Online Public Relations Thoughts

This story is a reminder that we are in an era when PR practitioners will be called upon to explain what was unimaginable only a few years ago. The idea that one can measure the precise force it takes to push an atom of one kind on the surface of atoms of another kind is mind-boggling. Engineering deals regularly now at the atomic scale as if anyone could do it -- and shortly, many laboratories will.

It is time for practitioners to familiarize themselves with nanoscale structures and methods, if they have not done so already. What we could leave safely to physics text books and out of mind is now part of products coming to market. Perhaps there is a need for another type of PR practitioner -- an engineer who can explain what is happening in everyday language.