by Andrew Maynard | Jan 25, 2009 | Emerging Technology, Engagement, Nanotechnology
I spend quite a bit of my time talking to different groups about nanotechnology, including its potential and its challenges. And as a result, I’m constantly on the prowl for new ways of illustrating why nanotechnology is important. In particular, I’ve been keeping my...
by Andrew Maynard | Nov 11, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight, Policy
The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report on Novel Materials Imagine for one naïve moment that we have a pretty good handle on managing the environmental impact of existing manufactured “stuff”. Then someone comes along and invents some “new stuff” that...
by Andrew Maynard | Sep 3, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight
Amidst the cacophony of debate swirling around the true meaning of nanotechnology, I head a voice or reason last week. The voice was that of Dr. Bernd Sachweh of BASF, speaking at the European Aerosol Conference in Thessoloniki. I paraphrase, but the essence of...
by Andrew Maynard | May 31, 2008 | Environment, Nanotechnology, Oversight, Policy
Why nano? Why care? For non-nanotech initiates, an obsession with nanotechnology must sometimes seem a bizarre occupation of the sad and lonely. And even within the nanotechnology community, who hasn’t had occasional doubts over the legitimacy of singling out...
by Andrew Maynard | May 2, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight
The author Neal Stephenson got it wrong—at least, if this week’s nano-news is anything to go by! In his landmark 1995 novel “The Diamond Age,” Stephenson described a future built on nano-innovation. But thirteen years later, nanotechnology seems to be ushering in...
