The public enagement bug has spread to France, with a recent Citizen’s conference on nanosciences and nanotechnologies. We have commented before about the value of these exercises. While it is good to engage ‘citizens’ in debates about technologies that may affect their future, it is hard to make rational decisions based on facts if those facts are not well understood. …
More of the Same?
Scientific American has a blog covering the current World Science Forum, where Mike Roco of the NSF apparently “talked himself hoarse in his effort to blow through one of the largest and most involved talks I have ever witnessed.” Unfortunately the headline facts from the talk hasn’t seemed to have moved on while the rest of the world certainly has. …
Communicating Nanobiotech
Biotech is a tricky enough subject top communicate to non specialists, and adding the nano prefix makes it even more impenetrable to the layman, but don’t worry, help is at hand. Any nanobiotechnologists with aspirations to become technology spin doctors or needing to be able to sound authoritative when discussing the social and ethical implications of their work can brush …
It’s Good To Talk
The UK seems to be making a habit of the use of comedians and actors at the launch of nanotech reports, and this weeks release of the Nanologue project’s final report this week was no exception. Rather than simply reading out a list of conclusions and recommendations, Nanologue hired a few actors to communicate the various nanotech scenarios envisaged by …
UK Nanovision Contest
I spent part of this week at the UK Nanoforum – the UKs big nanotech showcase,. While on one level it was just another conference with the usual suspects telling the usual tale, though there was another story unfolding in the exhibition area. After six years of nanotech events from Los Angeles to Seoul I had become used to most …
Space Elevators Come Down To Earth
The Wirefly X Prize Cup (or Space Elevator Games as it is more popularly known) descended into chaos last weekend according to New Scientist and Space Elevator Blog. While waiting for the carbon nanotube based tethers that may someday enable this technology, there has been planty of fun and games using other materials. Three out of four teams competing to …
Texas Nanotech Politics
Chris Smith at NaturalSearch has a few more observations about NanoTX (and promises more) as well as his comments in the previous entry.
Welcome to Texas – Now Go Home!
Prince Charles’ younger brther, Andrew, steered well clear of controversy yesterday, limiting his remarks at NanoTx to a carefully scripted “Innovation in nanotechnology holds great promise, not only for business but for transforming people’s lives. It would seem that nanotechnology’s potential is limitless.” Others were not so happy, as the 18 parallel sessions at the conference meant that many keynote …
More Nano Food – In Atlanta
Following on from our recently released food report, the Nano4Food Conference returns for its Second Annual Event after its successful inaugural event in Wageningen, The Netherlands in June 2005. This year, the event moves to the United States in Atlanta, GA, and is scheduled for October 12-13, 2006 at the Food Processing Technology Division at Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) …
Green Nanotech or Green Nanobots?
A little more detail on Green Nanotechnology emerged as a result of a recent meeting at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, although we are still hard pressed to see much difference between this and green chemistry. Meanwhile, we were grateful for this definition of nanotechnology which is worth reproducing in its entirety. what is nanotechnology? nanotechnology …