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The National Science Foundation has announced that two of its ". . . sponsored  research studies say public acceptance of the relatively new, nature-altering science of nanotechnology isn't a foregone conclusion. Instead, the studies indicate continued concern."

The Foundation goes on to say that "Federal entities are looking into safety and public acceptance issues surrounding nanotechnology because of its ability to alter matter on an atomic and molecular scale. The potential societal benefits of using nanotechnology to create new materials and devices for medicine, electronics and energy production could be huge. But the idea of creating them through molecular manipulation leaves some people apprehensive."

Q:Where do you stand on either the costs or benefits of such novel technologies as nanotechnology?

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Nanotechnology, which alters the fundamentals of nature by manipulating matter on an atomic or molecular scale, is becoming a larger presence in everyday life through its use in more than a thousand products ranging from solar panels, scratch-resistant automobile paint to enhanced golf clubs. Even so, cultural and religious beliefs give rise to differing views of its acceptability. This is a view from within a flattened, twisted carbon nanotube. Nanotubes are tiny tube-like structures that have unique electronic, thermal, and structural properties that make them potentially useful for nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of material science.

Credit: Vin Crespi, Pennsylvania State Physics. Distributed under the Creative Commons license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/.