The North American opinion climate for nanotechnology and its products: Opportunities and challenges

A January 2005 telephone survey of 1200 people in the U.S. and 2000 Canadians provides a snapshot of current North American opinion regarding nanotechnology at this crucial early point in its emergence from the laboratory to the arena of public discourse and public understanding. Using a typology of “publics” developed through analysis of a previous comparative survey (Priest, S., 2006) and subsequently tested against these newer data (Priest, S., 2005) this article describes the opinion climate for nanotechnology across North America. The comparison of key results from the two countries helps illustrate how social and cultural differences contribute to reactions to new technologies, including nanotech. The article also discusses implications for nanotechnology-related public outreach and risk communication efforts.     

Societal implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology: Maximizing human benefit

The balance between the potential benefits and risks of nanotechnology is discussed based on judgments expressed by leading industry, academe and government experts at a U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) sponsored meeting. The results are summarized in various themes related to: economic impacts and commercialization; social scenarios; technological convergence; quality of life; ethics and law; governance, public perceptions, and education.     

Public Attitudes Toward Nanotechnology

Data from 3909 respondents to an Internet survey questionnaire provide the first insights into public perceptions of nanotechnology. Quantitative analysis of statistics about agreement and disagreement with two statements, one positive and the other negative, reveals high levels of enthusiasm for the potential benefits of nanotechnology and little concern about possible dangers. The respondents mentally connect nanotechnology with the space program, nuclear power, and cloning research, but rate it more favorably. In contrast, they do not associate nanotechnology with pseudoscience, despite its imaginative exploitation by science fiction writers. Qualitative analysis of written comments from 598 respondents indicates that many ideas about the value of nanotechnology have entered popular culture, and it provides material for an additional 108 questionnaire items that can be used in future surveys on the topic. The findings of this exploratory study can serve as benchmarks against which to compare results of future research on the evolving status of nanotechnology in society.     

Patent citation network in nanotechnology (1976–2004)

The patent citation networks are described using critical node, core network, and network topological analysis. The main objective is understanding of the knowledge transfer processes between technical fields, institutions and countries. This includes identifying key influential players and subfields, the knowledge transfer patterns among them, and the overall knowledge transfer efficiency. The proposed framework is applied to the field of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE), including the citation networks of patent documents, submitting institutions, technology fields, and countries. The NSE patents were identified by keywords “full-text” searching of patents at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The analysis shows that the United States is the most important citation center in NSE research. The institution citation network illustrates a more efficient knowledge transfer between institutions than a random network. The country citation network displays a knowledge transfer capability as efficient as a random network. The technology field citation network and the patent document citation network exhibit a␣less efficient knowledge diffusion capability than a random network. All four citation networks show a tendency to form local citation clusters.     

International nanotechnology development in 2003: Country,institution, and technology field analysis based on USPTO patent database

Nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) have seen rapid growth and expansion in new areas in recent years. This paper provides an international patent analysis using the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) data searched by keywords of the entire text: title, abstract, claims, and specifications. A fraction of these patents fully satisfy the National Nanotechnology Initiative definition of nanotechnology (which requires exploiting specific phenomena and direct manipulation at the nanoscale), while others only make use of NSE tools and methods of investigation. In previous work we proposed an integrated patent analysis and visualization framework of patent content mapping for the NSE field and of knowledge flow pattern identification until 2002. In this paper, the results are updated for 2003, and the new trends are presented.     

Expert opinion on nanotechnology: risks,benefits, and regulation

A survey of American (US) nanotechnology researchers (N = 177) suggests a diversity of views about what areas are most important to the burgeoning field, as well as perceptions about the overall benefits and risks of such research. On average, respondents saw a range of technologies as key and viewed public health and environmental issues as areas where both risks and the need for regulation are greatest. These areas were also where respondents said current regulations were least adequate. Factor analyses of the survey questions suggest that, when considering both risks and regulations, respondents make a distinction between health and environmental risks, and what might be termed “social risks” (e.g., invasion of privacy, use of nanotechnology in weapons, and economic impacts).

Connecting NSF funding to patent innovation in nanotechnology (2001–2004)

Nanotechnology research has experienced growth rapid in knowledge and innovations; it also attracted significant public funding in recent years. Several countries have recognized nanotechnology as a critical research domain that promises to revolutionize a wide range of fields of applications. In this paper, we present an analysis of the funding for nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its implications on technological innovation (number of patents) in this field from 2001 to 2004. Using a combination of basic bibliometric analysis and content visualization tools, we identify growth trends, research topic distribution, and the evolution in NSF funding and commercial patenting activities recorded at the United States Patent Office (USPTO). The patent citations are used to compare the impact of the NSF-funded research on nanotechnology development with research supported by other sources in the United States and abroad. The analysis shows that the NSF-funded researchers and patents authored by them have significantly higher impact based on patent citation measures in the four-year period than other comparison groups. The NSF-authored patent impact is growing faster with the lifetime of a patent, indicating the long-term importance of fundamental research.     

The Public and Nanotechnology: How Citizens Make Sense of Emerging Technologies

We report findings from a national telephone survey on levels of knowledge about and attitudes toward nanotechnology that demonstrate how people make decisions about emerging technologies. Our findings confirm previous research that suggests that people form opinions and attitudes even in the absence of relevant scientific or policy-related information. In fact, our data show that cognitive shortcuts or heuristics – often provided by mass media – are currently a key factor in influencing how the public thinks about nanotechnology and about its risks and benefits, and in determining the level of support among the public for further funding for research in this area.     

Longitudinal study on patent citations to academic research articles in nanotechnology (1976–2004)

Academic nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) research provides a foundation for nanotechnology innovation reflected in patents. About 60% or about 50,000 of the NSE-related patents identified by “full-text” keyword searching between 1976 and 2004 at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have an average of approximately 18 academic citations. The most cited academic journals, individual researchers, and research articles have been evaluated as sources of technology innovation in the NSE area over the 28-year period. Each of the most influential articles was cited about 90 times on the average, while the most influential author was cited more than 700 times by the NSE-related patents. Thirteen mainstream journals accounted for about 20% of all citations. Science, Nature and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) have consistently been the top three most cited journals, with each article being cited three times on average. There is another kind of influential journals, represented by Biosystems and Origin of Life, which have very few articles cited but with exceptionally high frequencies. The number of academic citations per year from ten most cited journals has increased by over 17 times in the interval (1990–1999) as compared to (1976–1989), and again over 3 times in the interval (2000–2004) as compared to (1990–1999). This is an indication of increased used of academic knowledge creation in the NSE-related patents.     

Coherence and Divergence of Megatrends in Science and Engineering

Scientific discoveries and technological innovations are at the core of human endeavor, and it is estimated that their role will only increase in time. Such advancements evolve in coherence, with areas of confluence and temporary divergences, which bring synergism and that stimulate further developments following in average an exponential growth. Six increasingly interconnected megatrends are perceived as dominating the scene for the next decades: (a) information and computing, (b) nanoscale science and engineering (S&E), (c) biology and bio-environmental approaches, (d) medical sciences and enhancing human physical capabilities, (e) cognitive sciences and enhancing intellectual abilities, and (f) collective behavior and system approach.This paper presents a perspective on the process of identification, planning and program implementation of S&E megatrends, with illustration for the US research initiative on nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. The interplay between coherence and divergence, leading to unifying science and converging technologies, does not develop only among simultaneous scientific trends but also along time and across geopolitical boundaries. There is no single way of development of S&E, and here is the role of taking visionary measures. Societal implication scientists need to be involved from the conceptual phase of a program responding to a S&E megatrend.     

Longitudinal Nanotechnology Development (1991--2002): National Science Foundation Funding and its Impact on Patents

Nanotechnology holds the promise to revolutionize a wide range of products, processes and applications. It is recognized by over sixty countries as critical for their development at the beginning of the 21st century. A significant public investment of over $1 billion annually is devoted to nanotechnology research in the United States. This paper provides an analysis of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funding of nanoscale science and engineering (NSE) and its relationship to the innovation as reflected in the United States Patent and Trade Office (USPTO) patent data. Using a combination of bibliometric analysis and visualization tools, we have identified several general trends, the key players, and the evolution of technology topics in the NSF funding and commercial patenting activities. This study documents the rapid growth of innovation in the field of nanotechnology and its correlation to funding. Statistical analysis shows that the NSF-funded researchers and their patents have higher impact factors than other private and publicly funded reference groups. This suggests the importance of fundamental research on nanotechnology development. The number of cites per NSF-funded inventor is about 10 as compared to 2 for all inventors of NSE-related patents recorded at USPTO, and the corresponding Authority Score is 20 as compared to 1.8.     

Protecting workers and the environment: An environmental NGO’s perspective on nanotechnology

Nanotechnology, the design and manipulation of materials at the atomic scale, may well revolutionize many of the ways our society manufactures products, produces energy, and treats diseases. New materials based on nanotechnology are already reaching the market in a wide variety of consumer products. Some of the observed properties of nanomaterials call into question the adequacy of current methods for determining hazard and exposure and for controlling resulting risks. Given the limitations of existing regulatory tools and policies, we believe two distinct kinds of initiatives are needed: first, a major increase in the federal investment in nanomaterial risk research; second, rapid development and implementation of voluntary standards of care pending development of adequate regulatory safeguards in the longer term. Several voluntary programs are currently at various stages of evolution, though the eventual outputs of each of these are still far from clear. Ultimately, effective regulatory safeguards are necessary to provide a level playing field for industry while adequately protecting human health and the environment. This paper reviews the existing toxicological literature on nanomaterials, outlines and analyzes the current regulatory framework, and provides our recommendations, as an environmental non-profit organization, for safe nanotechnology development.     

Numbers,scale and symbols: the public understanding of nanotechnology

Nanotechnology will be an increasing part of the everyday lives of most people in the world. There is a general recognition that few people understand the implications of the technology, the technology itself or even the definition of the word. This lack of understanding stems from a lack of knowledge about science in general but more specifically difficulty in grasping the size scale and symbolism of nanotechnology. A potential key to informing the general public is establishing the ability to comprehend the scale of nanotechnology. Transitioning from the macro to the nanoscale seems to require an ability to comprehend scales of one-billion. Scaling is a skill not common in most individuals and tests of their ability to extrapolate size based upon scaling a common object demonstrates that most individuals cannot scale to the extent needed to make the transition to nanoscale. Symbolism is another important vehicle to providing the general public with a basis to understand the concepts of nanotechnology. With increasing age, individuals are able to draw representations of atomic scale objects, but these tend to be iconic and the different representations not easily translated. Ball and stick models are most recognized by the public, which provides an opportunity to present not only useful symbolism but also a reference point for the atomic scale.     

Worldwide nanotechnology development: a comparative study of USPTO,EPO, and JPO patents (1976–2004)

To assess worldwide development of nanotechnology, this paper compares the numbers and contents of nanotechnology patents in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), European Patent Office (EPO), and Japan Patent Office (JPO). It uses the patent databases as indicators of nanotechnology trends via bibliographic analysis, content map analysis, and citation network analysis on nanotechnology patents per country, institution, and technology field. The numbers of nanotechnology patents published in USPTO and EPO have continued to increase quasi-exponentially since 1980, while those published in JPO stabilized after 1993. Institutions and individuals located in the same region as a repository’s patent office have a higher contribution to the nanotechnology patent publication in that repository (“home advantage” effect). The USPTO and EPO databases had similar high-productivity contributing countries and technology fields with large number of patents, but quite different high-impact countries and technology fields after the average number of received cites. Bibliographic analysis on USPTO and EPO patents shows that researchers in the United States and Japan published larger numbers of patents than other countries, and that their patents were more frequently cited by other patents. Nanotechnology patents covered physics research topics in all three repositories. In addition, USPTO showed the broadest representation in coverage in biomedical and electronics areas. The analysis of citations by technology field indicates that USPTO had a clear pattern of knowledge diffusion from highly cited fields to less cited fields, while EPO showed knowledge exchange mainly occurred among highly cited fields.     

Manufacturing at Nanoscale: Top-Down,Bottom-up and System Engineering

The current nano-technology revolution is facing several major challenges: to manufacture nanodevices below 20 nm, to fabricate three-dimensional complex nano-structures, and to heterogeneously integrate multiple functionalities. To tackle these grand challenges, the Center for Scalable and Integrated NAno-Manufacturing (SINAM), a NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center, set its goal to establish a new manufacturing paradigm that integrates an array of new nano-manufacturing technologies, including the plasmonic imaging lithography and ultramolding imprint lithography aiming toward critical resolution of 1–10 nm and the hybrid top-down and bottom-up technologies to achieve massively parallel integration of heterogeneous nanoscale components into higher-order structures and devices. Furthermore, SINAM will develop system engineering strategies to scale-up the nano-manufacturing technologies. SINAMs integrated research and education platform will shed light to a broad range of potential applications in computing, telecommunication, photonics, biotechnology, health care, and national security.     

Cooperation between scientists and the government in the US: benefits and problems

This paper discusses the importance of maintaining close working relations between scientists and their government. Several examples of this cooperation in the U.S. are presented to illustrate the benefits, as well as problems, that result from such cooperation, or lack thereof. These examples include government support of scientific research, as well as contributions by science to help governments understand both the possibilities and the limitations of science as they formulate national policy.     

Modeling and Analysis of Social Phenomena: Challenges and Possible Research Directions

This opening editorial aims to interest researchers and encourage novel research in the closely related fields of sociophysics and computational social science. We briefly discuss challenges and possible research directions in the study of social phenomena, with a particular focus on opinion dynamics. The aim of this Special Issue is to allow physicists, mathematicians, engineers and social scientists to show their current research interests in social dynamics, as well as to collect recent advances and new techniques in the analysis of social systems.     

Public understanding of science and the perception of nanotechnology: the roles of interest in science,methodological knowledge,epistemological beliefs,and beliefs about science

In this article, we report data from an online questionnaire study with 587 respondents, representative for the adult U.S. population in terms of age, gender, and level of education. The aim of this study was to assess how interest in science and knowledge as well as beliefs about science are associated with risk and benefit perceptions of nanotechnology. The findings suggest that the U.S. public is still rather unfamiliar with nanotechnology. Those who have some knowledge mainly have gotten it from TV and the Internet. The content of current media reports is perceived as fairly positive. Knowledge of scientific methods is unrelated to benefit and risk perceptions, at least when other predictors are controlled. In contrast, positive beliefs about science (e.g., its impact on economy or health) and more sophisticated epistemological beliefs about the nature of scientific knowledge are moderately linked to more positive perceptions of nanotechnology. The only exception is the perception of scientific uncertainty: This is associated with less positive evaluations. Finally, higher engagement with science is associated with higher risk perceptions. These findings show that laypersons who are engaged with science and who are aware of the inherent uncertainty of scientific evidence might perceive nanotechnology in a somewhat more differentiated way, contrary to how it is portrayed in the media today.     

Bridging the scales in nano engineering and science

This review article describes various multiscale approaches, development of which was spurred by the emergence of nanotechnology. The multiscale approaches are grouped into two main categories: information-passing and concurrent. In the concurrent multiscale methods both, the discrete and continuum scales are simultaneously resolved, whereas in the information-passing schemes, the discrete scale is modelled and its gross response is infused into the continuum scale. Most of the information-passing approaches provide sublinear computational complexity, (i.e., scales sublinearly with the cost of solving a fine scale problem), but the quantities of interest are limited to or defined only on the coarse scale. The issues of appropriate scale selection and uncertainty quantification are also reviewed.     

Mo6S6 nanowires: structural, mechanical and electronic properties

The properties of nanowires were investigated with ab initio calculations based on the density-functional theory. The molecules build weakly coupled one-dimensional chains, like and Mo₆S_9-xI_x, and the crystals are strongly uniaxial in their mechanical and electronic properties. The calculated moduli of elasticity and resilience along the chain axis are c₁₁ = 320 GPa and E_R = 0.53 GPa, respectively. The electronic band structure and optical conductivity indicate that the crystals are good quasi-one-dimensional conductors. The frequency-dependent complex dielectric tensor ε, calculated in the random-phase approximation, shows a strong Drude peak in ε_∥, i.e., for the electric field polarised parallel to the chain axis, and several peaks related to interband transitions. The electron energy loss spectrum is weakly anisotropic and has a strong peak at the plasma frequency ħω_p ≈20 eV. The stability analysis shows that is metastable against the formation of the layered .