Current Physics Events

Nano-No-No

A report from the Washington Post cites the first case of a recall of a nanotechnology product. Nanotechnology involves the creation of microscopic machines less than one-ten-thousandth the width of a human hair that can perform a variety of functions. In the ideal scenario, such devices would be able to clean toxins from our bodies, including the plaque from our arteries and tumors from our bodies.

Instead of curing diseases, the German product "Magic Nano" is a bathroom cleaner used on glass and ceramics to make them repel dirt and water. The aerosol form of the product has led to 77 reports of respiratory conditions, which generally have cleared up within 18 hours of treatment. The field is just developing and many nations are only now into regulating the industry, so it's likely there will be a great deal of research into what exactly happened here.

Recently, the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology released a series of essays from their Global Task Force. The essays outline the concerns about nanotechnology and include among the authors David Brin (science fiction author and physics Ph.D.) and Ray Kurzweil (the inventor and singularity pundit).

U.S. Energy Advisors Dismissed

In other physics news, the Secretary of Energy has dismissed the Secretary of Energy Advisory Board (SEAB), which has existed since 1978. The final meeting of the independent, but politically appointed, board will take place this spring. Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman is a chemical engineer by training and, according to department spokesman Craig Stevens, "has an understanding of science and scientific processes. He would rather hear firsthand from the folks in the department."

This comes on the heels of the February meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), where AAAS president & Nobel laureate David Baltimore spoke candidly, warning that the administration's policies open the way for "an exertion of executive hegemony over science. ... It is no accident that we are seeing such an extensive suppression of science."

With views this strong on the subject, it is likely that the dismissal of the advisory board will be seen by many as another example of the administration turning its back on the greater scientific community. Whatever your view on the topic, don't worry about future prospects of the energy advisors; I suspect that people such as Nobel laureate Burton Richter and former ExxonMobil chairman Lee Raymond will land on their feet without those lucrative government advising stipends.