Here is some news from about a month ago that I missed due to being busy with Singularity Summit… the annual Feynman Prizes, a $5,000 cash prize that the Foresight Institute gives to outstanding research that contributes to Richard Feynman’s vision of nanotechnology — “molecular manufacturing, the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems.” One prize is awarded for experimental research, the other for theoretical. Here are the relevant bits from the press release:

The winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Experimental work is the team of Yoshiaki Sugimoto, Masayuki Abe (Osaka University), and Oscar Custance (National Institute for Materials Science, Japan), in recognition of their pioneering experimental demonstrations of mechanosynthesis, specifically the use of atomic resolution dynamic force microscopy — also known as non-contact atomic force microscopy (NC-AFM) — for vertical and lateral manipulation of single atoms on semiconductor surfaces. Their work, published in Nature, Science, and other prestigious scientific journals, has demonstrated a level of control over the ability to identify and position atoms on surfaces at room temperature which opens up new possibilities for the manufacture of atomically precise structures.

The winner of the 2009 Feynman Prize for Theory is Robert A. Freitas Jr. (Institute for Molecular Manufacturing), in recognition of his pioneering theoretical work in mechanosynthesis in which he proposed specific molecular tools and analyzed them using ab initio quantum chemistry to validate their ability to build complex molecular structures. This Prize also recognizes his previous work in systems design of molecular machines, including replicating molecular manufacturing systems, which should eventually be able to make large atomically precise products economically, and the design of medical nanodevices, which should eventually revolutionize medicine.

Nice! I am somewhat surprised that Ned Seeman didn’t win for his two-armed nanorobot, created in collaboration with researchers at Nanjing University in China.

(Update: Foresight President J. Storrs Hall emailed me to say that Ned didn’t win this year both because he was on the selection committee and because that committee does not generally award the prize to those who have won it before — Seeman won it in 1995.)