Early work towards the Soft-Machine Outfit

In the Nanopunk scifi novel 'The Cloud Connection', the Soft-Machine outfit Alister finds is a fluid programmable substance that can adapt its properties to suit different situations. It receives design instructions over the wireless Cloud network from Janus, a globally connected supercomputer.
The video and text below (from the Cornell Creative Machines lab) illustrate the early developments that led to the manufacture of the Soft-Machine.
In the Soft-Machine, the basic components have been significantly improved and refined through advances in nanotechnology and bio-mutation of genetically engineers biological compounds and nanotechnology to form a fluid that defaults to a super-strong, malleable fabric condition.

Cornell Creative Machines Lab

"A major challenge in fluidic assembly is the dynamically programmable fabrication of arbitrary geometries from basic components. Current approaches require predetermination of either the assembly machinery or the component interfaces for the specific target geometries. This research persues an alternative concept that exploits self-assembly forces locally but directs these forces globally, allowing fabrication and manipulation of target structures without tailoring the substrate or interfaces. By controlling the flow in a microfluidic chamber, components are directed to their target locations where local interactions align and bond them. Following this approach, we have so far demonstrated the experimental assembly of structures composed of two to ten components."

Electricity generating nanofibres.

You starting to get the Picture?
The technologies in The Cloud Connection are not pure science fiction. In labs across the globe people, nano-scientists are already developing the first stages of the materials and technologies you'll find in 'The Cloud Connection'

New Nanofiber Tech Could Make Your Clothes Positively Electrifying
Forget grades of wool—the clothing of the future's going to be measured in millivolts. Researchers at UC-Berkeley have created electricity-generating nanofibers that could someday be woven into your clothing.
The fibers are about 100 times thinner than a human hair, but can generate electrical outputs of up to 30 millivolts. Even better, their piezoelectric properties allow them to mechanical stress and twisting into electricity:
Full article on the jump here

Nanoparticles absorbed through skin

Scientists are finding that particles that are barely there – tiny objects known as nanoparticles that have found a home in electronics, food containers, sunscreens, and a variety of applications – can breach our most personal protective barrier: The skin.
The University of Rochester Medical Centre has found that the particles can be found in the Lymph, liver and nervous system.
This is how Alister absorbed the nanoparticles in his mothers lab.
Full article here

The Guardian ran an report on concerns about these nanoparticles. Read it here
Other scientists are experimenting using coated  nanoparticles to deliver treatment such as Polyethylene Glycol (PEG) to injured brain and spinal cords. PDF File outlining principles here

New Breed of Computers That Can Process Data Using Less Power

ScienceDaily (June 23, 2011) — Physicists at the University of Arizona have achieved a breakthrough toward the development of a new breed of computing devices that can process data using less power.
In a recent publication in Physical Review Letters, the physicists propose a way to translate the elusive magnetic spin of electrons into easily measurable electric signals. The finding is a key step in the development of computing based on spintronics, which doesn't rely on electron charge to digitize information.

Nanoparticle infections of 'Cloud' a near-reality very soon @NathanMcGrathSF

The possibility of nanoparticles that function within the brain and nervous system are already being worked on.
When you are reading about the way the nanoparticles and other technologies in ‘Cloud’ remember that it’s not purely fictional.
I did my research to make sure the important elements of the story had a grounding in the possible, not the fantastic.
So, enjoy the book. I hope it inspires you to dig around in the web and discover for yourself the fascinating and sometimes frightening technologies being experimented and worked on across the world.
The key phrase that stuck in my mind was when he said; ‘We’re understanding the software programs that make our bodies run’ - which - manipulating them and coupling this with (already built) molecule sized robots gets you as near as done to the nanoparticles inside Alister.
This video of a TED seminar outlines the incredible acceleration of developments in biology, computing, genetics and nanotechnology.

Research labs are already working on technologies that integrate the latest developments biotechnology, nanotechnology and genetics.
The expediential growth in these technologies - smaller and more powerful computing devices on one hand and the ability to construct biological organisms and manipulate atoms and molecules on the other, have rapidly accelerated the possibilities of producing nanocomputers that have the ability to function in the human body.

First 'living' laser made from kidney cell.

Like I said. the Future is now!
Here's the first few paragraphs of the New Scientist article.
Anyone interested in Science should subscrible as standard.
It's not quite Cyclops, the sci-fi superhero from the X-Men franchise whose eyes produce destructive blasts of light, but for the first time a laser has been created using a biological cell.

The human kidney cell that was used to make the laser survived the experience. In future such "living lasers" might be created inside live animals, which could potentially allow internal tissues to be imaged in unprecedented detail.

Read the full article here

High Wired: Does Addictive Internet Use Restructure the Brain?

According to research reported in Scientific American (June 17 2011) "Brain scans hint excessive time online is tied to stark physical changes in the brain" More info on the jump here

Personally I think the basic argument is that any kind of frequent, repetitive behaviour is going to affect the way the brain adapts as a result.

My novel extrapolates this to a point where Alister's interactions  with the web begin to severely impair his risk aversion. addicting him to take dangerous risks when things get tough for him. I've simply  dramatised the idea of internet affecting people.
(Image: dionhinchcliffe/Flickr)

These cures are no longer science fiction

While stem cells were discovered 50 years ago at the University of Toronto, it wasn’t until the past decade that their astounding potential to change medicine’s entire approach to fighting disease really took hold. This week 4,200 stem cell researchers from 52 countries are meeting in Toronto to discuss cures that were thought to be science fiction a generation ago, but that are already becoming a reality.
ROBERT MCEWEN.
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
When writing 'Cloud' I constantly updated the details on the technologies to keep up with the pace of development.
Since publication I've been keeping an eye out for further developments. Sometimes I'm astonished by how fast things are developing.

The future is closer than you think

When I was writing 'Cloud' I constantly updated details on the technology and what was happening with Anonymous and cyber-activists. In my book, after the Big Freeze, Anonymous are definitely the good guys. Along with the Situationists, Anonymous make sure the truth gets out there and people have the information they need to survive.
What really surprised me is the speed at which we are getting to a point where the scifi technologies are nearing reality

Anonymous. "The Plan" is now Live. Phase 1:

Remember. it's more than just watching, or re-posting. Your actions make the difference. The Future is closer than you think.

Alister's nanoparticles just one step away from Reality

So these nanoparticles can deliver drugs. The next step is to engineer a nanoparticle that hosts biological material to enables the particle to fuse with the brain and central nervous system producing a parallel network that shares information with the human host. The rest is future-history; Alister's predicament becomes a reality.

'Catch and Release' Program Could Improve Nanoparticle Safety Assessment

Depending on whom you ask, nanoparticles are, potentially, either one of the most promising or the most perilous creations of science. These tiny objects can deliver drugs efficiently and enhance the properties of many materials, but what if they also are hazardous to your health in some way? Now, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a way to manipulate nanoparticles so that questions like this can be answered.

The Soft-Machine is on its way

In 'Cloud'  The Soft-Machine military outfit can adapt to any combat situation to protect the wearer from any climate or condition and adapt to camouflage the wearer.

The convergence of neuroscience and nanotechnology

 http://tiny.ly/ocWX

Abstract:
The convergence of neuroscience and nanotechnology holds promise for the successful development of electronic devices capable of directly interfacing with the central nervous system (CNS). In particular, neural prosthetic devices have become a powerful clinical strategy for the treatment of a variety of neurological disorders, including those sustained as a result of traumatic brain injury, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease (PD). Our research will have a substantive impact on the future abilities of health-care professionals to prevent or ameliorate the effects of neurological disorders using chronically-implanted neural prosthetic devices. Full Article

BBC News - Are there criminals hiding in the cloud?

BBC News - Are there criminals hiding in the cloud?
"-are we making it too easy for criminals to get hold of our information?
When over 100 million people's details were garnered illegally from Sony recently, users were up in arms about their prized information being leaked."
Perhaps they should read 'Cloud' d try to keep up.