Nanotechnology—in bed with Madonna?

by Andrew Maynard | Apr 25, 2008 | Engagement, Nanotechnology, Public Perception

If you want proof that nano is mainstream, just pick up the U.S. May edition of fashion magazine “Elle.”   Sharing cover-space with Madonna is the latest article on nanotech and the beauty business. Elle might not be your first choice of reading for cutting edge...

U.S. nanotechnology risk research funding—separating fact from fiction

by Andrew Maynard | Apr 18, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight, Policy

The most recent estimate from the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) puts nanotechnology risk research investment at $68 million for 2006 (the only year complete figures are currently available for—apparently).  Yet theProject on Emerging...

Of jellybeans and buckyballs…

by Andrew Maynard | Apr 13, 2008 | Communication, Engagement, Nanotechnology

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...

I’m breathing in nanoparticles, so why aren’t I dead already?

by Andrew Maynard | Apr 5, 2008 | Nanotechnology, Oversight

Read some accounts of nanotechnology risks, and you might be forgiven for concluding that a single engineered nanoparticle can kill you.  Of course, a little critical thinking soon dispels this notion—we are constantly bombarded with incidental nanoparticles from...

US town faces nanotechnology crisis

by Andrew Maynard | Mar 28, 2008 | Communication, Engagement, Nanotechnology, Oversight

The small American town of Sunnyville is a town in crisis.  Against a backdrop of job losses that have decimated the local community, citizens are struggling to decide whether to welcome two major nanotech-enabled industries into the town, or whether to reject them...

The passing of a science hero

by Andrew Maynard | Mar 19, 2008 | Civic Science, Communication, Engagement, Nanotechnology

On March 18th, the science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke died in his home in Sri Lanka at the age of 90.  A master developer and assembler of ideas, Clarke will be remembered fondly by many for igniting their enthusiasm for science, and how it might be used to...