Overview

Buckyballs. Quantum dots. Golden triangles. Organic light-emitting diodes. Welcome to the world of nanotechnology - the engineering of new materials and new products, the use of new manufacturing techniques, all exploiting properties possessed at the infinitesimally small, or nano, scale. Virtually every large corporation now has a nanotechnology R & D operation. The US government is putting in serious investment. Huge promises are held out in the fields of medicine, energy, computing. And, more ominously, the Pentagon is exploring nano applications in a new generation of hi-tech weaponry. But as this book makes clear: * There is little public debate, even among consumer groups or trade unions, about the ways in which nanotechnologies are creeping into our lives as consumers and workers. * Regulatory agencies take no account of scale when assessing the safety of new products and there is no regulatory framework for nanotechnology even in industrialized countries. * Little research is going on into the health and environmental consequences, and safety, of nano-materials. This book explains the fast moving world of the new technology and who controls it. It explores the potential consequences - the upsides as well as the downsides - for individuals, the environment, and relations between the powers. Nanotechnology could bridge or widen the gap between developing and industrialised countries - that is a political decision that civil society must address.

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9781842776865

Table of Contents

Reviews

1. Introduction 2. The Emerging World of Nanotechnology Tramways and Buckyballs Nanotechnology - a new age dawning? Defining nanotechnology On your high street now Limitless possibilities 3. Nanotechnology Goes to War 4. Timescales: From just around the Corner to over the Rainbow On the cusp of commercialisation Take off time 2010 Beyond the horizon 5. Investment: Owning the Keys to the Kingdom Government spending spree Corporate strategies Start-up companies and venture capital 6. Unknown Dangers, Unquantified Risks Health and safety - a new asbestos? Absence of regulatory control Nanotechnology and food - echoes of GM Ignorance in the workplace Nanoparticles in our earth, air and water Remediation - out of the frying pan, into the fire? 7. From Cold War to Star Wars to Nanowars? The enemy within 8. The Great Divide: Nanotechnology and the Poor Agriculture Information technology Trade, industry and global employment Corporate concentration Patent power 9. Convergence of Technologies: Raising the stakes 10. Taming the Genie Finding out More Index

Author Information

About the Author Toby Shelley has reported from many countries in the Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa over the course of twenty years as a journalist. He works for the Financial Times. Previously he was regional energy news editor for Dow Jones Newswires. His most recent book is Oil: politics, poverty and the planet (Zed Books, 2005). He is a member of the Council of Management of the radical development charity War on Want.

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