A routine traffic stop in Switzerland nabbed three members of Italian anarchist group Il Silvestre, who are accused of planning to detonate explosives at an IBM facility where nanotechnology and biotechnology research is scheduled to take place:
Swiss police said today that their car was halted on the night of April 15 at Langnau en-route to the technology centre at Rueschlikon, near Zurich.
The site is due to be opened next year and already has some of the most complex and advanced computer equipment in the world installed in it.
‘A large quantity of explosives was found,’ said a police spokesman.
He said the amount of explosive would have caused far more devastation than the Ruetli explosions of 2007. The Ruetli meadow near Lake Lucerne was the scene of small bombs detonated near the homes of politicians in that year.
IBM spokeswoman Susan Orozco confirmed ‘an incident’ but would not say more.
Last month, I pondered why nanotechnology had largely escaped the radar of anti-technology activists. This is a sharp contrast to new technologies like stem cell research and genetically modified foods, which each have inspired protests and “direct action” from activists in the form of pulling up fields of GM crops.
As nanotechnology advances and takes on a larger role in our everyday lives, I expect awareness and opposition will increase. Hopefully violent action against researchers and facilities can be curtailed, however.