What do we Really Know About Nanotechnology?

[nosmokes]

We aren't even close to having any sort of a handle on genetic endineering technology, and this nano-tech is potentially waay more harmful. This stuff can penetrate the blood/brain barrier. just sayin.
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original-baltimoresun

Small talk

Nanotechnology can be found in everyday products like sunscreen and may even someday cure cancer. But what do we really know about it?

by Sindya N. Bhanoo
Sun reporter

Originally published July 12, 2007

You can't see it, but it makes sunscreen clear, tennis rackets light and khaki pants stain repellent. And someday, it might help cure cancer.

It's called nanotechnology.

Dealing with particles that are 1/100,000th as wide as a human hair, nanotechnology is one of today's most promising avenues of research in medicine, science and manufacturing.

But experts say it could also be one of the most perilous, dealing as it does with particles so minuscule they can be ingested into the lungs or seep into the bloodstream through the skin without detection.

"The biggest worry is that you're creating materials that behave in different ways because they are so small. It seems very foolish to cross our fingers and hope for the best -- without doing tests," said Andrew Maynard, science adviser to the Project on Emerging Technologies, an initiative by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

The technology has also progressed faster than federal regulatory agencies can issue guidelines, he said. The result is many consumer products with nano-particles that have not undergone rigorous testing. The greatest concerns are products with nano-particles that might be absorbed by the body.

"We don't know what is safe and what is harmful," Maynard said, yet new nano-products appear on store shelves every day.
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complete article here

[Robbien]

1. Surprising how many products we buy these days

contain nano particles.

No wonder they are keeping everything quiet. They even have video on their site containing lectures on how to keep quiet. Not surprisingly they have the government reg agencies on board.

[Wiley50]

2. Nanatechnology? My Nana could barely even drive a car

and, probably, shouldn't have tried

But she was real good with an electric mixer
when she was baking me a birthday cake

RIP Nana

[Ian David]

3. All Your Carbon Are Belong To Us

Leading nanotech experts put 'grey goo' in perspective

A paper published today in the journal Nanotechnology warns that fear of runaway self-replicating machines diverts attention away from other more serious risks of molecular manufacturing. The paper, “Safe Exponential Manufacturing,” published by the Institute of Physics, was written by Chris Phoenix, Director of Research at the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology (CRN), and Dr. K. Eric Drexler, a pioneering nanotechnology theorist and founder of the Foresight Institute.

Drexler had cautioned against self-replicating machines in his 1986 book Engines of Creation. The idea became known as ‘grey goo’ and inspired a generation of science fiction authors. In this article, Phoenix and Drexler show that nanotechnology-based fabrication can be completely safe from out-of-control replication. However, they warn that for other reasons misuse of molecular manufacturing remains a significant danger.

“So-called grey goo could only be the product of a deliberate and difficult engineering process, not an accident,” said Phoenix. “Far more serious is the possibility that a large-scale and convenient manufacturing capacity could be used to make incredibly powerful non-replicating weapons in unprecedented quantity. This could lead to an unstable arms race and a devastating war. Policy investigation into the effects of advanced nanotechnology should consider this as a primary concern, and runaway replication as a more distant issue.”

Contrary to previous understanding, self-replication is unnecessary for building an efficient and effective molecular manufacturing system. Instead of building lots of tiny, complex, free-floating robots to manufacture products, it will be more practical to use simple robot arms inside desktop-size factories. A robot arm removed from such a factory would be as inert as a light bulb pulled from its socket. The factory as a whole would be no more mobile than a desktop printer and would require a supply of purified raw materials to build anything.

More:
http://www.crnano.org/PR-IOP.htm

[Dogmudgeon]

4. "Nano"-anything is meaningless

These days, "Nano" is a marketing device, like "Extreme" or "Quantum" or "Commonsense" or "Green".

The nanotechnology I am concerned with is formally called replicating assembler nanotech.

Nanotechnology pioneer K. Eric Drexler is as well. His website is www.foresight.org -- worthwhile reading.

--p!
Inventor of the Commonsense Green Quantum Nano Extreme Erectile Dysfunction Pill Caddy™

[WinkyDink]

5. It's totally scary stuff. The government isn't on top of it, that's for sure.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. dig it, man:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_Music

[Swede]

7. It's really small.

:shrug:

[Orsino]

8. Very little.

<rim shot>

[Zucca]

9. SHAZBUT...nano nano!

Mork calling Orson,,,come in Orson!


Just about covers it...right?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Things I don't understand frighten and confuse me.

Nanotechnology.

Molecular biology.

Evolution.

People who look different than I do.

I wish it would all just go away.

[JTG of the PRB]

11. We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.