Nanotechnology In The 3rd World!
Thaldarin
Alonzi! Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
Alonzi! Join Date: 2003-07-15 Member: 18173Members, Constellation
in Discussions
<div class="IPBDescription">Will it really solve problems?</div> <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->
Nanotech promise for global poor
Starving child (AP)
Nanotechnologies may help millions in the world's poorest nations
Nanotechnology's biggest impact on millions in the developing world could be in better energy production and storage methods, according to a report.
A panel of 63 specialists worldwide was asked by the Canadian Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) to identify the most promising areas of nanotech.
The panel said nanosciences could also significantly improve agriculture.
The nanotech impact study is reported in PLoS Medicine, the US-based Public Library of Science journal.
It is the first to rank nanotechnologies and nanoscience's potential influence relative to development, according to the authors.
"Economic development and energy consumption are inextricably linked," said Dr Peter Singer, director of the University of Toronto's JCB, a medical ethics think tank.
TOP 10 NANOTECH USES
1) Energy storage, production and conversion
2) Agricultural productivity enhancement
3) Water treatment and remediation
4) Disease diagnosis and screening
5) Drug delivery systems
6) Food processing and storage
7) Air pollution and remediation
8) Construction
9) Health monitoring
10) Vector and pest detection and control
The authors also recommend an initiative - called Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology - should be launched to encourage the development of nanotechnologies targeted at developing nations.
It could work along the lines of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative started last year by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of atoms and molecules at the "nanoscale". One nanometre is about a million times smaller than the diameter of a pinhead. A human hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide.
At the nanoscale, materials can be "tuned" to display unusual properties that could be exploited to build faster, lighter, stronger and more efficient devices and systems, as well as new classes of materials.
"If nanotechnology can help developing countries to move towards energy self-sufficiency, then the benefits of economic growth will become that much more accessible," said Dr Singer.
It also links in nanotechnologies' impacts to the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.
These aim to get UN member nations to tackle some of the most serious problems facing developing countries, by 2015.
'Enormous potential'
"Most waves of technology can increase the gap between rich and poor but the harnessing of nanotechnology represents a chance to close these gaps," said Dr Singer.
"The targeted application of nanotechnology has enormous potential to bring about major improvements in the living standards of people in the developing world."
How nanotechnology is building the future from the bottom up
In pictures
"Science and technology alone are not going to magically solve all the problems of developing countries, but they are critical components of development," he added.
New nano-structured materials are being used to build the next generation of solar cells and hydrogen fuel cells.
Nanotechnologies are also being used to develop ways of storing hydrogen, which has been a problem.
Suitable hydrogen storage systems would mean cleaner, alternative energy could be delivered to countries still reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels.
Sensors and coatings
Nanotechnology applications are also being developed to improve soil fertility and crop production.
Nano-sensors could also monitor crop and animal health, and magnetic nano-particles could remove soil contaminants.
"Lab on a chip" technology also could have significant impacts on developing nations.
Soon, health workers should be able to test a drop of blood on a coin-sized piece of plastic.
A full diagnostic examination could be returned within minutes, using developments in nanotech.
Carbon nanotubes (Image: SPL)
Carbon nanotubes are being used in new water filtration techniques
It would negate the need for time-consuming and costly separate tests and analyses for infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/Aids.
Water treatment is ranked third by the panel. "One-sixth of the world's population lacks access to safe water supplies," said study leader Dr Salamanca-Buentello.
"More than one-third of the population of rural areas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America has no clean water, and two million children die each year from water-related diseases."
Nano-membranes and nano-clays are inexpensive, portable and easily cleaned systems that purify, detoxify and desalinate water more efficiently than conventional bacterial and viral filters.
Researchers also have developed a method of large-scale production of carbon nanotube filters for water quality improvement.
Many developing countries have launched nanotechnology initiatives to aid the development of the science, including India, South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, Philippines, Chile, and Argentina.
After the US and Japan, China holds the most nanotech patent applications. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
From: <a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4421867.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4421867.stm</a>
Many factors and issues here. Discuss.
Nanotech promise for global poor
Starving child (AP)
Nanotechnologies may help millions in the world's poorest nations
Nanotechnology's biggest impact on millions in the developing world could be in better energy production and storage methods, according to a report.
A panel of 63 specialists worldwide was asked by the Canadian Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB) to identify the most promising areas of nanotech.
The panel said nanosciences could also significantly improve agriculture.
The nanotech impact study is reported in PLoS Medicine, the US-based Public Library of Science journal.
It is the first to rank nanotechnologies and nanoscience's potential influence relative to development, according to the authors.
"Economic development and energy consumption are inextricably linked," said Dr Peter Singer, director of the University of Toronto's JCB, a medical ethics think tank.
TOP 10 NANOTECH USES
1) Energy storage, production and conversion
2) Agricultural productivity enhancement
3) Water treatment and remediation
4) Disease diagnosis and screening
5) Drug delivery systems
6) Food processing and storage
7) Air pollution and remediation
8) Construction
9) Health monitoring
10) Vector and pest detection and control
The authors also recommend an initiative - called Addressing Global Challenges Using Nanotechnology - should be launched to encourage the development of nanotechnologies targeted at developing nations.
It could work along the lines of the Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative started last year by the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Nanotechnology is the manipulation of atoms and molecules at the "nanoscale". One nanometre is about a million times smaller than the diameter of a pinhead. A human hair is about 80,000 nanometres wide.
At the nanoscale, materials can be "tuned" to display unusual properties that could be exploited to build faster, lighter, stronger and more efficient devices and systems, as well as new classes of materials.
"If nanotechnology can help developing countries to move towards energy self-sufficiency, then the benefits of economic growth will become that much more accessible," said Dr Singer.
It also links in nanotechnologies' impacts to the United Nations' eight Millennium Development Goals.
These aim to get UN member nations to tackle some of the most serious problems facing developing countries, by 2015.
'Enormous potential'
"Most waves of technology can increase the gap between rich and poor but the harnessing of nanotechnology represents a chance to close these gaps," said Dr Singer.
"The targeted application of nanotechnology has enormous potential to bring about major improvements in the living standards of people in the developing world."
How nanotechnology is building the future from the bottom up
In pictures
"Science and technology alone are not going to magically solve all the problems of developing countries, but they are critical components of development," he added.
New nano-structured materials are being used to build the next generation of solar cells and hydrogen fuel cells.
Nanotechnologies are also being used to develop ways of storing hydrogen, which has been a problem.
Suitable hydrogen storage systems would mean cleaner, alternative energy could be delivered to countries still reliant on non-renewable fossil fuels.
Sensors and coatings
Nanotechnology applications are also being developed to improve soil fertility and crop production.
Nano-sensors could also monitor crop and animal health, and magnetic nano-particles could remove soil contaminants.
"Lab on a chip" technology also could have significant impacts on developing nations.
Soon, health workers should be able to test a drop of blood on a coin-sized piece of plastic.
A full diagnostic examination could be returned within minutes, using developments in nanotech.
Carbon nanotubes (Image: SPL)
Carbon nanotubes are being used in new water filtration techniques
It would negate the need for time-consuming and costly separate tests and analyses for infectious diseases such as malaria and HIV/Aids.
Water treatment is ranked third by the panel. "One-sixth of the world's population lacks access to safe water supplies," said study leader Dr Salamanca-Buentello.
"More than one-third of the population of rural areas in Africa, Asia, and Latin America has no clean water, and two million children die each year from water-related diseases."
Nano-membranes and nano-clays are inexpensive, portable and easily cleaned systems that purify, detoxify and desalinate water more efficiently than conventional bacterial and viral filters.
Researchers also have developed a method of large-scale production of carbon nanotube filters for water quality improvement.
Many developing countries have launched nanotechnology initiatives to aid the development of the science, including India, South Africa, Mexico, Thailand, Philippines, Chile, and Argentina.
After the US and Japan, China holds the most nanotech patent applications. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
From: <a href='http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4421867.stm' target='_blank'>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4421867.stm</a>
Many factors and issues here. Discuss.
Comments
I think 3rd world countries, given no real other options would choose nanotechnology over the current options available. It seems logical as so far the current options are quite limited, and do not have the power to change the environment so rapidly.
I think 3rd world countries, given no real other options would choose nanotechnology over the current options available. It seems logical as so far the current options are quite limited, and do not have the power to change the environment so rapidly. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Are you talking about real, self-replicating nanobots? Those have been 20 years in the future for the past 50 years and we're not anywhere close to getting them.
The nanotech that they're referencing in the article is just a new way of manufacturing old things, in order to make them better or more efficient. It doesn't change the environment any more rapidly than regular technology does, it just makes it easier or cheaper.
I assume the reason we don't have Nanobots yet because the technology isn't very friendly with our current economy. Nanobots have reduced maintenance complexities, as they are completely interchangable. This would reduce and/or eliminate the need for repair services. If you add the ability for Nanobots to self-replicate, you no longer need to constantly buy them from someone, reducing the cashflow of companies that sell them.
I'm guessing that the military is the most likely user of Nanobots. Nanobots could use whatever is at hand, even the dirt on the ground, as a material for repairing damaged vehicles, producing additional ammo for weapons, etc. Also, you wouldn't have to give extensive training to soldiers as to how to operate it. They would simply feed the Nanobots the appropriate materials and power, and any necessary repairs would be made automatically.
Yes this technology could help them. Will it? Only as much as every other techonology has. While the rest of the world holds the reins they will never let the 3rd world become equal, they are too useful where they are. While people still associate themselves as 'countries' others will always be considered competition. When you think you're winning you don't help those trailing behind you.
Nanotechnology is a terrible threat to our future survival actually. Not because I fear that I'll be gobbled up by uncontrollable replicating nano-bots, but because with our current technologies, we're already managing to seriously damage our ecosystem.
Generally, it's because of tyranny. You have corrupt leaders who only want to exploit their country to gain wealth and absolute domination over people. Advanced technology will not rid of this to help a country. More likely than not, the leader will use this only to their advantage to further harm the country than help it. They have no interest to bring poor people up a minimal middle-class standard of living, or to be given proper education, or complete awareness of what's being done to them. Yes, there are people who understand, but are they going to protest? No, because of the fear of being killed in sight for uprising against the government. If more people had the education, power, and modest wealth to stand up, the "leader" is going to have a hellish fun time of eradicating them all, all in the name of keeping their post, wealth, and respect.
Basically, plus there are lots of issues such as who will own the patents for the technology and how they dictate it can be used.
This is very similar to the use of various genetic engineering technologies, which have a large amount of promise for aiding 3rd world companies, yet only large biotechnology companies hold the technology and patents. As there is a massive cost in developing any form of GE application, they naturally hold onto their patents and tech to ensure they can make back some of their losses from regulations.
Nanotech will probably suffer very similarly to this.
I know i am opening a whole new can of worms, I mean GM Foods are an issue...
People are dying and no cure is being found... I would rather be genetically modified than die a slow death.
I know i am opening a whole new can of worms, I mean GM Foods are an issue...
People are dying and no cure is being found... I would rather be genetically modified than die a slow death.
I know i am opening a whole new can of worms, I mean GM Foods are an issue...
People are dying and no cure is being found... I would rather be genetically modified than die a slow death. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Many people would say that they'd never give up their 'humanity' etc, if people feel that being GM'd would compromise them then they'd often fight it, even if it meant death.
I think 3rd world countries, given no real other options would choose nanotechnology over the current options available. It seems logical as so far the current options are quite limited, and do not have the power to change the environment so rapidly. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Are you talking about real, self-replicating nanobots? Those have been 20 years in the future for the past 50 years and we're not anywhere close to getting them.
The nanotech that they're referencing in the article is just a new way of manufacturing old things, in order to make them better or more efficient. It doesn't change the environment any more rapidly than regular technology does, it just makes it easier or cheaper. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not true
the Vahn Neuman Device
it's a "robotic" organism that is, in essence, alive
NOrmally made like this
Uses Silicates and SimpleMetals as it's "foundation"
Uses GeoThermal energy as it's "power source"
Is roughly the size of a small car
Now... the problem is making these things REPLICATE in a timely manner without error
I know about the moral issues with being GM'ed, but will the bots be able to cure HIV?
I have also been wondering about minning, could the bots be used to mine underground? The bots would be 'programmed' to identify the mineral required and extract it from the matrix. This would generate a rich concnetrate which eliminates the necessity of blasting underground... Theoretically less seismic activity, minimizing events such as the Tsunami disaster in the indian ocean...