Majority Of US Finds Nanotech Morally Wrong

This interesting bit of info hit Science Daily this week. Maybe people have watched too much TV and are afraid of the Nanites or Skynet evolving out of nanotech. Grey goo, anyone?

Is nanotechnology morally acceptable? For a significant percentage of Americans, the answer is no, according to a recent survey of Americans' attitudes about the science of the very small.

Nanotechnology is a branch of science and engineering devoted to the design and production of materials, structures, devices and circuits at the smallest achievable scale, typically in the realm of individual atoms and molecules. The ability to engineer matter at that scale has the potential to produce a vast array of new technologies that could influence everything from computers to medicine.

Already, dozens of products containing nanoscale materials or devices are on the market. In a sample of 1,015 adult Americans, only 29.5 percent of respondents agreed that nanotechnology was morally acceptable.

The new study has critical implications for how experts explain the technology and its applications. It means the scientific community needs to do a far better job of placing the technology in context and in understanding the attitudes of the American public.

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