Foresight director Glenn Reynolds writes at TCS Daily about a major piece now running at Technology Review on biowarfare and bioterror. Basically it sounds as though we have gotten ourselves into a situation where biotech can now be used pretty easily by terrorists, exotic bioweapons (perhaps targeted on ethnic groups) are within the reach of… Continue reading Biowarfare & Bioterror: lessons for nanotech
From Arab News, comments by Prince Turki ibn Saud, vice president of the research institutes at the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST): ” ‘We have government approval for a 20-year strategic development plan,’ he said. ‘The Kingdom is keen to develop nanotechnology, which holds immense potential in the future. The KACST… Continue reading Nanorace gains another entrant: Saudi Arabia
The Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies has launched a product database currently listing over 200 consumer products identified by their manufacturers as using nanotechnnology. A 10-page initial analysis is available (1.1 MB pdf). David Forman commented in Small Times Direct, the email service from Small Times magazine: “On the safety front, note that the… Continue reading Nanotech consumer products inventory launched
Biologist Alan Goldstein has a long essay titled I, Nanobot at Salon.com which expresses concern regarding potential dangers of nanobiotechnology, specifically, the creation of non-biological life forms. Most of the stated concerns are abstract, e.g.: “Chemical intelligence can manifest as the ability to catalyze a single chemical reaction. It is a dangerous, and possibly terminal,… Continue reading Biologist expresses concerns about nanobiotech
OK, not many nanotechnologists have reached this level. But there appears to be one who is being fought over by the US and UK. An excerpt: “The University of Washington is lobbying state lawmakers for $4.5 million to help recruit a star scientist to head up UW’s nanotechnology program. “The scientist, Gabriel Aeppli, directs the… Continue reading Nanotechnologist price reaches $4.5 million
Congratulations to editor Cordelia Sealy and her team over at Nano Today, which has just launched as an independent publication, no longer a supplement to Materials Today. The first stand-alone issue has meaty review articles, research news, some business news, and a surprising amount of policy commentary, including an opinion piece (PDF) by David Berube… Continue reading Nano Today goes independent
On Friday I was at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research’s Economic Summit (some videos available), where among other things I learned that the oil sands of Canada are, unfortunately, more accurately thought of as “tar sands”. But Chevron has announced a $60 million deal to develop these sands. The Motley Fool’s Jack Uldrich… Continue reading Nanotech may pull oil from tar sands
From Nanotechwire.com: “An Oxford University physicist sees the future of nanotechnology in the workings of one of Nature’s tiniest motors, that which allows some bacteria to swim by rotating slender filaments known as flagella. ” ‘The bacterial flagellar motor is an example of finished bio-nanotechnology, and understanding how it works and assembles is one of… Continue reading UK/Japan researchers on path to artificial molecular machines
Writing in The Jakarta Post, Indonesia’s leading English language newspaper, is attorney Mohamad Mova Al ‘Afghan. He looks specifically at molecular nanotechnology, which he defines as “the capability to assemble any product than can be designed directly from atoms and molecules.” See the full article, or these excerpts: “The revolution in manufacturing resulting from MNT… Continue reading Nanotech: a view from Indonesia
The U.S. National Cancer Institute brings us a summary of a journal article which argues that comparing nanotechnology to genetically-modified organisms misleads the public: “Writing in the Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, Ronald Sandler, Ph.D., and William Kay, Ph.D., argue that the GMO-nanotechnology analogy overstates the likelihood of a backlash against nanotechnology. The use… Continue reading Nanotech issues not like GMO controversy
