I am taking part in discussions with Sascha Vongehr about the MIT video - here on this site -
Falling Faster Than Freefall: A Lesson In Didactics And Critical Thinking.

I have played with the problem in a toy simulator  ( see PHUN (download), scroll a bit down) and have fun..

From my post there:

Nanotechnology is my own field of research for 12 years now. It is one of the, if not the most important of the emerging technologies, and it is widely believed to be the vital ingredient to many by transhumanists desired transformations, be it slowing down aging, computer to brain network-neuron interfaces, or the development of ever faster (quantum) computers. Nano is still the big buzz word and I am afraid to have become the uninvited party-pooper.

If you're in the camp that says the U.S. military is not ridiculously ahead of the rest of the world enough, there is good news.   Months ahead of schedule, scientists at Los Alamos National Lab have achieved a breakthrough with the Free Electron Laser (FEL) program, demonstrating an injector capable of producing the electrons needed to generate megawatt-class laser beams for the Navy's next-generation weapon system.

For policy makers and politicians, there is confusion over what peer review is and how it should be used in policy decision making and, really, how improved technology and new science (including any ethics issues) make critical evaluation by the independent peers of those who create advancements more important than ever.

A. Alan Moghissi, president of the Institute for Regulatory Science, and Michael S. Swetnam, of the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies, write in Technology&Innovation that review criteria must be identified, the process must be transparent, and over reliance on specific peer reviewers must be avoided.  Institutional, intellectual and personal conflicts of interest must also be avoided.

Do birth control pills cause weight gain?   Virtually since their introduction it was believed to be true but new research conducted at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health&Science University says that is not the case.

To conduct their research, scientists and physicians studied a group of rhesus macaque monkeys at the OHSU Oregon National Primate Research Center for almost a year. Rhesus monkeys were used in this study because their reproductive system is nearly identical to humans. However, unlike human studies, more variables can be controlled and measured – such as exact food intake - to provide more meaningful data.