| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/C52540X/1 |
| Title: |
Images of nanotechnology in the media - moving from fantasy to reality |
| Principal Investigator: |
Jones, Professor R |
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| Department: |
Physics and Astronomy |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
PPE PreFEC |
| Starts: |
05 September 2005 |
Ends: |
04 September 2007 |
Value (£): |
92,496
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| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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What is nanotechnology? Many people have heard of the term, many people understand that it is likely to produce far-reaching technological changes in the next twenty years, but few non-scientists know what it is. The picture of nanotechnology that comes to most peoples' minds involves a tiny submarine navigating through someone's bloodstream. This image is a staple of science fiction, and because its proved so enduring its often a picture of this kind that's used to illustrate stones about nanotechnology in newspapers and magazines. But scientists involved in developing nanotechnology believe that this sort of picture is very misleading - this sort of nano-submarine just couldn't work in the way these images imply, and the nanotechnologies that will be developed in the future will look very different.But pictures and images are very powerful, and if scientists believe so strongly that the pictures that the public sees to illustrate nanotechnology are misleading or even wrong, then we need to generate some better ones. These images need to be appealing and striking, so that editors will choose to use them in newspapers and magazines and on the television, but we also need to make sure that they don't give misleading impressions about the science.Our aim is to create films and images that are both striking and scientifically accurate. With the help of professionals we'll make short films that combine live action and computer generated images to show how nanotechnology impacts on everyday life now and in the future. We'll seek out the best still images from research around the country and make these images available to the press and television, as well as using them in our own public lectures and talks. At the end of the process we hope that we'll have used the power of images to bring both a sense of the excitement and the promise of nanotechnology to the public, while still keeping the science accurate.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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| Date Materialised |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |