Do they know it's nanotime at all?

Jet-setting nanopersonality Tim Harper writes an intriguing column that briefly addresses an issue that will make its way onto the global agenda: Nano-Haves and Nano-Have-Nots. It's really a stepchild of the broader issue over access to technology and its benefits that some file under the general class-warfare category pitting the developing world against the developed. As I've said before, nanotechnology is in danger of not only being classified as a form of pollution, but also as another form of oppression by industrialized nations and is sure to find its way onto the anti-globalization movement's agenda. The industrialized and developing worlds, as Tim says, should talk to one another about an exchange of technological and monetary resources for skilled and educated workers, then we can all join hands in a "We Are the World" sing-along while enjoying the benefits of a nanotech-enabled, healthy, poverty-free world. We just need to get the word out about the various ways nanotechnology can help the world's impoverished regions. The solution, Harper points out, is "communication." But while conference calls to Kabul are all well and good, nanotech rock stars like Harper need to think on a grander scale if they're going to drown out the voices of the closed-minded. How about NanoAid? I wonder what Bob Geldof is doing these days. Discuss