The BBC Loves to Cover Nanotechnology

Sometimes the overheated and hyperbolic narration to the BBC's nanotechnology documentaries are tough to take but at least they're interested

1 min read

I have below a clip from an upcoming documentary that will air on BBC One in the UK under the title "How Science Changed Our World"  and is narrated by Professor Robert Winston, who is a Lord to you and me and has a background in fertility studies.

In the clip he visits the London Centre for Nanotechnology, which as I have said before I had the good fortune of getting a tour of myself.

The BBC seems to have taken quite an interest over the years on the prospects of nanotechnology and with varied success and failure, if you ask my opinion. The terribly pointless and exaggerated expose on grey goo within its Jan Hendrik Schön documentary back in 2005 would represent the nadir of their coverage of the subject.

I am hoping that the BBC’s affection for the subject of nanotech is accompanied with a bit more circumspection in its narration than in that instance. But I do have to wonder what Professor Mr. Winston means when he says in the clip, “That miniaturization means that chips like viruses are getting closer to us than we could have possibly imagined.” It sounds lovely but I have no idea what it might mean.

 

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