Howard Miller brings our attention to a big section on nanotech at National Geographic this month (June 2006 issue). You can get a taste of it on their website, but for the main article, it looks as though you’ll need to get ahold of the dead-tree version. An excerpt from the description: A tsunami is… Continue reading Nano's big future at National Geographic
I had heard rumors and today at a meeting at the British Consulate here in SF I heard again that there was a big protest in Grenoble in connection with the opening of their new nanotech center Minatec, which appears to have been delayed to the next day due to the protest. There’s very little… Continue reading French nanotech center opening delayed by large protest
Judy Conner here at Foresight brings our attention to a new 55-page report from International Risk Governance Council, based in Switzerland, titled Survey on Nanotechnology Governance: Volume D. The Role of NGOs (400K pdf). Nine organizations are featured: five from the U.S. (CRN, Environmental Defense, Foresight, NRDC, and one I had not previously heard about,… Continue reading NGOs weigh in on nanogovernance
Longtime Foresight participating member Richard Smith brings our attention to a piece at Technology Review by Kevin Bullis, the second page of which I was unable to access online (could only get a BMW ad instead), so the last paragraph below is taken from a paper printout (Update: second page is working now): One of… Continue reading Sponges inspire self-assembly of nanostructures
From a piece in Red Herring: “Mark Mansour, an attorney for Foley & Lardner, issued the warning during a talk at the NanoBusiness 2006 conference in New York City. He said nanotech businesses need to step up their efforts to explain the complex technology to the public—before their foes do… ” ‘Friends of the Earth… Continue reading Nanotech industry advocates gear up to fight back
Tomorrow I’ll be speaking on “public perceptions” at the Nanotech & Food conference in DC. Rather than a discourse on public perceptions of nanotech in general — which are as yet pretty vague — I’ll focus on what consumers expect from their food companies in terms of responsible decisions on which engineered nanoparticles, if any,… Continue reading Heading off annoyance from nanofoods
Judy Conner at Foresight brings to our attention this item at PhysOrg.com by Ben Mathiesen: “Until recently, nanoscale devices could only be crafted through chemical reactions or by pushing components together on a smooth surface. Researchers at the Technical University of Denmark have developed and demonstrated practical tools allowing the precise manipulation and assembly of… Continue reading Denmark pursues goal of 3D nanomachines
I’m out in DC for the Public Participation in Nanotechnology Workshop (pdf), just completed. The group of 150 was a mix of academics, government officials, some miscellaneous stakeholders (such as me on behalf of Foresight), a few researchers, and a small number of businessfolks including Jim Von Ehr of Zyvex. It was a two-day conference… Continue reading Public participation in nanotechnology planned
From Joanne Shatkin of Cadmus Group: “The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR), has found that nanoparticles were not the cause of the respiratory problems experienced by users of Magic Nano, in fact, the product does not contain nanoscale particles. Magic Nano was labeled as such because it forms a “wafer thin film” on… Continue reading Magic Nano: neither magic nor nano
Earlier I reported that the National Press Club meeting on nanotech sponsored by IIT’s Center on Nanotechnology & Society would be webcast. It’s now up, in four parts, at the meeting’s web page (requires Real Player). Particularly colorful: Andrew Kimbrell (who opposes nanotech) and Congressman Brad Sherman. Sean Murdock and John Sargent give pro-tech views.… Continue reading Webcast: Nanopundits at National Press Club
