America Must Regulate Nanotechnology Essay -- Technology Physics Mecha

America Must Regulate Nanotechnology Definition of Nanotechnology Nanotechnology involves the â€Å"art of purposefully manipulating materials on at atomic scale or molecular scale†[1] (also referred to as â€Å"nanoscale†), as compared to processes governed by the laws of physics that carry out naturally occurring actions, such as chemical reactions and changes in state. At the nanoscale level, the laws of quantum mechanics take over, pushing aside what most are familiar with via Newtonian mechanics. Because of the fundamental shift in how work is done, nanotechnology has the potential to affect and change everything in existence. Future Implications of Nanotechnology Nanotechnology will affect everything, and likely change everything to significant degrees. The future implications of nanotechnology exist along all frontiers of science, culture, commerce, economy, business, law, ethics, medicine/health, religion, and life. The end result of these changes will, however, either advance human civilization several orders of magnitude forward and thus achieve â€Å"utopia† if properly managed and regulated, or bring an end to human civilization if not properly controlled, studied, and managed, akin to â€Å"Pandora’s Box† of ancient Greek mythology, but several orders of magnitude worse! Some significant implications as a result of nanotechnology include[2]:  · Nearly free consumer products  · PC's billions of times faster then today  · People live longer with virtual ends to illness and aging  · No more pollution and automatic cleanup of existing pollution . End of famine and starvation  · Superior education for every child on Earth These implications could become reality in the near ... .../view/library/aliens/article/70558.html [12] â€Å"Library-Technology – Nanoprobes†, StarTrek.com, http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/library/technology/article/3963.html [13] National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, http://www.nnin.org/ [14] National Nanotechnology Initiative, http://www.nano.gov [15] Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, http://www.crnano.org [16] â€Å"Everything or Nothing Overview†, http://www.commanderbond.net/Public/Stories/2279-1.shtml [17] â€Å"Nanotechnology Now – Ethics of Nanotechnology†, http://nanotech-now.com/ethics-of-nanotechnology.htm [18] Rob Fixmer, "The Soul of the Next New Machine: Humans", New York Times on the Web (November 5, 1999), http://cseserv.engr.scu.edu/NQuinn/ENGR019_301Winter2004/HWBCCCU.htm [19] â€Å"Telecommunications Act of 1996†, Federal Communications Commission, http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html