Regular readers of Nanodot know that we often disagree with ETC Group — but not always. They have issued a press release condemning a plan by a private firm to seed the ocean with iron particles in an effort to fight global warming. An excerpt: As worrying, Planktos boasts on their website that the iron… Continue reading Nanotechnology or not: Iron seeding of ocean seems premature at best
We mentioned earlier a request for comment on a proposed Nano Risk Framework for approaching nanotechnology materials safety organized by Environmental Defense and DuPont. Now a different group of organizations has come out against that framework. Their statement is titled “Civil Society-Labor Coalition Rejects Fundamentally Flawed DuPont-ED Proposed Framework“. An excerpt: We reject outright the… Continue reading Environmental groups dispute about nanotechnology
Small Times reports on a meeting held in Oregon among a wide variety of nanotechnology-based business participants, at which many commercialization challenges were discussed. One was difficulties encountered with the U.S. Patent office: Start-ups expressed frustration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Long waits for patent award decisions make it difficult for them… Continue reading Nanotechnology patent problems blamed on unionization
A recent study by Yale Law School on how people’s views on nanotechnology change when they learn more information found that people seem to use whatever they are told to reinforce what they expect to hear. See the graph and analysis on this page: There were even more dramatic differences in the reactions of subgroups… Continue reading Nanotechnology: People hear what they want to hear
If you’re a Foresight member, you’re already helping improve nanotechnology policy, but here’s another way: apply to participate in the upcoming online course Debating Science and The Nanotechnology Debate. In the syllabus (pdf), the actual course name appears to be “Debating Science: Practical Reasoning and Nanotechnology”: For example, what is the current state of development… Continue reading Your chance to influence nanotechnology policy
The busy Project for Emerging Nanotechnologies over at the Wilson Center is having another meeting-plus-webcast, this time on February 27, noon Eastern time, on the topic of “Using Nanotechnology to Improve Health Care in Developing Countries”: What if doctors in Kenya could equip cells of the retina with photoswitches that can be flipped on, essentially… Continue reading Webcast: Nanotechnology for health care in developing countries
John Walker brings to our attention an apparently distressing set of concerns regarding the new version of Windows, known as Vista, written up by Peter Gutman as A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection. Excerpts: The only way to protect the HFS [Hardware Functionality Scan] process therefore is to not release any technical details… Continue reading Windows Vista: potential negative impact on nanotechnology
Public attitudes toward nanotechnology are being tracked closely — perhaps more closely than for any previous set of newly-arriving technologies. The surveys vary a bit, but here’s one by Prof. Steven Currall of University College London that fits my informal observations: One core finding of our research revealed that current public sentiment towards nanotechnology is… Continue reading Public still sensible about nanotechnology
EurActiv.com reports on a citizens’ panel on nanotechnology held by the Ile de France region: Citizens find nanotechs ‘elitist’ A citizens’ conference on nanotechnologies in France found public information on nanosciences difficult to access for non-specialists. The report itself (PDF) is in French, but an Altavista automatic translation gives English speakers some limited access: Efforts… Continue reading French citizen panel: Nanotechnology is too technical
We should assume that those participating the ETC Group’s nanotechnology hazard symbol contest are all trying to be helpful, and such a symbol may someday be of some use. However, of the three top symbols named as winners, the first one — by far the most vivid — has a real problem. First, see the… Continue reading Nanotechnology hazard symbol misleading
