Posts tagged as:

Informal Education

Sing a song of nanotechnology

February 26, 2009

Explaining nanotechnology to people is tough—as anyone working in the field will tell you.  Clever stuff that’s too small to see with the naked eye doesn’t slot easily into most people’s human-scale view of the world.  So it’s not surprising that many non-experts (and even some “experts”) end up with a rather mangled idea of [...]

Read the full article →

In space, no one can hear you scream – unless you’re in a sci-flick!

February 16, 2009

If you want to annoy a scientist, show them a movie that gets the little details wrong—like the fact that sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum, or biologists always have a box of Kim Wipes within arms-reach.
If you want to annoy anyone else, put them in the same room with the scientist!
Scientists love to pick [...]

Read the full article →

Managing the small stuff – a visual nanotechnology primer

February 2, 2009

Nanotechnology: What is it, what can it do, what are the downsides, and how can we ensure it reaches its full potential?

Managing the Small Stuff. Also available in High Definition on Vimeo

The promise and challenges of nanotechnology is something I lecture on a lot.  And when I do, I’m inevitably asked for a copy [...]

Read the full article →

All you wanted to know about nanotechnology, from a pack of Mentos and a bottle of Coke

January 25, 2009

I spend quite a bit of my time talking to different groups about nanotechnology, including its potential and its challenges. And as a result, I’m constantly on the prowl for new ways of illustrating why nanotechnology is important. In particular, I’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for a quick and dirty (and fun) [...]

Read the full article →

Of jellybeans and buckyballs…

April 13, 2008

Here’s a small diversion for a slow Sunday afternoon:  Take sixty jellybeans and ninety cocktail sticks, and try to construct a model of a buckyball—a carbon-60 molecule.  It’s tricky, but not impossible.
Constructing a candy buckminster fullerene is one of ten nano “experiments” in a new nanotechnology education kit from nanobits. Designed to enthuse and inform [...]

Read the full article →