Military Uses of Nanotechnology: Perspectives and Concerns

It is predicted that nanotechnology (NT) will bring revolutionary changes in many areas, with the potential for both great benefits and great risks. Developments in the military could entail specific dangers, containment of which will need special analysis and effort. Military research and development in NT is expanding rapidly. Potential future applications span all areas of warfare. Special dangers to arms control and stability may arise from new biological weapons and microrobots. For humans and society, non-medical body implants – possibly made more acceptable via the military – raise a number of problems concerning human nature. Further research is needed to find the best way to avoid possible dangers. For the near and medium term, several guidelines for limits and restrictions are suggested. As a first step, transparency and international cooperation should be improved.

[1]  K. Eric Drexler,et al.  Engines of Creation: the Coming Era of Nanotechnology , 1986 .

[2]  Jürgen Altmann,et al.  RISKS FROM MILITARY USES OF NANOTECHNOLOGY - THE NEED FOR TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT AND PREVENTIVE CONTROL , 2002 .

[3]  S. T. Picraux,et al.  National Needs Drivers for Nanotechnology , 2000 .

[4]  Mihail C. Roco,et al.  Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance: Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science , 2003 .

[5]  Ralph C. Merkle,et al.  Molecular building blocks and development strategies for molecular nanotechnology*Molecular building , 2000 .

[6]  Michael Brzoska,et al.  Conversion Survey 1996: Global Disarmament, Demilitarization, and Demobilization , 1996 .

[7]  Martin Meyer,et al.  Socio-Economic Research on Nanoscale Science and Technology: A European Overview and Illustration. , 2000 .

[8]  Thomas K. Adams.  Future Warfare and the Decline of Human Decisionmaking , 2001, The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameters.

[9]  Sean Howard,et al.  From the Lab to the Battlefield ? Nanotechnology and Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons ∗ , 2002 .

[10]  Hannah Hoag.  Neuroengineering: Remote control , 2003, Nature.

[11]  G M Whitesides,et al.  The once and future nanomachine. , 2001, Scientific American.

[12]  Miguel A. L. Nicolelis,et al.  Actions from thoughts , 2001, Nature.

[13]  Bill Joy.  Our most powerful 21st-century technologies - robotics, genetic engineering, and nanotech - are threatening to make humans an endangered species. , 2000 .

[14]  Joy Bill,et al.  Why the future doesn’t need us , 2003 .

[15]  R. Smalley.  Of chemistry, love and nanobots. , 2001, Scientific American.

[16]  S. Metz.  The Next Twist of the RMA , 2000, Parameters.

[17]  Miguel A L Nicolelis,et al.  Controlling robots with the mind. , 2002, Scientific American.

[18]  Jerald D. Kralik,et al.  Real-time prediction of hand trajectory by ensembles of cortical neurons in primates , 2000, Nature.

[19]  John L. Petersen,et al.  Small Security: Nanotechnology and Future Defense , 2002 .

[20]  S. Cooper,et al.  Remote Control , 2002, Nursing standard (Royal College of Nursing (Great Britain) : 1987).

[21]  Mihail C. Roco,et al.  International strategy for Nanotechnology Research , 2001 .

[22]  James S. Murday,et al.  Science and Technology of Nanostructures in the Department of Defense , 1999 .

[23]  Mihail C. Roco,et al.  Government nanotechnology funding: An international outlook , 2002 .

[24]  W. Bainbridge,et al.  Societal implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology , 2001 .

[25]  A. Daar,et al.  ‘Mind the gap’: science and ethics in nanotechnology , 2003, The Ethics of Nanotechnology, Geoengineering and Clean Energy.

[26]  Mihail C. Roco,et al.  International strategy for nanotechnology research and development , 2001 .