from the World-Watch dept.
An article in the Toronto Star ("Atoms on a roll", by Rachel Ross, 18 February 2002) describes the "[s]teady but significant strides have made molecules called ëbuckyballsí a promising new tool in science, medicine and technology", covering work at the Canadian firm C Sixty, which hopes to create medical applications of fullerenes, as well as the work at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Pennsylvania with carbon nanotubes packed with fullerene spheres. (See the Nanodot post from 3 January 2002.)
A second piece from the Toronto Star ("Keeping pace in research spending", by David Crane, 17 February 2002) is an editorial by the Starís economics editor, who says, " The [Canadian] federal government has launched Canada on a national debate on how to make our country one of the most innovative in the world. This is essential if we want to do well as a country in the 21st century." One of the areas in which Crane worries whether Canada can remain competitive is nanotechnology.
Canada is not the only country worrying about keeping up in the increasing global competition for nanotech leadership. Similar concerns have also been expressed in France and Japan.
