September 2009

So you’re curious about nanotechnology…

by Andrew Maynard September 28, 2009

Curious, concerned or just plain confused about nanotechnology?  The new website Nano & Me might be just what you are looking for. Funded in part by the UK department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and developed by the Responsible Nano Forum, Nano & Me is aimed at providing clear and balanced information on an [...]

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On the road again – epilogue

by Andrew Maynard September 27, 2009

Sunday September 27, 9:40 AM Well, I’m back from four days in deepest Colorado, and it’s time to take stock. One of the more frustrating things I’m asked when traveling is “so what are you getting out of this meeting?”  Just occasionally, it’s tempting to answer “sleep deprivation, a bad back and a divorce.”  But [...]

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Hello Denver – again!

by Andrew Maynard September 26, 2009

Saturday September 26, 5:40 PM (Mountain Time) Back at Denver Airport. Knackered (a good British phrase – look it up!) Just landed from Grand Junction, and boarding in 20 minutes.  Time for something to eat? Only if I wrap this blog up fast. Get back home around 1:00 AM Sunday morning. No matter how enjoyable [...]

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No wife should have to celebrate her wedding anniversary with a duster!

by Andrew Maynard September 26, 2009

September 26, 12:45 PM (Mountain Time) Well, I’m sitting here at lunchtime on my last day at Kessler Canyon, and I must confess I’m somewhat conflicted.  On one hand, this was a trip I was not looking forward to.  I’m tired.  I’m traveled-out.  I miss my family.  They miss me.  And to cap it all, [...]

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“Fruit picking,” nanotech style

by Andrew Maynard September 26, 2009

September 25, 11:00 PM (Mountain Time) Update, Sept 26, 12:25 PM.  One of the advantages of not being able to publish blog posts as I write them is the option of reviewing them before they finally hit the net.  I finally have internet access for the first time since Wednesday evening.  But in re-reading this [...]

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Absent fathers

by Andrew Maynard September 26, 2009

September 24, 11:15 PM (Mountain Time) It’s the end of my first full day at the Kessler Canyon workshop and I have to admit, it’s been a good day.  However, the internet outage has completely thrown the carefully crafted blog schedule I had worked out for the next day or so, leading to a bit [...]

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Yodeling Cowboys at 3 o’clock

by Andrew Maynard September 24, 2009

Thursday September 24, 3:15am (mountain time) Well, I think I’ve hit my first real glitch in this trip. It’s 3:15 in the morning, and I can’t sleep. I’m being kept awake by music playing outside my room. It’s been going on forever, and I can’t find anyone to turn it off!

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Mile high? More like mile long!

by Andrew Maynard September 23, 2009

Wednesday September 23, 7:50 PM (Mountain time) Having just landed at Denver and made the commute along concourse B to my next flight (just how long is that concourse?  Forget being mile high – mile long is more like it), I have just enough time for a shot of caffeine, a quick blog and a [...]

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Never mind the hunting, check out the man-spa!

by Andrew Maynard September 23, 2009

Wednesday September 23, 11:15 AM Having a few minutes free before this lunchtime’s event at the Wilson Center, I thought it was about time I revealed where I’m heading this afternoon.  To be honest, I was a little unsure about doing this in case someone got the idea that this was going to be a [...]

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It’s the shoes that are the problem…

by Andrew Maynard September 23, 2009

Wednesday September 23, 6:35 AM It’s 6:35 in the morning, the dog’s walked, I have the day’s first cup of tea in my hands, and it’s time to start getting ready for today’s travel.  Just to complicate things though, I have a full day’s work to get through first before heading for Reagan National Airport [...]

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On the road again – four days of travel blogs

by Andrew Maynard September 22, 2009

Tuesday September 22, 8:05 PM There’s this myth that work travel is fun. When I used to work for the U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, they treated it as a perk that was only grudgingly allowed – to the extent that tagging personal days onto work travel was considered “too much fun,” and [...]

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Want the low-down on nanotechnology safety? Try these ten helpful resources

by Andrew Maynard September 14, 2009

Where’s the best place to look for down to earth information on nanotechnology safety?  Surprisingly, given how much time I spend speaking and writing about the subject, I don’t think I have ever sat down and compiled such a list.  But while preparing for this year’s annual meeting of the Nanotechnology Informal Science Education Network [...]

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Texas Instruments – transforming the world, one graphing calculator at a time (or, Where I Went Wrong With My Life)

by Andrew Maynard September 13, 2009

I always thought mathematics at school was all about being taught a new language – one that helps us live in a culture built on numbers, enables scientists and engineers to understand and control the world we live in, and enriches us by revealing the underlying complexity and beauty of the universe. I was wrong…

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Living in a post-chemistry world – the regulatory challenges of emerging nanotechnologies

by Andrew Maynard September 11, 2009

Regulators around the world are currently grappling with how to manage the possible risks associated with first generation nanotechnologies.  But increasingly sophisticated nanotechnology-based products are coming – will the old regulations still cover these emerging nanotechnologies, or is a re-think in how substances are regulated in order?  These are some rough notes I prepared for [...]

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Helter skelter nanotechnology

by Andrew Maynard September 5, 2009

There’s an absolute killer of a nanotechnology blog post over on placescope, if you are looking for something to brighten your day.  It appears to be based on some old Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) press releases.  But the process of translation and re-translation has rendered them so wonderfully bizarre as to make any connection [...]

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Hooked on science – ten things that inspired me to become a scientist

by Andrew Maynard September 3, 2009

How exactly did I get hooked on science?  It’s not something I’ve thought about too much before. But an invitation to discuss how to inspire the next generation of scientists, technologists and engineers next week has got me thinking…

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Geoengineering options: Balancing effectiveness and safety

by Andrew Maynard September 1, 2009

An interesting aspect of today’s Royal Society report on geoengineering is the attempt to rate twelve potential approaches to engineering the climate by effectiveness, affordability, timeliness and safety – and to graphically compare the approaches in terms of these criteria. While the ratings and the resulting diagram are somewhat subjective (the report’s authors call them [...]

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