by Andrew Maynard | Jun 21, 2008 | Environment, Nanotechnology, Oversight
Painted metal roofs are cheap, convenient, and usually very durable. But over the past two years, a rash of accelerated ageing has blighted pre-painted steel roofing in Australia. And intriguingly the ageing—which affects the coating—seems to be localized to small...
by Andrew Maynard | May 31, 2008 | Environment, Nanotechnology, Oversight, Policy
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...
by Andrew Maynard | May 21, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight, Recommended
Mix carbon nanotubes and asbestos together (metaphorically) and you get an explosive mix—at least if news coverage of the latest publication coming out of Professor Ken Donaldson’s team is anything to go by. The research—published on-line today in Nature...
by Andrew Maynard | May 17, 2008 | Communication, Engagement, Nanotechnology, Oversight
“Nanotechnology” as an overarching concept is great for sweeping statements and sound bites, but falls short when it comes to real-world decision-making. As nanoscale technologies are increasingly used in everything from antimicrobial socks to anti-cancer...
by Andrew Maynard | May 8, 2008 | Communication, Nanotechnology
My worst nightmare—I’m sitting at the back of a small plane (by the bathroom), my knees up round my ears (because someone else with a bigger case got to the overhead storage before me), and a small child screaming its head off two rows down. But unlike a nightmare,...
by Andrew Maynard | May 2, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight
The author Neal Stephenson got it wrong—at least, if this week’s nano-news is anything to go by! In his landmark 1995 novel “The Diamond Age,” Stephenson described a future built on nano-innovation. But thirteen years later, nanotechnology seems to be ushering in...
