Another new report manages to astound the nanoworld with the news that the General Public is only vaguely aware of nanotechnology.
What seems to be lost in all the clamour to engage the public in debates about emerging technologies is that much of the general public is only vaguely aware of most of science and engineering – asking how a lightbulb or a steam engine works can produce some dismaying results.
Perhaps a fertile subject for future social scientists to study would be why anyone thinks that the public should show any more interest in nanotech than in electrical engineering or nuclear physics?