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sexta-feira, 20 de abril de 2012

NanOlympics – A call for bloggers


Nanochannels is a project funded by the European Commission to inform and engage the public on issues related to nanotechnology.
As part of our efforts to raise a discussion on the ethical, legal and social aspects of nanotechnology, we would like to focus on the upcoming Olympic Games this summer in London. The use of nanotechnology has increased dramatically over the last few years, and sport is no exception. The question is how will nanotechnology impact the 2012 Olympics?
We believe that this high profile event is a great opportunity to discuss the potential effects of a new technology and its implications on society, sport and culture in general. The event is global, and will evoke huge interest and emotion and thus is relevant to the lay public, who are more likely to relate to the subject of nanotechnology through it.
We welcome bloggers from across Europe to join our efforts to engage the public.
Nanotechnology raises ethical dilemmas in several aspects of the Olympic Games:
  • Sports equipment and clothing – Where do we draw the line between fair enhancement and abuse? What is the role of an athlete in such an environment? How will it affect the gap between social classes?
  • Human enhancement – the potential of bionic people and the future relation between the Olympics and the Paralympics
  • Nano sensors and drug tests
If you share our enthusiasm for the subject and believe that this major global sport event faces a great change and requires the public’s attention; we invite you to join the bloggers outreach and express your opinion and vision via Nanochannels.
Your contribution will benefit from the powerful distribution network of Nanochannels.
Your posts will be published on the Nanochannels official website and shared with leading media partners: The Guardian, El Mundo and Corriere Della Sera.
How can you join the Olympic Games campaign?
Choose your point of view and compose a post dedicated to the Olympics and nanotechnology. It’s best to address controversial issues and to provoke the audience to reflect on dilemmas and share their opinions.
Send the link to your post or any questions or needed clarifications, to us.

Related reading:

Novel fabrics to make an Olympic splash – Following the smashing of 168 world records in swimming in 2009, the sports governing body, FINA, decided to investigate and then banned certain types of swimwear made from materials that aided “speed, buoyancy or endurance”. But since then, the leading UK swimwear manufacturer Speedo International Ltd, has taken a fresh approach to designing swimwear that fits within FINA’s rules. With its new FastSkin3 competitive swimwear range, launched in December 2011, Speedo has enlisted the help of UK researchers to create a suit with the lowest possible level of drag, the measure of how easily a material enables water to move over it.
Argento, nano, and PROOF - When the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) held its 2004 annual meeting in Seattle, I read the abstract for a presentation about making diagnoses from saliva. Although I never did make it to the presentation, I remained fascinated by the idea especially as it seemed to promise the end of blood tests and urine samples. Well, the end is not quite in sight yet but a handheld diagnostic device that can make a diagnosis from a single sample of blood, urine, or saliva (!) is being made available to elite UK athletes.
Nanotech could put a new spin on sports (2004) - Nanotechnology — engineering on a scale of individual atoms — is a way to make new materials, or to improve properties of existing materials. Its uses range from medical devices to car paint. And in the past, any shift in materials science has eventually altered sports.
Have technological advances in sports such as tennis, golf, and track and field supplanted the athletic achievements of the participants in those sports?
Fonte: NanoChannels