Cuestionando la nanotecno

Questioning Nanotechnology

By John Hepburn

It turns out that size really does matter. Or to be more precise, it's the size of matter that matters.

Scientists are manipulating matter at the 'nano' scale (one billionth of a metre) and finding that common materials are capable of assuming radically different properties. Nano-scale materials may be more reactive, have different optical, magnetic and electric properties, and be much stronger or more toxic than their larger scale counterparts.

'Nanotechnology' is being heralded as the next industrial revolution, redefining life as we know it. But who asked for their life to be redefined? I certainly didn't. Did you?

But it's not as though the industry is waiting for the nod of public approval. The launching pad of the global nanotechnology industry is being built, with around 3,000 new nanopatents a year. In the US, nanotechnology projects have attracted more than US$800 million in public funds (mostly for military applications), making it the largest research project since the Apollo moon landing. Globally, nanotech is estimated to become a US$1 trillion industry by 2011.