On the word ‘centitechnology’, about 3 years ago

New Scientist, 14 July 2007: “What is most worrying is that government agencies do not yet have a framework for even thinking about how to regulate nanotechnology. So varied are its products that deciding what are potential threats and what to track is a mammoth task in itself. To see why, consider nanotechnology’s larger-scale cousin “centitechnology”. This would include teacups, loaded guns, pencils, nuclear batteries, tubs of weedkiller and vials of nitroglycerine. Imagine working out a framework for identifying the dangers posed by such a diverse group of things, and then regulating them.”

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