TRANSCRIPTS


LEILA: Bactericides.


Extract 5 LECTURER: What do you mean by ‘bactericides’, Leila?


LEILA: I mean, the silver particles are what are called ‘bactericides’. They inhibit the growth of bacteria without …


MAJED: … (interrupting) actually, that’s bacteriostatic. A bactericide, or biocide, actually kills the bacteria.


Unit 5, Lesson 5.4, Exercise C ≤1.29


Extract 6 LECTURER: Let’s go back to the wider questions. What are the implications of advances in nanotechnology?


LEILA: At the moment, nanotechnology is at the ‘first generation’ stage – things like the passive nanoparticles we’ve been talking about. However, in the future we might see more advanced, active nanotechnology. What do you think, Majed?


MAJED: Absolutely. Some people have been talking about molecular self-assembly and self-replicating machines. These might have serious safety implications.


Extract 7 EVIE: Isn’t that a long way in the future?


LEILA: Well, I was surprised that actually, synthetic chemistry is able to synthesize just about any molecular structure, today.


EVIE: Sorry, I don’t follow. Could you possibly explain why that’s relevant?


LEILA: Well, the techniques could be extended to produce nanotechnology machines.


Extract 8 MAJED: This just sounds like science fiction, though.


JACK: Actually, this is already happening. Let’s take the example of rotaxane. This is a complex molecule which is almost like a very simple molecular machine, a bit like an axle in a bearing. It can be used as a molecular switch amongst other things.


Extract 9


EVIE: Imagine if you could build a machine like a robot, clever enough to synthesize chemicals. It could be very dangerous.


JACK: If I understand you correctly, you mean some


kind of self-replicating machine that builds copies of itself from the materials around it.


EVIE: Yes, something like that. It would self- replicate and grow exponentially in number and could consume the whole world!


Extract 10


JACK: But surely that’s a concern? I mean, imagine how frightening it would be if someone actually invented a self-replicating nanorobot 50 years from now.


MAJED: I’m not sure this is likely to happen. It’s very difficult to assemble things on a molecular and atomic level because the only tools that are available are a similar size to the atoms and molecules themselves. I think this kind of machine is impossible.


Extract 11


LECTURER: So, do you think governments should regulate the safety of nanotechnology?


LEILA: As Jack said earlier, some nanoparticles can be bad for the environment. So, yes, I think governments should carefully regulate nanotechnology.


Extract 12 LECTURER: Any other ideas?


EVIE: Has anybody made the point that overregulation of a new and innovative area might just stifle invention?


LECTURER: No, that’s a good point, Evie, and it hasn’t been mentioned yet.


Extract 13 LECTURER: So, what regulation could be imposed?


MAJED: I don’t know if this is relevant, but occupational health and safety regulations that are routinely applied, say, in chemical manufacture, could be extended to cover new kinds of nanomaterials. I think it’s in everyone’s interest, including the innovators, to make sure there are no safety disasters.


LECTURER: An excellent point, thanks.


Unit 7, Lesson 7.2, Exercise B ≤2.1 Part 1


Good afternoon, everyone. What I’m going to talk about today is at the core of design for the road transport industry: specifically, whether a combination of old and new car engine


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