New nanotechnology related journals listing

We have added an extra feature on our website nanoinfosearch.com, which includes a searchable listing of nanotechnology related journals, to help you find top quality publications. Please visit http://www.nanoinfosearch.com to use this feature.

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Nanotechnology Poll

We have added a new poll on http://www.nanoinfosearch.com to gather input from nanotechnology community about trends in nanotechnology. Please visit http://www.nanoinfosearch.com to cast your vote.

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Public awareness of nanotechnology

Working in our research labs or writing articles about nanotechnology, we the “Nanoites “, which I refer to people working in nanotechnology, think that everybody on this blue planet is aware of nanotechnology. But this is simply not true. Recently, I gave a talk about nanotechnology in a Toastmasters meeting, and asked people if they were aware of nanotechnology. Very few people raised their hands. The crowd was a representative cross-section of society: engineers, scientists, doctors, and teachers. And when I asked what nano means, the only answer was it  means very small, that most of the people inferred from certain mp3 player, but they had no reference for actual length.  This makes me think that as “Nanoites” we are not doing enough to make people aware about nanotechnology, and after almost two decades of explosive growth, nanotechnology is still on the fringes of society.

Some may say that general public do not need to know about nanotechnology, as people are not going to use it first hands or general public is not interested in science and technology. It is certainly true in certain areas, but normally it is not true. If the information is provided in a manner in which the people can understand, then people will be receptive of it. As someone stated, “It is the duty of the person who is giving the instruction to make sure that the person getting the person understands it, not the person who is getting the instructions” .  When I tried to explain to the crowd how big nano is, by giving the reference to human hair diameter, and telling them that nanotechnology is already used in products such as sunscreen, people became more interested to know more about it.

One might ask why public should become more aware about nanotechnology. It is due to the fact that the growth of this technology or any other technology depends on public support. Let us take case of NASA.  They have developed various space technologies, and that also led to development of things used in day to day life such as Valcro, better artificial limbs, WD-40, and temper foam. But how many people in general public know about this? People relate NASA to big rockets and space ships, and during economic downturn or government   budget constraints, people do not see connection to these space programs to their lives. Result: NASA is now struggling for funding. If NASA has done a better job to make people aware about the impact of their technologies, chances are public might have a better support for NASA funding. The same thing can happen to nanotechnology also if we do not take public awareness in account. 

Few years back I was told that to make public aware about nanotechnology, tell them that nanotechnology will make nanobots to fix their medical problems, or Discovery channel was showing program about Nanomites, robots that converts anything they touch to themselves. These things look appealing but they are more in realm of science-fiction right now, and people do not really relate to them. The better approach, in my humble opinion, is to tell people what nanotechnology is doing currently for them, such as cleaning the environment using nano zero valent iron, or that silver nanoparticles are used in some of the food storage containers to keep food fresh for longer period of time, or some drugs based on nanotechnology are in developmental stage to kill cancerous cells. When people see and feel the things based on nanotechnology, they will be more supportive and appreciative about it. 

Now the question is how it will benefit us, the Nanoites. I think it will benefit us in many ways. In the case of researchers, it will help in keeping your research lifeline aka funding replenished. If your congressman/senator/governor/CEO is aware about the benefits of nanotechnology, most likely he/she will support funding for nanotechnology during budget constraints. Similarly in the case of small companies who are trying to sell nanotechnology based products, if the customer is already aware about advantages of nanotechnology, chances are you do not have to convince the customer to buy your product. Public awareness will do the job for you.

Finally, my question is how can we make public more aware about nanotechnology. Please provide your ideas in comment section and I will put them together in my future blog.

Thanks for your time for reading this blog,

-NanoInfoSearch.com