U.S., U.K. citizens like nanotechnology

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Dec. 16 (UPI) -- A new study suggests citizens in both the United States and the United Kingdom view nanotechnologies very positively.

Researchers at the University of California-Santa Barbara and Cardiff University in Wales found study participants in both countries indicated a significantly higher comfort level with energy applications of nanotechnologies than with applications used in health treatments.

Barbara Herr Harthorn at the Santa Barbara university, who led the interdisciplinary, international research team, said much of the public perception research on nanotechnology in the United States and abroad has focused on a generic "nanotechnology risk object."

"This work," said Harthorn, "moves to a higher level of specificity and in doing so finds striking differences in views of benefit depending on application context.

"More specifically, perceived urgency of need for new energy technologies is strongly associated with high perceived benefit and lower risk perception, regardless of what materials, processes, or environmental risks are associated," she said.

The study was reported last week in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.