THE SENATE HAS PASSED A COMPROMISE NANOTECHNOLOGY BILL, and Howard Lovy has some information on it; I can’t find any more yet.

Meanwhile, StrategyPage reports that nanotech armor is being used in Iraq:

The nanofiber in the Humvee turrets looks like fiberboard, but it is 17 times stronger than Kevlar (which is itself six times stronger than steel). However, it’s going to be several years before the cost of the new fiber gets anywhere near Kevlar’s levels (about $50 per square yard of fiber). The experimental turrets are being used to see how the material stands up to field conditions (heat, cold, moisture, vibration and so on.)

Materials science is a lot more important than it is sexy, but this stuff is only sort of nanotechnology. It’s nothing akin to the molecular-manufacturing technology that people like Eric Drexler are championing. I’m afraid that too much of the National Nanotechnology Initiative’s funding is going to these short-term issues, and not enough is going to assembler technology and other things with longer-term payoffs. I don’t know if this is addressed in the bill as it passed.

UPDATE: Some comments from a nanotechnology researcher.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Managed to get a copy of the bill as passed in PDF form — it’s here. There’ll probably be some tweaking in conference, but no major changes are expected.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: Nanotech magazine SmallTimes has an article on its website. Here’s a statement by Joe Lieberman on the bill. And Howard Lovy is posting updates and new information here.