From 2020science.org:
The
National Research Council of the National Academies releases its review
of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategy for
Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research. And
it’s not pretty.
Most people acknowledge that innovation is vital to economic and
social prosperity. But what do you do when science and technology
innovation are in danger of being stymied by bad habits and misguided
thinking? One solution: apply a little tough love. Something a new report from the US National Academies does in spades.
By the end of the next US administration, there will be an estimated
seven billion people on the planet, all wanting food, shelter, and
water, and most of them striving for a first-world quality of life.
With dwindling natural resources and an environment struggling to
absorb humanity’s assaults, old technologies are coming to the end of
their shelf life. Energy security, curing cancer, quality of life in
old age, plentiful clean water, climate change—none of these challenges
will be met without science and technology innovation.
More to the point, without a constant stream of science and
technology innovation, the economy will be starved of the
knowledge-capital so desperately needed for stability and growth.
Given this backdrop, you would think that the US federal government
would be on top of spotting and navigating around potential barriers to
innovation. Yet according to a new report
from the National Research Council of the National Academies, the feds
seem to have their collective heads in the sand when it comes to
ensuring investment in science and technology research delivers
sustainable results...
The new report specifically addresses nanotechnology. And it
focuses on federal government plans to address potential risks
associated with this emerging technology. But the cracks in the system
it reveals are most likely endemic across all areas of science and
technology innovation. [Continue reading...]