Project Press Releases
- April 23, 2007pdfNew Report Explores Nanotechnology's FutureControlling the properties and behavior of matter at the smallest scale—in effect, “domesticating atoms”—can help to overcome some of the world’s biggest challenges, concludes a new report on how diverse experts view the future of nanotechnology. Released today, NanoFrontiers: Visions for the Future of Nanotechnology, summarizes discussions among over 50 scientists, engineers, ethicists, policymakers, and other experts, as well as information gathered in follow-up interviews and from specially prepared background papers, about the long-term potential of nanotechnology.
- April 20, 2007pdfTrips to the NanoFrontierNanotechnology’s many anticipated benefits will arrive in waves of innovation, beginning with today’s stain-resistant clothing and other first-generation applications and extending decades into the future, when extraordinarily advanced products, from self-repairing tissues to quantum computers, may become practical.
- April 17, 2007pdfNew Methods & Tools Needed to Measure Exposure to Airborne NanomaterialsNew methods and tools for measuring exposure to airborne engineered nanomaterials will be required to protect the health of workers in nanotechnology-related jobs—estimated to total 10 million people by 2014—according to two occupational health experts writing in the inaugural issue of the journal Nanotoxicology.
- March 28, 2007pdfInternational Risk Research Strategy & Funding Needed for Nanotech SafetyToday, the Council for Science and Technology—the British government’s top-level advisory body on science and technology issues—criticized the slow progress being made in providing needed support for focused research into the potential hazards of nanotechnology. CST’s comments are contained in a new review of the UK government’s response to recommendations made by the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering in their landmark 2004 assessment of nanotechnology’s opportunities and hazards.
- March 20, 2007pdfLife Cycle Assessment Essential to Nanotech Commercial DevelopmentLife cycle assessment (LCA) —a cradle-to-grave look at the health and environmental impact of a material, chemical, or product—is an essential tool for ensuring the safe, responsible, and sustainable commercialization of nanotechnology, U.S. and European experts conclude in a new report issued today.
- March 15, 2007pdfWilson Center & The Pew Charitable Trusts Expand Efforts to Address Potential Benefits, Risks of NanotechnologyWith nanotechnology being described by business and government leaders as “The Next Industrial Revolution,” the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts today announced they will expand their efforts to help industry, governments and the public reap nanotechnology’s benefits by better anticipating and managing possible environmental and health implications.
- March 14, 2007pdfNanotechnology Oversight Requires Thinking Outside the BoxWith hundreds of nanotechnology-enabled products already on the market and many more in the commercial pipeline, a new report by a former senior Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) official urges policymakers to give greater attention to the challenges of crafting an oversight system that can effectively address health and safety issues particular to nanoscale materials and devices.
- March 7, 2007pdfSurvey Finds Emotional Reactions to Nanotechnology“The U.S. public’s perception of nanotechnology is up for grabs. It could divide along the lines of nuclear power, global warming and other contentious environmental issues absent a major public education and engagement effort by industry, government, civic groups and scientists. People who know little or nothing about ‘nanotechnology’ instantly react in an emotionally charged way to the concept, and their opinions divide along cultural lines as they learn more about iProfessor at Yale Law School.
- February 27, 2007pdfNanotech Promises Big Things for Poor—But Will Promises Be Kept?“Nanotechnology has the potential to generate enormous health benefits for the more than five billion people living in the developing world,” according to Dr. Peter A. Singer, senior scientist at the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health and Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto. “Nanotechnology might provide less-industrialized countries with powerful new tools for diagnosing and treating disease, and might increase the availability of clean water.”
- February 6, 2007pdfNanotechnology Key to China's Future Economic Success“China is betting that their growing investment in nanoscience will help them capture a large share of what shortly will become a $3 trillion global market in nanotech manufactured goods, and that breakthroughs in nanotechnology research and commercialization will confer economic superpower status on the country that attains first mover advantage in this cutting-edge technology,” stated Richard P. Appelbaum, professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “The Chinese government clearly understands that enhanced nanotechnology research capacity and marketable innovation go hand-in-hand. Both are key to their strategy for future commercial success, economic competitiveness, and continued economic growth.”
