November 13, 2002

ATTENTION, VICTIMS OF THE HARPERCOLLINS PR MACHINE: Michael Crichton's next novel, which will be out on November 25, will be about "rogue nanotechnology." (Here's a link to the Amazon review page.) There's a huge PR offensive about to unroll. Crichton's even writing about nanotechnology for Parade!

I know next to nothing about the book -- just what's in the review linked above -- and I have no idea about the quality of the information that HarperCollins is sending out. But if you want to write about nanotechnology, here are some sources you may want to check out:

1. The Foresight Institute website.

2. Nanodot, a Slashdot-style discussion board devoted to nanotechnology.

3. Small Times, a webzine about nanotechnology and related subjects.

4. Nanotechnology Magazine, which is pretty much what it sounds like.

5. Some stuff by me: Environmental Regulation of Nanotechnology: Some Preliminary Observations, in the Environmental Law Reporter. Do Not Be Afraid, Do Not Be Very Afraid: Nanotechnology Worries Are Overblown in TechCentralStation. Nanotechnology Research Must Be Supported on FoxNews. I also have a paper on nanotechnology coming out from the Pacific Research Institute, coincidentally right around 11/25.

6. The Foresight Guidelines for Molecular Nanotechnology, which are all about preventing "rogue nanobots," and which, if followed, would have prevented the events in Crichton's book. Which, of course, is why they weren't!

Of course, I don't blame Crichton for employing such a device. Everybody needs a plot driver, whether it's realistic or not. As Daffy Duck said in the Loony Tunes version of Jack and the Beanstalk, "Well, I better start climbin' this thing, or we won't have much of a picture."