Hello, fellow Futurographers,
Welcome to the first installment of the Futurography newsletter. Today, we’re excited to announce the start of our latest course, a monthlong series on the changing state of ownership. A variety of technological forces, both familiar and emerging—from file sharing to autonomous vehicles—promise to radically reshape how we recognize and understand property. How will those transformations change the ways we live and work? This month, we’re looking at some possible answers to that question. As always, we’re starting with a conversational introduction to the topic, along with a cheat sheet that will introduce you to some of the key players, major debates, and lingo that we’ll be exploring in the weeks ahead.
We’ve got a lot more coming, but while you’re waiting, we invite you to make your way through our September unit on nanotechnology (if you haven’t already). Here’s what we published:
- Introduction: Not sure what “nanotechnology” actually entails? Start here.
- Cheat Sheet: Catch up on the lingo, find out what else you should be reading, and more.
- How Small Is the Nanoscale?: We made a short video to show just how small this very small stuff really is.
- Gods of Small Things: For a still-emerging field, nanotechnology has a long history. W. Patrick McCray has the details.
- Nanoparticles vs. Cancer: Nanomedicine is a promising field, but it introduces a new array of complications.
- Cutting-Edge Art: In this Q-and-A, artist Kate Nichols explains how nanomaterials have influenced and shaped her work.
- What Is a Nanomaterial?: Definitively determining what does and doesn’t count as a nanomaterial is surprisingly difficult, which is a problem for regulators.
- Why I’m Suffering From Nanofatigue: After a quarter of a century studying the nanoscale, Andrew Maynard finds the discourse of nanotech increasingly exhausting, and he’s not alone.
- From Nano to Nature: As nanomaterials become more common, we need to evaluate their environmental effects.
- Small Misunderstandings: You probably know that nanotech isn’t really about tiny robots. But here are six other myths and misconceptions worth debunking.
Once you’ve made it through all of that, test what you’ve learned with our nanotech quiz. And then take a few minutes to share your thoughts about nanotechnology with us. We’ll be writing up the results of that survey later this week.
Futuristically yours,
Jacob Brogan
for Future Tense
Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University.
