After these pondering this,
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Atomtech will allow industry to monopolize atomic-level manufacturing platforms that underpin all animate and inanimate matter.
SUMMARY : Atomtech on a Page
ISSUE: The key technologies of the past half-century—transistors, semiconductors, and genetic engineering—have all been about down— reducing size, materials and costs while increasing power. We are about to take a much bigger step down. Our capacity to manipulate matter is moving
from genes to atoms. While civil society and governments focus on genetic modification, an impressive array of industrial enterprises is targeting a scientific revolution that could modify matter and transform every aspect of work and life. This report introduces a set of tools and techniques we
call Atomtechnologies, which includes nanoparticles, nano biotechnology, nanofabrication and molecular manufacture. It also describes the coming convergence of biotechnology, information technologies, and cognitive sciences with nano-scale manipulation of matter as the unifying force. Section I (What is MAtomtech?) introduces the technologies and Section III (Will Atomtechnologies work?) provides four
criteria for measuring the commercial prospects.
IMPACT: Every form of work and enterprise will be affected. Section II (Four [risky] steps down) describes the present and future scope of the technology. The current global market for nano-scale technologies is estimated at around us $45 billion. 1 They already play an enabling role in biotechnology,
pharmaceuticals, information and energy storage and in the booming materials industry. Nanofabricated circuitry is predicted to capture the silicon-based semiconductor market within the decade (global revenues in this sector alone will top us$300 billion by 2006). The technologies will move into conventional manufacture including everything from home appliances to clothing and food. By 2015, the world market for all steps of Atomtech will exceed us $1 trillion and the world will be faced with bionic organisms (Section II, Atom and Eve).2 Though its impact will be felt first in the North, Atomtech—like biotech before it— will have early economic and environmental consequences for developing countries.
RISKS: A few scientists (and fewer governments) recognize that Atomtech poses both tremendous opportunities and horrendous social and environmental risks. Atomtech will allow industry to monopolize atomic-level manufacturing platforms that underpin all animate and inanimate matter. The present-day bulk production of materials and new forms of carbon with unknown and untested characteristics is a major concern. In the future, mass production of unique nanomaterials and selfreplicating nano-machinery pose incalculable risks. Atomtech could also mean the creation and combination of new elements and the amplification of weapons of mass destruction. Section IV (Who and where will it impact?) continues earlier notes on risks and adds sectoral examples.
ACTORS: Public funding in the usa, Japan and Europe is in the range of us $2 billion per annum and rising sharply. Major corporations in every industrial sector are committed, from Bayer to Boeing, Motorola to Mitsubishi and from ibm to Exxon. Their in-house investment probably equals that of start-up enterprises. Total R&D spending worldwide in 2001 was about us $4 billion. Section V (Who cares?) examines the range of small and large companies, universities and governments working on the new technologies.
POLICIES: Most present-day Atomtech research does not directly manipulate living material— rather, the chemical elements vital to life—and has largely evaded regulatory scrutiny. Even the production and use of today’s nano-scale materials, could have breathtaking societal implications and
the environmental impacts are unknown due to insufficient data and study. In the future, molecular manufacturing poses enormous environmental and social risks and must not proceed—even in the laboratory—in the absence of broad societal understanding and assessment. (Section VI offers
policy recommendations.)
FORA: None. The impact of converging technologies at the nano-scale is either unknown or underestimated in intergovernmental fora. Since nano-scale technologies will be applied in all sectors, no agency is taking the lead. Governments and civil society organizations (csos) should establish an International Convention for the Evaluation of New Technologies (icent), including mechanisms to monitor technology development.
How Nanotechnology Will Change Health Care As We Know It
By Dr. Joseph Mercola
with Rachael Droege
Nanotechnology, which has been called "the manufacturing technology of the 21st century," refers to the study and design of systems at the scale of the atom, or the nanoscale. At the most basic level, the manufacturing is actually the rearranging of individual molecules and atoms into complex "molecular machines."
As you likely know, most disease begins at the cellular and molecular levels. However, the tools of modern medicine are too large and cumbersome to reach disease at this stage. With nanotechnology, we will be able to have computer-controlled machines that are much smaller than a human cell that can address disease at the cellular and molecular levels.
No one is sure how long these innovations will take--it could be years or decades--but at some point nanotechnology will likely allow us to remove obstructions in the circulatory system, kill cancer cells, repair organs, create artificial mitochondrion and view tissue samples with extraordinary detail.
Within a couple of years, scientists hope to use nanotechnology to detect the location of viruses in the body. The process would involve injecting magnetic nanoparticles into the bloodstream and would potentially allow more precise virus treatments to be developed.
Although it is largely still in the experimental stages, nanotechnology is growing fast. The federal government has allotted $847 million in 2004 for the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which represents a 9.5 percent increase from 2003.
However, some environmental groups say more caution is warranted for the new technology. For instance, little is known about how nanomaterials interact with living organisms, and nanomaterials are so small that they can easily be inhaled or absorbed through the skin. There are also some long-term ethical concerns over the potential development of "intelligent" nanobots.
Nanotechnology reaches far beyond medical applications and could potentially touch just about every aspect of today’s society. Scientists are currently exploring how to use nanotechnology to create wet-suit-like gear for soldiers that would be bulletproof, keep out chemical weapons and even increase jumping ability, and there are already stain-resistant pants on the market that were created using nanotechnology.
The debate is just beginning to surface of whether it is best to move ahead and focus on the good that could come out of nanotech inventions, or slow down for fear of the life-changing and unforeseeable events that are sure to surface as this technology progresses.
Study shows nanoparticles in sun cream may affect mice brain cells
Study shows nanoparticles in sun cream may affect mice brain cells
By Simon Pitman
6/21/2006 - Latest research from US scientists shows that nanoparticles used in certain sun cream formulations can affect mice brain cells by upsetting the chemical balance and potentially causing neurological damage.
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