World-leading authorities on nanotechnology, plus media and environmental campaigners, will debate this hot topic at the Microscience conference in London in July
Microscience's key session on nanotechnology will be introduced by the president of the Royal Microscopical Society, John Hutchison, and chaired by long-time journalist David Shukman, the BBC's science and environment correspondent. The speakers will represent various levels of pro- and anti- nanotechnology and have been interviewed all over the world. Vyvyan Howard is a renowned toxico-pathologist at the University of Liverpool and has been consulted by the government on issues such as BSE and its connection with CJD.
Howard has concerns about our exposure to ultrafine particles and will be discussing "Small particles, big problem".
Meanwhile, Microscience will also be presenting Greenpeace chief scientist, Doug Parr. Highlighting potential environmental problems, Parr will address the question: "Will nanotechnology make the world a better place?".
Peter Dobson advocates a cautious but positive approach and will be discussing genuine market needs and the short and long term potential of this technology, which as he points out, is not new.
His work at the University of Oxford has involved manufacturing nanoparticles and nanobiosensors.
From a technical point of view, the conference will also have speakers such as Alfred Cerezo, presenting atomic scale analysis of nanostructured materials in the 3D atom probe, and Andy Humphris talking about developing new tools for nanoscale microscopy.
The scientific conference will be part of Microscience 2004, running 6-8 July.
Those attending the conference, at a cost of just £30 per day, or £25 per day for members of the Royal Microscopical Society, will also have access to free workshops where more practical sessions based on the conference topics will be held. Microscience 2004 will be the major European event devoted exclusively to the interests of microscopy and imaging equipment users.
It comprises an extensive scientific conference with lectures, tutorials, poster sessions, seminars and workshops. Visitors will be able to see the latest advances in light microscopy, SEM, TEM, software, and hardware for image processing and analysis, plus specimen preparation equipment and allied laboratory supplies from a wide range of manufacturers in the extensive exhibition area.
Microscience 2004 will be held at Excel, London, on 6-8 July 2004.
