A recent poll of 1,001 U.S. adults performed by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) and Peter D. Hart Research Associates found that 90% of adults think the public should be better informed about emerging technologies.
PEN director David Rejeski (featured on Disc 4 of Talking Nano), said of the poll, “Historically, government and industry have done a poor job of informing and engaging the public about scientific developments which could have transformative impacts on society. The poll showed that better communication is needed and could be beneficial in securing the promise of our investments in science.”
The poll also found that 31% of adults have heard “a lot” or “some” about nanotechnology, 31% have heard “a little,” and 37% have not heard anything about nanotechnology. PEN Chief Science Advisor (and Talking Nano fan) Andrew Maynard commented that “Public awareness of nanotechnology has barely moved in over four years of our project’s polling, despite billions of dollars of investment in research and a growing number of nano-enabled products in the marketplace. Clearly, the message about this new and important technology is not reaching the public.”