Watch videos from others who have responded to the following questions. Add your own voice to the conversation.
Would you implant a nano tracking system in your aging relative?
What would you do if you discovered that your partner has secretly been tracking you with a nano device?
Since 1991, Earth & Sky has worked with thousands of scientists to produce more than 5,000 radio spots on night sky astronomy, and on sustainability needs and strategies for the 21st century. Recently, Earth & Sky has created stories to build a bridge between nanotechnology scientists and the public. Use the player below to listen to stories on nanotechnology topics relevant to this episode of Power of Small.
Program Title: Watching You Watching Me
Taped at the Museum of Science, Boston
Many security applications rely on information technology. The use of nanoscale features means that the distance information must travel within a computer is vastly reduced. The smaller the distance, the more rapidly information can be processed, opening the door for faster, better, and cheaper computers. Nanotechnology will allow covenient sensor surveillance and tracking technologies anywhere in response to our desire for security. Almost anyone could use many of these new technologies. Their applications run the gamut from keeping track of granddad on his more befuddled days to tracking teen buying behavior, to identifying and checking background on possible terrorists as they enter an airport or visit a "critical" part of a major city.
The hypothetical situations presented in this seminar confront us with issues society must address around the use of these technologies for security. Who gets tracked? Who has the right or authority to engage in such activities? Must those watched or tracked be informed? Who has access to the information? How do we take advantage of the benefits of these powerful new technologies, while exercising our right to decide who can share the personal details of our life? In this seminar, our panelists wrestle with these knotty but essential issues through the guidance of John Hockenberry, Emmy and Peabody winning correspondent, NPR and NBC News.
