Radical Science Debate

If you're going to be at or near the University of Nottingham in England on Wednesday, August 24th, here's a can't-miss event.

An impressive group of luminaries will gather to debate the question:

Nanotechnology — Radical New Science or Plus Ça Change?

Confirmed members of the debate panel:

* Prof. Richard Jones, University of Sheffield and author of Soft Machines
* Dr. John Storrs Hall, Chief Scientist of Nanorex Inc and author of Nanofuture: What's Next for Nanotechnology?
* Jack Stilgoe, a researcher at the Demos thinktank and an investigator on an ESRC-funded project entitled "Nanotechnology and Public Engagement"
* Dr. David Forrest, President, Institute of Molecular Manufacturing
* Prof. Saul Tendler, School of Pharmacy, University of Nottingham

The focus of the debate will be an examination of the short-term and long-term potential of nanotechnology and its associated possible societal and ethical impacts:

- Are nanofactories capable of manufacturing virtually anything with little or no environmental impact really just a few decades away, as some groups are claiming?

- Is nanotechnology based on scaled-down everyday engineering concepts viable or should we look to biology for insights into how to tame the nanoworld?

- Are there potential risks associated with the manipulation of matter at the atomic and molecular levels and how might those risks be controlled?

- Or, is nanotechnology simply a buzzword for science which, far from being a radical departure from what has gone before, simply represents a natural convergence of the conventional disciplines...

For those of you who, like me, are Gallicly challenged, Plus Ça Change? refers to the (originally French) saying: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I assume this is intended to suggest that advanced nanotechnology may not bring transformative change, but merely incremental advances.

CRN's answers to the proposed debate questions might be: Almost certainly, Both, Of course, and Definitely not. It will be interesting to see whether any consensus emerges from this event that is contrary to our positions.

Mike Treder

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[David Forrest]

I've posted my comments on the debate at http://davidrforrest.com/pub/forrest_debate_points.html

[Philip Moriarty]

At long last, streaming video footage of the Nottingham Nanotechnology debate is available (via Google Video) here .

Best wishes,

Philip

[John B]

Thanks for the pointer!!!

-JB