The U.S. National Cancer Institute brings us a summary of a journal article which argues that comparing nanotechnology to genetically-modified organisms misleads the public: “Writing in the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Ronald Sandler, Ph.D., and William Kay, Ph.D., argue that the GMO-nanotechnology analogy overstates the likelihood of a backlash against nanotechnology. The use… Continue reading Nanotech issues not like GMO controversy
James Kanter of the International Herald Tribune reports that the Europeans are in a tiff over how to create a European version of MIT: “The European Union on Wednesday said that it would redouble its efforts to establish a new institution to rival the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States in a bid… Continue reading Controversy over European attempt to centralize nano coordination
Closing out our week here at Nanodot on a cheery note, some good news about carbon nanotubes, brought to us by Michael Freemantle of C&E News, regarding research done by a UK/France/Italy team: “Carbon Nanotubes Pass Safety Test Functionalized carbon nanotubes are rapidly cleared from blood, excreted in urine “A new study could allay some… Continue reading Carbon nanotubes pass a key safety test
Which country has the Nanotechnology President? Why, India, of course! See the text of President Kalam’s most recent speech on the subject. Excerpts (link added — hope I found the right report): “I am sure; there is an important message for all of us for nurturing young talent for all scientific research work particularly in… Continue reading Meet the nanotechnology president
Yesterday I wrote about a possible nanotech-based replacement for battery technology, and mentioned that I’m the daughter of a battery engineer. What I didn’t say then is that my dad died of a type of cancer which is found more often among those involved with battery manufacture. This gives me a more vehement view than… Continue reading Nanotech & the Precautionary Principle: a personal statement
As a battery engineer’s daughter, I appreciate how hard it is to make a better battery. Now Technology Review reports that some MIT researchers are taking a different approach: make a better capacitor. Excerpts: “The new technology, developed at MIT’s Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems, should improve ultracapacitors by swapping in carbon nanotubes, thereby… Continue reading Nanotech ultracapacitors from MIT
Discussions of nanotechnology held in Europe usually invoke the Precautionary Principle, which comes in various forms from the reasonable to the extreme. Ron Bailey of Reason discusses the extreme form of this principle in Culture of Fear: Dealing with cultural panic attacks, based on a recent conference. Excerpts: “At the AEI conference, University of Kent… Continue reading Innovation vs. the Precautionary Principle
Given how the word “nanoparticle” is often defined, one could say that a lot of our food is naturally made of nanoparticles. But industry needs guidelines on which new nanoparticles are safe to put in foods and food packaging. Current regulations address such substances by chemical makeup, not size — and size makes a difference… Continue reading Nanofood: independent guidelines issued
From Roland Piquepaille, a useful summary, with pictures, of exciting new results at Georgia Tech. Even if you’re not very technical, this one is worth knowing about. Read Roland’s full story, but here’s an excerpt: “Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have built a new device which is 100 times faster than current nano… Continue reading AFM gets 100 times faster, takes movies at Georgia Tech
From today’s Altair Nanotechnologies press release: “The president and CEO of Altair Nanotechnologies (Altairnano), today urged the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation to provide increased federal funding for nanotechnology, suggesting that the initiative could be compared to the man-on-the-moon or Human Genome projects… “As for the chemical/biological sensors, Altairnano continues its work with… Continue reading Nanosurveillance to detect illegal drugs
