Perhaps working in a company which deals with nanotechnology every day has clouded my judgment, but I was really surprised when I saw the results of a recent public awareness poll conducted in the US. According to the results “only 6 percent of Americans – or fewer than one in 16 – say they have “heard a lot” about nanotechnology, as compared with 10 percent in 2006. In 2007, 21 percent say they have “heard some” about nanotechnology, unchanged from the previous year. Similarly, as in 2006, about 70 percent of adults say they have heard “just a little” or “nothing at all.”Here in Australia “nanotechnology” appears in the papers, on TV shows, mentioned in products that we buy and is making its way into the cirriculum in schools. You come across it quite readily in everyday life. Perhaps as Peter Binks mentioned, the result may have been affected by the way the questions were phrased.
I am pleased to report however, that Jennifer Garner from Rice University who is currently undertaking an internship here at NanoVic, has vowed on her return to the US to spread the word about nanotechnology starting firstly with the State of Texas. You go girl!
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