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Gaming the Future: The Book!

Category: New Institutions

MIT Media Lab to explore digital matter tools

According to a press release (27 November 2001), the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded $13.75 million to the the MIT Media Laboratory to create a Center for Bits and Atoms to explore how the content of information relates to its physical representation, from atomic nuclei to global networks. From the release:

"The center will bring nanofabrication, chemistry and biology labs together with rapid mechanical prototyping, electronic instrumentation and high-bay assembly workspaces. This integrated suite of resources is being developed to enable its researchers to shape simultaneously the information in a system and its physical embodiment, from microscopic to macroscopic scales. The NSF funding will help support research, education and outreach programs, as well as technological infrastructure. "

And:

"Among the challenges to be tackled will be developing "personal fabricators" to bring the malleability that personal computers provide for the digital world into the physical world; providing bidirectional molecular interfaces between computers and living systems; and bringing advanced information technologies to bear on some of the most intractable problems in global development and security."

Chinese Nanotech Funding Comparable to U.S.

RobertBradbury writes "Nature is reporting here that the Chinese Academy of Sciences has prompted the government into funding the construction of a new National Nanoscience Center in Beijing. The center is estimated to cost 250-500 million renminbi (yaun) (~8.3 renminbi/$). The overall Chinese funding for nanoscience is 2.5 billion renminbi for the next 5 years ($60 million/yr). If one considers the according to the CIA World Fact Book, the Chinese GDP per person is an order of magnitude less than that of the U.S. and according to this article, salries for skilled scientific workers range from $120-360/month (academic) to $960/month (commercial), that would suggest that labor costs in China are approximately an order of magnitude below those in the U.S. So the Chinese nanotechnology research effort may well be comparable in terms of the number of researchers funded to the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative!"

Examining the legal implications of nanotech

from the future-tense dept.
An interesting and wide-ranging article on the legal and ethical implications of molecular nanotechnology ("At nanoscale, the laws of humans may not apply", by Michael Becker, 30 July 2001) appears on the SmallTimes website. The article includes extensive quotes from Robert A. Freitas Jr., author of Nanomedicine and a research scientist at Zyvex Corp.; and Glenn Reynolds, a Foresight Institute Director and professor of law at the University of Tennessee. The piece raises some of the thorny issues on regulating new technologies, intellectual property, open source development models, and others.

UN commission sets guidelines for GMOs

from the political-science dept.
An article from United Press International ("World guidelines set up for genetically modified food", by J. Zarocostas, 6 July 2001) reports officials from 165 countries agreed during a meeting in Geneva of the international food standards organization on the first formal set of global guidelines for risk assessment of foods derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The commission concluded that GMOs foods should be tested and approved before they enter the market and stressed in particular should be tested for their potential to cause allergic reactions. However, the meeting failed to reach an accord on the contentious issue of GMO labeling because of continued differences between major members such as the European Union and the United States.

Nanotechnology and Societal Transformation

from the preparing-for-the-future dept.
A paper on "Nanotechnology and Societal Transformation" by Michael M. Crow and Daniel Sarewitz appears on the Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) website. The authors conclude:
"Should nanoscience and nanotechnology yield even a small proportion of their anticipated advances, the impacts on society will be far-reaching and profound . . . We can allow these transformations to surprise and overwhelm us, and perhaps even threaten the prospects for further progress. Or we can choose to be smart about preparing for, understanding, responding to, and even managing the coming changes, in order to enhance the benefits, and reduce the disruption and dislocation, that must accompany any revolution."

The paper was presented at the workshop on the Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology sponsored by the U.S. National Science and Technology Councilís Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET) in September 2000.

CSPO to examine nanotechnology and society

from the ambitious-projects dept.
The Center for Science, Policy, and Outcomes (CSPO) has chosen to focus on the societal impacts of nanotechnology as one of the projects in its program examining the public value of science for enhancing the benefits of new knowledge and innovation.
According to a very brief note on the CSPO website, "CSPO's Nanotechnology and Society Project will integrate social impacts research with nanotechnology research to create better linkages between research agendas and desired societal outcomes. The project will develop tools and methods to map and assess the societal implications of nanoscale science and engineering; enhance awareness of societal implications among both the public and the S&T community; and develop processes that can support actual scientific and societal decision making about the direction and application of nanotechnology."

NSET releases report on societal implications of nanotechnology

from the NSETting-the-agenda dept.
The U.S. National Science and Technology Councilís Subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET) has released a 280-page report detailing the presentations from a workshop on the Societal Implications of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, which was held at the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., 28-29 September 2000. NSET is the coordinating body for the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI).

The workshop report includes a comparative survey of the current studies on societal implications (knowledge and education, technological, economic, medical, environmental, cultural, ethical, legal, cultural, risks, etc.) of advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology, as well as an examination of vision and alternative pathways for the future over short (3-5 years), medium (5-15 years) and long-term (over 20 years) horizons. The report also makes recommendations for research and education programs. The workshop and any follow-on activities are part of the NNI.

The full report is available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (2.5 MB).

Should human cloning be legal?

from the limits-of-government dept.
An article in the National Review Online ("Should Cloning Be Legal? It's not a federal question," 16 April 2001) considers the legal issues surrounding the possibility of human cloning. The article is by Dave Kopel, research director for the Independence Institute, and Glenn Reynolds, professor of law at the University of Tennessee and a member of the Foresight board of directors.

The issue of cloning has become increasingly visible because, as the authors note, "[President] Bush is ready to sign legislation that bans research into human cloning as soon as Congress sends it to him." But they also point out: "The federal government, as the president has reminded us, is a government of limited powers, powers that are enumerated in the Constitution. And nothing in the Constitution grants the federal government the power to ban research into cloning, or to suppress other types of science." The issue of federal authority to regulate cloning has obvious implications for regulation of nanotechnology as well.

RPI Starts Nanotechnology Research Center

willgorman submitted this item on the creation of the Center for Nanotechnology Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York. According to the press release, research areas of the Center will include advanced materials and coatings, biosciences and biotechnology, nanoelectronics, microelectronics, and nanosystems. In addition, a new research effort on potential socioeconomic impacts will be initiated to understand the impact of nanotechnology on industry and society.

In a related item, RPI and Zyvex Corporation recently formed a two-year collaboration designed to develop new microsystems capabilities. Under that agreement, Zyvex and RPI will explore MEMS assembly and packaging technologies through the cooperation of Zyvex's and RPI's research and development facilities.

Nanotechnology Regulation?

from the let's-think-twice dept.

Ralph Merkle, Principal Fellow at Zyvex, and Glenn Reynolds, who sits on the Foresight Board of Directors, were quoted extensively in a United Press International article ("Nanotech laws unlikely, say experts," by K. Hearn, 24 February 2001) on the potential for governmental regulation of nanotechnology. Both discounted the possibility, at least in the near future.

An online link to this article is not currently available. But Read more for a few excerpts . . .

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