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2003 GUARDIAN AWARD WINNER CONCERNED ABOUT THE FUTURE
The Lifeboat Foundation Guardian Award is annually bestowed upon a
revered scientist or public figure who has heralded the coming of a
future fraught with danger and encouraged provision against its perils.
This year's recipient is HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, the
future king of England.
Prince Charles has been quoted as saying, "I mind about the future of
all our children and grandchildren." And to show his concern, the
Prince will soon convene a nanotech summit at his country residence,
Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, to discuss the possibility that
self-replicating robotic organisms will reduce the planet to a lifeless
"grey goo".
The "grey goo" scenario was first suggested by nanotech researchers
some
20 years ago, back when nanoscience was mostly theory. It refers to the
possibility of building microscopic machines that could, for example,
roam the planet devouring toxic waste, or surf our bloodstreams
targeting diseases. The easiest way to manufacture such machines in the
enormous quantities required would be to enable them to reproduce
themselves, just like viruses and other microscopic organisms do. It's
these "self-replicating nanobots" that have stirred Prince Charles'
concern.
In part, fears of nanotech are fueled by the realization that the
science is reaching a tipping point — from theoretical possibility to
economic reality. Thirty countries now have state-sponsored nanotech
programs, all tilting for a slice of a market estimated to be worth $1
trillion by 2015. The governments of both the U.S. and Japan are each
investing more than $700 million in the field this year; the E.U. is
playing catch-up with a four-year, €1 billion pitch.
The Prince is Patron or President of more than 270 organizations, whose
range of interests and activities include young people, the unemployed,
the disabled, the elderly, the problems of the inner cities, education,
medicine, the arts, conservation, national heritage, environment,
architecture and sport.
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