Nanotechnology is something I knew little about beside the terminology until I watched this week’s lecture video, however, a few points became clear to me. One is that nanotechnology is a fairy new technology and it is a rapid-growing field. As Gimzewski mentioned in the lecture video, Nobel physicist, Richard Feynman, first pointed out the concept of nanotechnology. Jill Dixon says that Feynman delivered the concept “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom,” in which he described “a technological vision of extreme miniaturization” and challenged scientists to explores this new scientific field. 15 years later in 1974, the term “nanotechnology” was first used by Norio Taniguchi, Tokyo University of Science Professor. 40 years later in 2014, according to nanotechnology-now.com, more than 100 events and conferences related to nanotechnology are held around the world.
The other thing I came to understand is that consumers have a difficulty knowing what products are being produced by using nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is used in variety of products such as beer bottles, tennis balls, and power tools. There are no similarities among these products and it is very hard for consumers to relate them to nanotechnology. Discovermagazin.com states that consumer activists are concerened that nanoparticles in food packaging such as beer bottles and food containers could be a safety concern.
According to National Center For Biology Information, currently, there is no mandatory labeling for products containing nanoparticle and the data suggests that labeling of products may reduce consumers’ benefit perception and increase risk perception. Mandatory labeling can be a risk for companies which produce nanotech products, however, should we continue buying these products without knowing both benefits and the possible harm?
References
"Nanotech Jim Pt1." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 22 May 2015. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7jM6-iqzzE>.
Dixon, Jill. "Science and Technology Resources on the Internet." Guide to Nanotechnology Internet Resources. Binghamton University Libraries, 2011. Web. 22 May 2015. <http://www.istl.org/11-winter/internet1.html>.
"Nanotechnology Now." 2014 Nanotechnology Events & Conferences. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015. <http://www.nanotech-now.com/events-2014.htm>.
"NANOTECH MEET Tunisia 2014 Joint International Conferences."Nanotech Tunisia 2014 and MEET Tunisia 2014 Joint International Conferences and Exhibitions. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015. <http://www.setcor.org/conferences/nanotech-meet-tunisia-2014>.
"Nano MatEn 2015 International Conference & Exhibition." SECTOR Conference and Events. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015. <http://www.setcor.org/conferences/NANO-MATEN-2015>.
"Result Filters." National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 23 May 2015. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22084863>
"June 2015." Discover Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2015. <http://discovermagazine.com/galleries/zen-photo/n/nanotech-products>.
"6 Unconventional Uses for the Tennis Ball." Mental Floss. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 May 2015. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/51496/6-unconventional-uses-tennis-ball>.
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