Download or read book Nanovision written by Colin Milburn and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-28 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dawning era of nanotechnology promises to transform life as we know it. Visionary scientists are engineering materials and devices at the molecular scale that will forever alter the way we think about our technologies, our societies, our bodies, and even reality itself. Colin Milburn argues that the rise of nanotechnology involves a way of seeing that he calls “nanovision.” Trekking across the technoscapes and the dreamscapes of nanotechnology, he elaborates a theory of nanovision, demonstrating that nanotechnology has depended throughout its history on a symbiotic relationship with science fiction. Nanotechnology’s scientific theories, laboratory instruments, and research programs are inextricable from speculative visions, hyperbolic rhetoric, and fictional narratives. Milburn illuminates the practices of nanotechnology by examining an enormous range of cultural artifacts, including scientific research articles, engineering textbooks, laboratory images, popular science writings, novels, comic books, and blockbuster films. In so doing, he reveals connections between the technologies of visualization that have helped inaugurate nano research, such as the scanning tunneling microscope, and the prescient writings of Robert A. Heinlein, James Blish, and Theodore Sturgeon. He delves into fictive and scientific representations of “gray goo,” the nightmare scenario in which autonomous nanobots rise up in rebellion and wreak havoc on the world. He shows that nanoscience and “splatterpunk” novels share a violent aesthetic of disintegration: the biological body is breached and torn asunder only to be refabricated as an assemblage of self-organizing machines. Whether in high-tech laboratories or science fiction stories, nanovision deconstructs the human subject and galvanizes the invention of a posthuman future.

Download or read book Optics and Photonics written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-03-19 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Optics and photonics technologies are ubiquitous: they are responsible for the displays on smart phones and computing devices, optical fiber that carries the information in the internet, advanced precision manufacturing, enhanced defense capabilities, and a plethora of medical diagnostics tools. The opportunities arising from optics and photonics offer the potential for even greater societal impact in the next few decades, including solar power generation and new efficient lighting that could transform the nation's energy landscape and new optical capabilities that will be essential to support the continued exponential growth of the Internet. As described in the National Research Council report Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation, it is critical for the United States to take advantage of these emerging optical technologies for creating new industries and generating job growth. The report assesses the current state of optical science and engineering in the United States and abroad-including market trends, workforce needs, and the impact of photonics on the national economy. It identifies the technological opportunities that have arisen from recent advances in, and applications of, optical science and engineering. The report also calls for improved management of U.S. public and private research and development resources, emphasizing the need for public policy that encourages adoption of a portfolio approach to investing in the wide and diverse opportunities now available within photonics. Optics and Photonics: Essential Technologies for our Nation is a useful overview not only for policymakers, such as decision-makers at relevant Federal agencies on the current state of optics and photonics research and applications but also for individuals seeking a broad understanding of the fields of optics and photonics in many arenas.

Download or read book Nanoconvergence written by William Sims Bainbridge and published by Pearson Education. This book was released on 2007-06-27 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Nanoconvergence , William Sims Bainbridge tours the future of science and technology in plain, nontechnical English. Bainbridge draws on an extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge, based on his unique role at the epicenter of the nanoconvergence revolution. He successfully integrates insights from far-reaching scientific fields into a compelling human story—offering powerful insights you can use to plan your career, seek new investment opportunities, or simply understand what's coming next. Discover new breakthroughs in measuring, manipulating, and organizing matter at the nanoscale and the implications of those advances See why science fiction's view of nanotechnology is wrong and why the truth is even more exciting Preview new technologies built on the principles of cognitive science and enabled by nanotechnology Learn how nanotechnology may save Moore's Law, allowing computers to double in power every year for the next two decades Discover why nanoconvergence may spark a renaissance in the social sciences Examine the potential impact of scientific and technological convergence on human society and diversity

Download or read book The National Nanotechnology Initiative at Five Years written by President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (U.S.) and published by Executive Office of the President. This book was released on 2005 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Represents the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s (PCAST) first assessment of the Federal Government’s nanotechnology research efforts. Examines four primary concerns: Where do we stand?; Is this money well spent and the program well managed?; Are we addressing societal concerns and potential risks?; and How can we do better?

Download or read book Partnering Against Terrorism written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2005-07-08 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Terrorism and the measures needed to prevent terrorist attacks pose a central policy challenge for the U.S. To meet this unprecedented challenge, the U.S. has great technological assets. What is needed are mechanisms to help the government draw on these strengths in a timely and effective fashion. To do so, the government needs to reach out to university researchers, national laboratories, small, high-tech businesses and leading corporations. One of the most effective ways to do this is through public-private partnerships. To link the lessons of the National Academies study on "Government-Industry Partnerships" to this critical national interest, the Academy organized a conference to bring the lessons of its analysis to bear on the war on terror. By encouraging policy attention to examples of effective public-private partnerships (in particular, the need for clear goals and regular assessments), this report contributes to a better understanding of the potential partnerships to bring new security-enhancing technologies and equipment to the market in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Download or read book Nanotechnology written by United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Technology and Society written by Deborah G. Johnson and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2008-10-17 with total page 877 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of writings by thinkers ranging from Freeman Dyson to Bruno Latour that focuses on the interconnections of technology, society, and values and how these may affect the future. Technological change does not happen in a vacuum; decisions about which technologies to develop, fund, market, and use engage ideas about values as well as calculations of costs and benefits. This anthology focuses on the interconnections of technology, society, and values. It offers writings by authorities as varied as Freeman Dyson, Laurence Lessig, Bruno Latour, and Judy Wajcman that will introduce readers to recent thinking about technology and provide them with conceptual tools, a theoretical framework, and knowledge to help understand how technology shapes society and how society shapes technology. It offers readers a new perspective on such current issues as globalization, the balance between security and privacy, environmental justice, and poverty in the developing world. The careful ordering of the selections and the editors' introductions give Technology and Society a coherence and flow that is unusual in anthologies. The book is suitable for use in undergraduate courses in STS and other disciplines. The selections begin with predictions of the future that range from forecasts of technological utopia to cautionary tales. These are followed by writings that explore the complexity of sociotechnical systems, presenting a picture of how technology and society work in step, shaping and being shaped by one another. Finally, the book goes back to considerations of the future, discussing twenty-first-century challenges that include nanotechnology, the role of citizens in technological decisions, and the technologies of human enhancement.

Download or read book Me written by William J. Mitchell and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004-09-17 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the transformation of wireless technology and the creation of an interconnected world are changing our environment and our lives. With Me++ the author of City of Bits and e-topia completes an informal trilogy examining the ramifications of information technology in everyday life. William Mitchell describes the transformation of wireless technology in the hundred years since Marconi—the scaling up of networks and the scaling down of the apparatus for transmission and reception. It is, he says, as if "Brobdingnag had been rebooted as Lilliput"; Marconi's massive mechanism of tower and kerosene engine has been replaced by a palm-size cellphone. If the operators of Marconi's invention can be seen as human appendages to an immobile machine, today's hand-held devices can be seen as extensions of the human body. This transformation has, in turn, changed our relationship with our surroundings and with each other. The cellphone calls from the collapsing World Trade Center towers and the hijacked jets on September 11 were testimony to the intensity of this new state of continuous electronic engagement. Thus, Mitchell proposes, the "trial separation" of bits (the elementary unit of information) and atoms (the elementary unit of matter) is over. With increasing frequency, events in physical space reflect events in cyberspace, and vice versa; digital information can, for example, direct the movement of an aircraft or a robot arm. In Me++ Mitchell examines the effects of wireless linkage, global interconnection, miniaturization, and portability on our bodies, our clothing, our architecture, our cities, and our uses of space and time. Computer viruses, cascading power outages, terrorist infiltration of transportation networks, and cellphone conversations in the streets are symptoms of a dramatic new urban condition—that of ubiquitous, inescapable network interconnectivity. He argues that a world governed less and less by boundaries and more and more by connections requires us to reimagine and reconstruct our environment and to reconsider the ethical foundations of design, engineering, and planning practice.

Download or read book Functional Nanomaterials for Regenerative Tissue Medicines written by Mariappan Rajan and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2021-12-08 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers nanomaterials in tissue engineering for regenerative therapies of heart, skin, eye, skeletal muscle, and the nervous system. The book emphasizes fundamental design concepts and emerging forms of nanomaterials in soft- and hard-tissue engineering. FEATURES Fills a gap in the literature related to the application of nanomaterials in hard- and soft-tissue regeneration, repair, and restructure Discusses a variety of applications, including cardiac, kidney, liver, bone, wound healing, artificial organs, and dental Presents advantages and limitations of various nanomaterials alongside future challenges Functional Nanomaterials for Regenerative Tissue Medicines is essential for academics and industry professionals working in tissue engineering, biomedicine, biopharmaceuticals, and nanotechnology. It is primarily intended for materials researchers (to develop the platforms related to tissue regeneration) as well as clinicians (to learn and apply nanomaterials in their practice) and industrial scientists (to develop commercial blood substitute products).

Download or read book A Matter of Size written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2006-11-30 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) was created in 2000 to focus and coordinate the nanoscience and nanotechnology research and development (R&D) activities being funded by several federal agencies. The purpose of the NNI is to marshal these research activities in order to accelerate responsible development and deployment of nanotechnology for economic benefit and national security. To take stock of the progress of the NNI, Congress, in P. L. 108-153, the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act, directed the National Research Council to carry out a review of the program every three years. This report presents the results of the first of those reviews, which addresses the economic impact of nanotechnology developments and provides a benchmark of U.S. R&D efforts relative to those undertaken by foreign competitors. In addition, the report offers an assessment of the current status of responsible development of nanotechnology and comments on the feasibility of molecular self-assembly.

Download or read book Military Nanotechnology written by Jürgen Altmann and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-05-07 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With revolutionary changes in nanotechnology (NT) now on the horizon, many countries have started major research and development (R&D) programmes, which are mainly civilian. Often overlooked are military R&D programmes – in particular those of the US government. This is the first systematic and comprehensive presentation of the potential military applications of NT. In ten to twenty years, these applications may include extremely small computers, robots, missiles, satellites, launchers and sensors. They may also provide lighter and stronger materials for vehicles and weapons, implants in soldiers’ bodies, metal-free firearms, autonomous fighting systems, and smaller chemical and biological weapons. These potential uses raise strong concerns. This assessment is made from a viewpoint of international security, considering the new criteria of dangers for arms control and the international law of warfare, dangers for stability through potential new arms races and proliferation, and dangers for humans and society. Some military applications, such as computers, will be so close to civilian uses that limits are impractical. Others, such as sensors for biological-warfare agents, may contribute to stronger protection against terrorist attacks and better verification of compliance with arms-control treaties. For preventive limitation of these new technologies, specific approaches are proposed that balance positive civilian uses and take into account verification of compliance, with a view to international peace and security, not national military strength. This book will be of great interest to scholars of military technology, non-lethal weapons, disarmament and security studies in general.

Download or read book Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 2005 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 1444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 2006 Dept of the Army Corps of Engineers written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1928 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Energy and Water Development Appropriations For 2006 Part 4B 109 1 Hearings written by and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Energy and Water Development Appropriations for 2006 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Appropriations. Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 1934 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Nanotechnology Societal Implications written by William S. Bainbridge and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2007-07-03 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in nanoscience and nanotechnology promise great technical breakthroughs in the coming decades. In this book, leading scientists, engineers, and social scientists review the possible uses of these impending technical developments in various industrial, medical, and national security applications. They also examine the corresponding ethical, legal, social, economic, and educational issues that these developments raise.

Download or read book The Ethics of Nanotechnology Geoengineering and Clean Energy written by Andrew Maynard and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-07-26 with total page 622 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nanotechnology, clean technology, and geoengineering span the scale of human ingenuity, from the imperceptibly small to the unimaginably large. Yet they are united by a commonality of ethics that permeates how and why they are developed, and how the resulting consequences are managed. The articles in this volume provide a comprehensive account of current thinking around the ethics of development and use within each of the technological domains, and addresses challenges and opportunities that cut across all three. In particular, the collection provides unique insights into the ethics of ’noumenal’ technologies - technologies that are impossible to see or detect or conceive of with human senses or conventional tools. This collection will be of relevance to anyone who is actively involved with ensuring the responsible and sustainable development of nanotechnology, geoengineering or clean technology.