UK and US attitudes to nanotechnology

Here is a new study that shows "People In The U.S. And The U.K. Show Strong Similarities In Their Attitudes Toward Nanotechnologies". Interesting that people focus more on the benefits of nanotechnology than the risks. I would have thought that people living in the UK might be more aware of the risks of nanotechnology than people living in the US, because I was living in the UK during BSE and Foot and Mouth disease outbreaks and believe me, the media and the opposition party ensured that the public were well aware of the failings of government to regulate effectively to ensure food was indeed 'safe'. I also noticed that there was also a lot of public debate going on at the time about the safety of GM foods (both in the UK and Europe). Although I am not sure about the levels of debate on the GM food issue in the US.

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Anyway, here is a link to the full news article called "People In The U.S. And The U.K. Show Strong Similarities In Their Attitudes Toward Nanotechnologies" from Science Daily. The abstract is here on Nature Nanotechnology (advanced online edition) - although I will have to wait for the normal on-line edition to read the full thing (maybe a week).

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The results include the following key findings:

• Overall participants in both countries focused on the benefits rather than the risks of nanotechnologies, and also exhibited a high degree of optimism regarding the future contribution of new technologies to society. This pattern was very similar in the workshops in both the United States and Britain.

• Some small cross-country differences were present. U.K. participants were generally more aware of recent technological controversies and risk governance failures (examples include genetically modified organisms, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), and foot and mouth disease), leading some to voice specific concerns about future nanotechnology risks.

The study also found that people were more likely to be positive about nanotechnology used for energy projects, than when it is used for medical purposes. This makes sense to me, because people will tend to be more concerned with risks that seem to relate more directly to themselves and their family and friends - like health concerns - rather than worry about more psychologically distant things like the risks of energy nanotechnology.

**If you enjoyed this post please also check out:

What is nanotechnology?
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History of Nanotechnology
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Nanotechnology - risks and benefits

Nanotechnology and Climate Change

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