Nobel chemist: why we MUST develop nanotechnology

from the well-OK-if-they-insist dept.
Given all the teeth-gnashing and hair-rending about the ethics of nanotechnology, it's worth reviewing Nobel chemist Rick Smalley's case that we must develop nanotech to deal with urgent problems: "Even given that, even if we stop population growth somewhere between 6 and 10 billion people, we can't sustain even the current population with the current technology. So for the 50 years, there's really only one good alternative: we need more technology, not less. It has to be green, it has to be clean, and it has to be closed loop. And I am confident that in almost every area the keys to these technologies are going to come when we start learning how to put things together one atom at a time on the nanometer scale…We need it urgently to get through these next 50 years. It will be a challenge. But, I am confident we will succeed."