By military standards, $300 million a year is small change. This amount, the U.S. military budget for nanotechnology research, pales in comparison to its total budget for war or peacekeeping'both of which are possible applications for the minute technology.
According to UW-Madison assistant professor of public affairs Clark Miller, 'it's clear that nanotechnology offers a very promising area of research for a wide variety of applications.' However, possible applications of the microscopic technology tend toward both altruistic advances in health and safety and more malicious means of harming large numbers of people.
UW'Madison history professor Jeremi Suri explained that current NT research differs from past technological advances in three ways. First, current research takes place on a smaller scale than that between, say, the Industrial Revolution and the mid-20th century, when technology was predominantly used to make useful items larger.
Second, NT is an area of research still being developed'there is not yet much practical experience with technology measured on the order of billionths of a meter outside of military or scientific labs.
Finally, NT is not being developed for the sole purpose of 'killing people directly,' Suri said. 'It's being developed largely to protect people in one way or another.'
What good, you ask, can come from a potentially earth-shattering technology still in its infancy? The answer: plenty.
Advances in NT can lead to improvements in a soldier's body armor or a military vehicle's ability to withstand roadside bombs.
Sarah Park, a project assistant in the UW-Madison History Department, spoke at the Engineering Centers Building recently on 'Nanotechnology's Ambiguous Role in the U.S. Military.' She said that by focusing on advances in NT, military outlets like the Department of Defense can hope to 'enhance human physical capabilities' by devising ways to prevent sleep deprivation or increase physical strength in soldiers.
Another possibility would be to create devices like lightweight, cheap water filtration units or 'smart mines.' Currently being developed by Nanomaterials Discovery Corporation, these mines could be de-activated after a certain period of time or post-conflict.
Of course, there is always a danger that new, lightweight or miniature weaponry will be used for malicious purposes. Suri said that, 'any time you miniaturize, it means things are more mobile. And mobility is certainly an advantage for anyone trying to steal something.'
As Park outlined, the recently published 9/11 Commission Report mentions that technology is a liability'it is expensive and can always potentially benefit terrorists.
Furthermore, having experienced varying lengths of the Cold War, some theorists predict that advances in military NT will evoke an arms race.
Despite the potential for international rivalries, the U.S. could circumvent hostilities through simple gestures of trust. Park quoted an evaluation of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, which stated that 'familiarity can bring friendliness, rather than contempt' (read more at www.nano.gov). Suri said to avoid future altercations, 'we need to have some sort of international sharing and transparency mechanisms.'
Nanotechnology in a military context has been evolving for decades and, like any emerging technology, has the potential to help or harm.
'We're really early on in this NT process,' Suri said. 'What we think and what we say about these things will change over the next few years. It's important we keep an open mind.'
