Labour's plans for the next generation of science jobs? A science fiction world out of the fantasies of consultancy firms.
Full marks for effort: we need to think about how to create new jobs in science and technology, but subatomic devices are not going to play a role in that.
From the 10minus9 blog:
Sub-atomic devices? Devices smaller than an atom? Now I acknowledge that there is some debate as to what will be possible in the future, and admit I’m always a bit wary of futurists’ predictions, but this is so utterly impossible it defies belief. Atoms consist of a nucleus a few femtometres in size (that’s one millionth of a nanometre, maybe someone can figure out the fraction of a width of a human hair…) surrounded by orbiting electrons. The nucleus itself is an unimaginably tiny fraction of the total volume of the atom.
The forces holding the nucleus together are huge, which is why we need particle accelerators to smash nuclei apart. The idea that you could rearrange the constituents of atoms to make a device is beyond ridiculous.