cabin materials with self-extinguishing ones, and covering plumbing and wiring with protective insulation.[47]
Chaffee and Grissom were buried in Arlington National Cemetery,[48][49] while White was buried at West Point Cemetery.[50] Chaffee's widow received $100,000 from the life insurance portion of the contract the astronauts signed with two publishing firms so they would have exclusive rights to stories and photographs of the astronauts and their families. She also received $16,250 per year for the life of the contract.[51]
Chaffee is memorialized in many ways, from the Chaffee Crater on the far side of the Moon, to the Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.[53] Another memorial is a hill on Mars, Chaffee Hill, 14.3 kilometres (8.9mi) south-southwest of Columbia Memorial Station, part of the Apollo 1 Hills.[54] Regor (Roger spelled backwards), is a seldom-used nickname for the star Gamma Velorum. Grissom used this name, plus two others for White and himself, on his Apollo1 mission planning star charts as a joke, and the succeeding Apollo astronauts kept using the names as a memorial.[55][56] A terrestrial memorial is Chaffee Island, an artificial island off Long Beach, California, created in 1966 for drilling oil (along with White, Grissom and Freeman Islands).[57][58][59] A park in Fullerton, California, was named after Chaffee; parks were also named after his fellow Apollo1 comrades.[60] Chaffee is named with his Apollo1 crewmates on the Space Mirror Memorial, which was dedicated in 1991.[61][62] Chaffee's name is included on the plaque left on the Moon with the Fallen Astronaut statue in 1971 by the crew of Apollo 15.[63]
The dismantled Launch Pad 34 at Cape Canaveral bears two memorial plaques:
They gave their lives in service to their country in the ongoing exploration of humankind's final frontier. Remember them not for how they died but for those ideals for which they lived.
In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice so others could reach for the stars. Ad astra per aspera (a rough road leads to the stars). God speed to the crew of Apollo 1.[64]
The Roger B. Chaffee scholarship named for him has been awarded annually since 1967 to exceptional students in the Kent Intermediate School District for high school seniors who will be pursuing a career in math and science.[65][66] Chaffee Hall, an engineering building, was dedicated to him at his alma mater, Purdue University, in 1968.[67][68] Grissom High School, Ed White Middle School and Chaffee Elementary School in Huntsville, Alabama, were named for the Apollo1 astronauts.[69]
Roger That! is an annual event sponsored by the Grand Rapids Public Museum and Grand Valley State University that celebrates space exploration and the life of Grand Rapids native, Roger B. Chaffee, a former American naval officer and aviator aeronautical engineer, and NASA astronaut in the Apollo program.[70]
Chaffee was awarded the Navy Air Medal for his involvement in Heavy Photographic Squadron 62. He completed 82 classified missions "of paramount military importance to the security of the United States".[16] The Apollo1 crew was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal posthumously in a 1969 presentation of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the Apollo 11 crew.[71] He was posthumously awarded a second Air Medal. He was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, on October 4, 1997.[23][72][73][74] Chaffee and White were awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor posthumously in 1997 (Grissom received the medal in 1978).[75] He was later awarded the NASA Ambassador of Exploration Award for involvement in the U.S. space program in 2007.[76]
On the television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine a fictional 24th century spacecraft was named after him, designed by Doug Drexler.[77][78] They named it after Chaffee as a reminder about the dangers of space exploration.[79] Star Trek and NASA have a long history of collaborations going back to the late 1960s when the television show made its debut.[80]
In 2018 a life-size bronze statue of Chaffee was unveiled outside the Grand Rapids Children's Museum in Chaffee's hometown. His wife, other family members, and astronaut Jack Lousma (a Grand Rapids native) were present for the event.[81]
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