A science blog with Eric Berger  No science = no growth in the
21st century     The buckyball has grown up.  If you’re looking
for a local example, look no further than the science of
nanotechnology, which in some respects was launched at Rice
University with the 1985 discovery of the buckyball by Richard
Smalley, Bob Curl and Harry Kroto.  That very basic science
discovery — of a molecule made of 60 carbon atoms — stimulated
some early basic research interest in the field of nanoscience.
Some promising results led to U.S. government investment
beginning in 2001 under the National Nanotechnology Initiative.
These funds stimulated more research.  The cumulative investment
in this nanotechnology initiative since fiscal year 2001,
including the 2012 request, now totals almost $18 billion.  And
what has America gotten for its investment?  As of 2009, just
eight years into the initiative, we had created a $91 billion
U.S. industry. And it’s rapidly growing. It should be a $1
trillion industry by 2020.  Science, in