The future is in your pocket: what technologies will change the lives of the next generations

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He could probably become the leading theorist in this field. However, over time, his interests changed: the scientist became interested in the practical aspects of science, such as the risks of using new technologies, popularizing knowledge about them, and also creating a new scientific vision of risk.

Focus asked the professor about the future world of hybrid technologies and whether the wolf is really not as scary as it is painted.

WHO IS HE

Physicist, Professor at the School of Future Innovation at Arizona State University, Director of the Innovation Risk Laboratory, Member of the Council for Shaping the Global Nanotechnology Agenda at the World Economic Forum in Davos

WHY HE

Led by Andrew Maynard, a team of scientists is studying the risks and benefits of using new technologies

Nano for dummies

How would you “chew” children or adults, far from modern science, the meaning of the term “nanotechnology”?

Both schoolchildren and adults know that everything we use – a pen, a pencil, an iPhone – consists of atoms and molecules.  If we had the ability to design these atoms and molecules as we please, humanity could create stronger materials.

Nanotechnology is the very incredible ability to control molecules and atoms, make materials stronger and even create something completely new.

Are there areas or areas of life in which nanotechnology is best kept out?

– There is no such. Nanotechnology is just a tool to make the technologies we use work better.

This, of course, does not mean that caution should be forgotten.  When we introduce something to a person, interfere with the work of the body, we need to be sure that this will not cause harm. The same with the environment: since nanotechnology is widely used in the manufacture of pesticides, care must be taken that this does not worsen the state of the environment.

What does your Innovation Risk Lab do?

“The world we are creating is huge and incredibly complex from a technological point of view. And the more complex it becomes, the closer the internal ties of humanity. Think about it: you are in Kyiv and I am in Phoenix, but thanks to technology, we have the opportunity to exchange thoughts now, in real time. There are not many real borders left in the world.

“Nanodrugs could make a person or animal sick, Nano pesticides could disrupt an ecosystem, or perhaps the power of one of the nanoparticles could put many people out of work.”

One of the tasks of my laboratory is to make sure that the new technology does not bring harm, to do everything to avoid collapse and not be in a world destroyed by technology.

The Innovation Risk Lab is not like traditional physics labs.  Here, scientists are experimenting with new ideas, ways of thinking, revising the very concept of “risk”. The latter is a real problem that constantly has to be solved anew.

What is wrong with this concept, why does it need to be rethought?

— In scientific circles, the understanding of what risk is and how to deal with it is frozen in time. And the world does not stand still, all new technologies are developing, respectively, there are risks that we did not even know about before.

Take, for example, nanoparticles. They are different sizes, shapes, and if you take a bucket of nanoparticles, they will all be different from each other. And we traditionally believe that all particles are the same.

It’s the same with risk. It can be different: nanodrugs can cause a disease in a person or animal, Nano pesticides can disrupt an ecosystem, or the power of one of the nanoparticles can put many people out of work.

And we will not understand if we are guided by the old attitude to risk, formed long before the advent of nanotechnologies.

Genetic engineering also raises questions. Recently there was information that a group of scientists is trying to grow a human gene in the laboratory. That is, in the next 20 years we may see an artificially created person. Is there a risk in this? What is “being human”? And can we allow anyone who wants to be able to create a person in a laboratory? Specialists must study the risks and answer these questions.

Aren’t you afraid that immersion in the study of possible risks will make scientists too cautious and become an obstacle to revolutionary discoveries?

“That is also a risk. Let’s become too careful – we will not benefit from new technologies.

A scientist must think not only about the harm that certain technologies can bring today, but also about the benefits that can be derived from these same technologies in the future. You need to see the consequences of both continuing and stopping research.

What are you doing now?

“The last thing we explored was amateur CubeSats. This is a very interesting topic. What is usually associated with the word “satellite”? Probably with billions of dollars or space programs. Even schoolchildren can drop off and launch their brainchild into space.

However, it is worth thinking about the consequences: what will happen if tens of thousands of amateur satellites start circling the Earth’s orbit? Will it improve or, conversely, worsen our lives? Nobody knows the exact answer. One thing is clear: humanity has reached the moment when each of us can do something in space. And our actions can affect the whole world.