• Question: What do you think about nanotechnology, is is good, dangerous, a waste of money?

    Asked by lisaloo to Claire, Matt, Rob, Sam on 26 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Sam Geen

      Sam Geen answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Nanotech is a very exciting possibility, and could have lots of applications and help people in different ways! It could be dangerous if we make nanotech that turns everything into copies of itself, but this is a long way away and might never happen. We currently already use nanotech in cosmetics!

    • Photo: Robert Woolfson

      Robert Woolfson answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      I work in nanotechnology so I’m definitely a bit biased.

      Nanotech shows huge potential. When things get that small, their behaviour changes and shows completely different properties. If we can make it work, it can revolutionise medicine, manufacturing, materials science and create whole new industries we can’t even imagine today.

      However, and this is a big however, it’s hard. Going down from the scales we currently work at to the nanoscale introduces lots of problems that are leaving us scratching our heads in confusion. Many of these will probably be solved with time and practice, but for now they’re major, major issues.

      Another problem is that we don’t understand the effect nanotechnology has on the body. Again, when things get that small, the way they interact with the body is very different and we are still learning to understand the effects. This means that, yes, some of this stuff is potentially dangerous.

      The only thing we can do is keep trying, keep working to understand and learn from our mistakes.

    • Photo: Matthew Pankhurst

      Matthew Pankhurst answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      Its a relatively new branch of science and with all new things, it needs to be tested thoroughly. Understanding things on the tiniest of chemical scales and being able to make stuff is really exciting, as it will lead to much improved manufacturing processes as well as products. Medicine and all sorts of other areas of science and engineering with benefit. If we use this technology responsibly then its pretty well all good news. However, the potential is there for it to be misused too, like making miniature robots that can build themselves for their own (or someone elses) evil purposes!! Hopefully we’re all grown up enough to realize that’s not a great thing to do…. hopefully…
      It’s certainly not a waste of money 🙂

    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 26 Jun 2013:

      I’m a fan of all new and promising technologies. I think the more we know about stuff, and the more we master, the more we will be able to do in the future. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility…

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