Biologist Alan Goldstein has a long essay titled I, Nanobot at Salon.com which expresses concern regarding potential dangers of nanobiotechnology, specifically, the creation of non-biological life forms. Most of the stated concerns are abstract, e.g.: “Chemical intelligence can manifest as the ability to catalyze a single chemical reaction. It is a dangerous, and possibly terminal,… Continue reading Biologist expresses concerns about nanobiotech
Congratulations to editor Cordelia Sealy and her team over at Nano Today, which has just launched as an independent publication, no longer a supplement to Materials Today. The first stand-alone issue has meaty review articles, research news, some business news, and a surprising amount of policy commentary, including an opinion piece (PDF) by David Berube… Continue reading Nano Today goes independent
Writing in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English language newspaper, is attorney Mohamad Mova Al ‘Afghan. He looks specifically at molecular nanotechnology, which he defines as “the capability to assemble any product than can be designed directly from atoms and molecules.” See the full article, or these excerpts: “The revolution in manufacturing resulting from MNT… Continue reading Nanotech: a view from Indonesia
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
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
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
The report from the September 2005 workshop on The Nanotechnology-Biology Interface: Exploring Models for Oversight has been issued today by the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. In addition to the usual nanoparticle safety discussions, the report touches on bigger issues. From the press release: “The report also calls for more conversation about nanotechnology… Continue reading Nanobio governance: exploring models for oversight
Foresight director Glenn Reynolds has a new book coming out March 7 which you can order on Amazon now: An Army of Davids: How Markets and Technology Empower Ordinary People to Beat Big Media, Big Government, and Other Goliaths. Chapter 9, “Empowering the Really Little Guys”, is on nanotechnology. Some excerpts [emphasis added]: “All sorts… Continue reading New Reynolds' book covers nanotech & power
The new Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University has their website up. The Center’s director, David Guston, has some comments in his blog [links added]: “It is also this realm of Engines of Creation and “Plenty of Room at the Bottom” where scientists allowed their minds to take flight and speak of… Continue reading CNS director on choosing a nanotech future
From Michael Toffel in the Berkeley Daily Planet: “…I asked the City of Berkeley’s Community Environmental Advisory Commission (CEAC), of which I am a member, to consider a draft motion calling for the City Council to ask a similar set of questions. This motion simply asks LBL to: 1. Publicly disclose how they are identifying… Continue reading Ground zero for nano controversy: Berkeley, of course
