There has been a recent high-profile case involving the death and injury of a number of Chinese workers who were involved in the production of materials that used nanoparticles.
Tag Archives: ethics
Nanofoods, coming soon to a store near you
The big debates about technologically enhanced food usually surround the use of genetic modification, but most of us aren’t as familiar with the concept of nanofood. Which is unfortunate and needs to be quickly rectified, because within the next few years we are about to see a huge boom in its commercial availability on store shelves.
Social media: how those we know can shape us
What is it that makes us who we are? The outcomes of this long running debate continue to change and refine as newer technologies not only reveal complex genetic contributions but actively expand and alter our social environment.
Embryonic stem cells and the ethics of patents
There is a good article in the latest issue of Pharmaceutical Technology Europe which explores the ever present debate around the use of human embryonic stem cells in medical research and the legal boundaries in different parts of the world. Whilst there are certainly many medical benefits that can arise from further research in these areas, there is still no general consensus on how such research should be funded or indeed commercialised following any successful findings.
Autonomous systems and the ethical issues of sentient technology
The Royal Academy of Engineering has released a report that considers some of the possible issues that might arise from an ever increasing presence of autonomous systems within our society. Entitled Autonomous Systems: Social, Legal and Ethical Issues the short paper marks a call for public discussion surrounding emerging technologies.
Would Asimov want us to teach robots to lie?
The recent experiments conducted by the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne in Switzerland have shown that the robot intelligence that they created eventually taught themselves to lie in order to bring about a more advantageous position compared to their rivals.… Continue Reading