Monday, July 24, 2006

Open door for boondoggle

Nanotechbuzz has an interesting article about a safety framework for nanotechnology. However I am immediately concerned with the possibilities created by government regulation. The problem is that there is no clear line between nano and the rest of the world. Water for example is a nano device composed of 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. Will the government be able to further regulate our use of this resource as defined here? (not like they don't have a law covering every conceivable source of water already, but just suppose...)

We can synthesize sugar and we can even grow nanocrystals of it. Does that make it any less sugar? and do we really need regulation for nanocrystals of sugar? Plants produce them, so do we apply these new regulations to anyone growing plants?

That's the problem with government regulation, there is no built in regulation of the regulation. Maybe that is what we really need first, to regulate those who would regulate.

Link

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Finally, someone actually DOING something with nano

Nanotechnologies, Inc. is changing its name to Novacentrix and changing its game plan as well. These folks are making a really smart move in going to product-direct-to-market instead of being an initial materials supplier. Cutting out the middleman and selling finished products demanded by need is a much better business model. As anyone reading my blog in the past knows, one of the biggest frustrations about the "nano" field is the lack of direct, practical applications. There's lots of mights and maybes but very little "here's your nano-toothpaste. $4.79, please"

The best part about this article is that it points out that this is an expanding trend. Several other companies are now leveraging their experience in nano engineering to go directly into sellable products. Hoorah!

I'm really looking forwards to Novacentrix's printable metals and semiconductor inks. That should be a load of fun to fool around with.

Link