Novel Materials

Limited resources and emerging technologies: China does the math

by Andrew Maynard October 20, 2010

New technologies depend on uncommon materials, and society depends on new technologies.  Which means that economies that develop the former and control the latter have something of an upper hand in today’s interconnected and technology-dependent world. This has clearly not escaped the notice of the Chinese.  China, which controls around 90% of the world’s rare [...]

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Control at the nanoscale: Smallness, strangeness and sophistication

by Andrew Maynard April 29, 2009

Part 5 of a series on rethinking science and technology for the 21st century Last time in this series of occasional blogs, I made the rather bold statement that while science and technology are going to have a highly visible impact on our lives over the next few decades, progress is going to be underpinned [...]

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Nanotechnology risk research, ten years on

by Andrew Maynard March 2, 2009

Ten years ago to the month, one of the first research reports detailing the challenges of ensuring the safe use of engineered nanomaterials was delivered to the UK Health and Safety Executive.  The report wasn’t for general release, and you’ll be hard pressed to find a copy of it in the public domain.  But as [...]

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Managing the small stuff – a visual nanotechnology primer

by Andrew Maynard 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 [...]

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Taking a fresh look at nanomaterials

by Andrew Maynard November 11, 2008

The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution report on Novel Materials Imagine for one naïve moment that we have a pretty good handle on managing the environmental impact of existing manufactured “stuff”.  Then someone comes along and invents some “new stuff” that behaves very differently from the “old stuff.” How can we be sure that the [...]

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A consumer’s guide to nanotechnology

by Andrew Maynard August 21, 2008

  How cool is this: A nanotech-enabled labcoat to protect the user against… well, nanomaterials presumably, amongst other things!   The labcoat—which uses Nanotex technology to make it stain resistant—is part of a major update to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Consumer Products Inventory that tracks manufacture-identified nano-products.  Other eye-catchers in the update include a hunting shirt that resists bloodstains, [...]

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Late lessons from early warnings

by Andrew Maynard July 20, 2008

As the rate of technological progress advances, are we learning the lessons of past successes and failures?  And are we applying these lessons successfully to nanotechnology?  In 2001, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a seminal report on developing emerging technologies responsibly.  Through a series of fourteen case studies spanning the past century, a panel led by [...]

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Smart materials; smart choices?

by Andrew Maynard May 31, 2008

Why nano?  Why care?  For non-nanotech initiates, an obsession with nanotechnology must sometimes seem a bizarre occupation of the sad and lonely.  And even within the nanotechnology community, who hasn’t had occasional doubts over the legitimacy of singling out “nano” as something special?  Yet occasionally a piece of work comes along that helps put things [...]

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