Senate bill proposes major expansion of nanoscience funding
from the nanopork-for-New-Mexico dept.
Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-New Mexico) has introduced legislation to boost federal funding for nanoscience research performed at Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories, and at New Mexico universities. In a press release issued by his office, Sen. Bingaman's bill is described as "legislation designed to direct millions more dollars annually into research and development of nanoscience ñ the science of manipulating materials on an atom by atom basis."
Bingaman's bill (S.90), called the "Department of Energy Nanoscale Science and Engineering Act" lays out a five-year plan to boost the authorization for research and development of nanoscience from $160 million in fiscal year 2002, and rising to $330 million by fiscal year 2006. Research would be funded through the Department of Energy's Office of Science. For fiscal year 2001, the Office of Science was appropriated $84 million for nanoscience research as part of the National Nanotechnology Initiative. The entire NNI is funded at about $420 million for FY2001, so Bingaman's proposal amounts to a near doubling of federal nanoscience research funding.
January 29th, 2001 at 8:58 PM
Getting worried
I know many people are probably just glad to see some money being thrown at nanotech, but I'm getting worried. This money keeps coming from the government, and when the government invests money, they feel they have a right to regulate. What, a law that bans matter assemblers for the masses? So much for the nanotech revolution. Well, it probably won't be that bad, but I could see bans on assembling firearms, or movies and CDs, or even 'obscene' materials. Just something to think about when Uncle Sam steps into the fog.
January 30th, 2001 at 8:05 AM
Not to worry
Even if the pathetic United States invests into Nanotech, it's not going to matter; the outcome will still be the same. Nanotechnology is going to DESTROY the pathetic United States and every other country like it. Why? It's because of people like me, who pirate software/movies/music etc etc and demand that everything should be free. And everything WILL be free in a nanotech world – the ways of our pathetic ancestors will finally be disposed of once and for all. And with the death of those ideals that have never made sense since the beginning, so too, will the death of ALL government be imminent, since those inferior forms of control rely on money/economy/Supply & Demand.
January 30th, 2001 at 10:57 AM
Re:Getting worried
Chances are, there will be heavy regulation. If you were a major super power would you want your enemies to have the power to wipe you out? But again, it may push the world towards a unified Government. G-Man
January 30th, 2001 at 1:03 PM
Re:Getting worried
Hopefully by the time nanotechnology arrives, then "the government" may be back for the people – rather than seen as an external threat to the people.
Maybe.
Where did I leave my Utopia.
January 30th, 2001 at 2:04 PM
Millions?
How about Billions? Then I think we've got something.
January 31st, 2001 at 9:43 PM
Re:Getting worried
If the government develops it, they will want to regulate it. If business develops it, they will want to patent, trademark or copyright it. Both of them are basically saying that if you want to play with their bat and ball, then you play the game their way. I don't see much difference in their approaches.
It would be nice if MNT was developed by an open source mothodology, but I'm not going to hold my breath. And even if it was, a lot of safeguards would still have to be written into the assembler operating code to stop future Unabombers doing something really messy. Perhaps the end result will end up looking fairly similar no matter who develops it. But I wouldn't count on it.