NanoFutures

Many of the people who are genuinely concerned about the directions in which nanotechnology can take us happen to be the scientists who are currently working in the varied field of nanotech. At least, this is what an ongoing experiment put together by the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University suggests.

The experiment, titled NanoFutures, is part of the federal government’s approach to aid in surveying public opinion regarding nanotechnology. The Center for Nanotechnology in Society at ASU functions as an arm of President Bush’s National Nanotechnology Initiative, which was supported by subsequent legislation – the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act.

Essentially, the idea is to construct a handful of possible future scenarios in which nanotechnology may play a major role in the future. These scenarios are evaluated by researchers in nanotech for their plausibility – both in technical terms and in social terms.

In the words of the site, “Once the scenes were developed, the process of vetting followed three main lines: (1) focus groups with scientists with relevant expertise, (2) bibliometric analysis of key words produced in the focus groups, (3) research mapping,” (ASU 2008).

The experiment takes a look at six possible scenarios, which anyone can look at, revise and comment on. The six scenarios are: Bionic Eyes, Living with a Brain Chip, Disease Detector, Engineered Tissues, Barless Prisons, Automated Sewer Surveillance.

Each of the following blog posts will take a detailed look at each of these potential nanotechnology scenarios.