Addressing the fourth annual Foresight Conference on Molecular Nanotechnology in 1995, Adm. David Jeremiah, a former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made a bold prediction. The "military applications of molecular manufacturing have even greater potential than nuclear weapons to radically change the [world] balance of power," he said.

The risk in trying to stop others from using the technology to gain a strategic advantage, Jeremiah continued, was that "the uninformed policy maker is likely to impose restrictions on [the] development of technology in such a way as to inhibit commercial development, ultimately beneficial to mankind, while permitting those operating outside the restrictive bounds to gain an irrevocable advantage."

It was an ominous, if not unfamiliar, statement to the assembled crowd, some of whom were undoubtedly excited by the potential of exploring the area of science Jeremiah was referring to, an area physicist Richard Feynman had labeled the "room at the bottom."

The "bottom" of which Feynman spoke and later wrote is the low end of the scale of matter--atoms and molecules. Twenty years later, researcher Eric Drexler coined the term "nanotechnology" for the science Feynman envisioned--building materials, structures, and machinery from the molecule up.

Absent the kind of regulation Jeremiah feared, scientists and businessmen have taken research into the construction and potential application of nanoscale materials and run with it. The consequence has been a growing diversity of products and processes integrated into both consumer and military realms.

Although the general public has begun to more broadly feel the impact of nanotechnology, researchers are just beginning to explore the potential for early nanotech developments and applications to harm human and animal health and the environment. In the age of terrorism, the potential of certain nanotechnologies and nanomaterials to be used to do both good and bad requires not just the exploration of the possibilities of this mushrooming field of science but also broad anticipation of possible threats.

(For complete article, follow the link below.)

Presenting the fall 2004 Payne Distinguished Lecture on Oct. 4, Peter Eigen, founder and chairman of Transparency International, discussed "Chasing Corruption Around the World: How Civil Society Strengthens Global Governance."

Transparency International, the only international non-governmental organization devoted to combating corruption, brings civil society, business and governments together in a powerful global coalition. Through its international secretariat and its more than 85 independent national chapters around the world, the organization works at the national and international level to curb both the supply of and demand for corruption. In the international arena, Transparency International raises awareness about the damaging effects of corruption, advocates policy reform, works towards the implementation of multilateral conventions, and subsequently monitors compliance by governments, corporations and banks. At the national level, its chapters work to increase levels of accountability and transparency, monitoring the performance of key institutions and pressing for necessary reforms in a nonpartisan manner.