Kansas didn’t expect its slow number to be a hit, but there it was: Dust in the Wind.
I am privy to have met three gentlemen, all Vietnamese nano technology scientists.
Through them, I learn about our next frontier, not out there, but right here e.g. coconut shells from which carbon nano tubes can be extracted with the right equipment and technique.
It will be a while before these findings found themselves into your Wal-mart stores.
But for now, nano tech has defense, health care, pharmaceutical and solar applications.
I am sure the ethicist and novelist have debated the implications of nano toxicity and runaway technology (Prey).
We need those debates just as we had when the atomic bomb was first invented.
As a nation, I don’t think we have responded well to Secretary of Energy Chu’s call to action (that if all our roofs get a new coat of white paint, we would reduce carbon emission substantially). The upcoming Kyoto summit should divide up carbon ration per nation.
Nano is the new plastic. Dustin Hoffman‘s counselor would have to redub his line in “the Graduate“. Every 40 years or so, we see a new game changer e.g. from dirty coal to clean room. I’d rather see creative destruction than self-destruction.
Next Gen has grown up digitally e.g. Kindle, Reader and whatever else. Broadcast your line, your script and your ads to our hand-held device.
24/7 streaming. “We are mad like hell, and we won’t take it anymore”, yelled a generation of Network audience.
This time, they seem more in control, and participate in reallocating “power, to the people”. Nobody is leading this time.
Just the Net which is neutral. Emanuel, White House Counsel, or Emanuel, Fox News White House correspondent, both are treated the same, as far as the Net is concerned. Just 1 and 0, at whatever broadband speed you buy.
All that remains…nano in the wind. Years from now, Kansas’ Dust in the Wind is stilled listened to, more than all their other rock numbers combined. Quite unintended. Just like our many scientific discoveries, among them, nano technology.
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Thang Nguyen 555 