NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE:

Fashioned by the state’s Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology, the report represents California’s second attempt in recent years to position itself at the forefront of a potential superscience, although the approach would presumably be different than in 2004, when voters overwhelmingly passed Proposition 71, the $3 billion stem cell research initiative.

The report, obtained by The Chronicle, says the governor, state and federal legislators, and state bureaucracies must jump into nanotechnology, an emerging field that visionaries say could transform much of human life and be a major engine of the future world economy, generating hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars annually. While the report also addresses ethical, safety and environmental concerns, it urges California to act quickly or risk losing its nanotech edge to other states and nations.

True — though lowering real estate prices in Silicon Valley would help that, too.