from the The-buzz dept.
A spate of news items about nanotechnology has emerged in the wake of the Nanotech Planet conference held last week in Boston. Some items of interest:
- An article on the Wired ("Nanotech, but Not in a Nanosecond") website that reiterates the cautionary statements regarding investment-oriented nanohype made by HPís Stanley Williams and others.
- Another Wired item ("Don't Fear Science You Can't See") features some level-headed comments by Foresight Senior Associate and Board member Glenn Reynolds (who spoke at the conference) and others on negative reactions to the other kind of nanohype ñ fears of runaway self-replicating nanobots and the like.
- An article on the Small Times ("European nanotech depends too much on government handouts, expert says", by M. Kelley, 30 November 2001) website presents comments by Ramon Compano, a member of the European Commissionís Program for Future and Emerging Technologies, who claims European nanotech ventures receive far more support from public investment and research grants than the private sector.
- Small Times also ran an article that reported the comments of venture capitalists and investors who were speakers and in the audience at the conference: "While bullish on nanotechís promise in general and confident that it will lure its share of investment dollars, the speakers also warned that the sector is a long way from practical success."
- A similar item appeared on the The Deal.com website ("VCs see slow start to nanotech investing", by Charles Sisk, 30 November 2001): "Despite predictions that the market for nanotechnology . . . will take off in the next 15 years, most ideas are still too under-developed to warrant funding, venture capitalists and other investors said."
