Against the Stream: Moving Public Engagement on Nanotechnologies Upstream

Nanotechnologies are materials and devices conceived, developed and applied on a scale of one thousand millionth of a metre. Nanoscale materials differ not only in size but also in behaviour to their larger-scale counterparts. Nanomaterials have a greater surface area relative to material produced on a larger scale that potentially renders them more chemically reactive, thereby altering certain molecular properties. Matter at the nanoscale is also susceptible to behavioural changes dominated by quantum effects, which may affect the optical, electrical and magnetic behaviour of nanomaterials. Nanotechnologies are intrinsically multidisciplinary; amalgamations of materials science, chemistry, physics, engineering, life and medical sciences.