Wired Science Wonders 001: Bruce Sterling

Last week, Wired Science asked leading scientists, thinkers and businesspeople the following question:

*What area or application of science do you feel holds the most potential for the future, and what area or application do you think is the most overhyped? *

As the answers come in, we'll post 'em. Appropriately, one of the first responses came from Bruce Sterling -- a Wired mainstay, father of the Viridian Design movement, renowned author and all-around futurist extraordinaire. Here's what Bruce had to say:

* Most potential: carbon nanotubes. They're pretty much all things to all people. Scarcely a week goes by without some new zealot claiming they can so something biological, electronic, mechanical or structural with those things. A lot of that obviously won't pan out, and worse yet, they may be toxic, but there are so many deep applications across so many fields that one has to think they'll disrupt somebody somewhere.

* Most overhyped: hydrogen cars. Beautiful notion, yet I just don't see how storing and transporting hydrogen is practically doable -- unless mankind somehow learns to stuff hydrogen into the canolli-noodle innards of those carbon nanotubes.

More good stuff to come. And in the meantime, we'd like to give a nanotubular shout out to the Edge Foundation, whose Annual Question inspired this project.

Bruce Sterling has a Wired blog here.