The impact of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI), started during the fading years of the previous presidency in the USA, has begun to show up in a trickle-down manner at the individual researcher's level in universities, industry and government laboratories. Privately and state funded institutes and centres, completely focused on nanotechnology, are being set-up across many campuses. Major US government funding agencies such as NSF, NIH, DOE and DARPA have programs that have started to put money behind increased efforts in research, training and infra-structure facilities for future developments and applications based on nanotechnology. Other agencies such as NASA and NCI have not only well defined research programs within their own institutional structure, to meet and support their mission needs, but also to leverage out their research facilities and resources to support outside efforts as well.The role of Foresight Conferences on molecular nanotechnology in such times of tremendous growth, opportunity and activity is to keep bringing the latest advances to the forefront and to nudge or define paths that could give direction to the near term future developments as well. Towards these ends, the invited speakers for the 8th Foresight conference on molecular nanotechnology covered most of the major developments that occurred during the previous year. The Keynote speech by the nanotechnology may play a role in human-machine interfacing in the not so distant future, and that the rate of such developments may significantly increase by the phenomenon of self-acclerating technologies.
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