by Andrew Maynard | Apr 2, 2009 | Emerging Technology, Environment, Nanotechnology
Reading yesterday’s New York Times, it seems China could well be poised to leapfrog the West in advanced battery technology (China Vies to Be World’s Leader in Electric Cars). According to the article, Chinese leaders have adopted a plan aimed at turning the country...
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 26, 2009 | Nanotechnology, Oversight
I’m looking at an electron microscope image of a carbon nanotube – as I cannot show it here, you’ll have to imagine it. It shows a long, straight, multi-walled carbon nanotube, around 100 nanometers wide and 10 micrometers long. There is nothing...
by Andrew Maynard | Mar 17, 2009 | Nanotechnology
So you want to make or use carbon nanotubes, but you are worried about handling then safely. What do you do? The good news is that the UK Health and Safety Executive has just published an information sheet that addresses just this question. Risk management of...
by Andrew Maynard | Jan 23, 2009 | Nanotechnology
I’m afraid the “A” word just won’t go away. It seems that every time people start thinking about the possible health effects of long, thin, fibrous nanomaterials, the question pops up “is this the next asbestos?” You’d have thought that the issue would have been...
by Andrew Maynard | Jan 20, 2009 | Civic Science, Nanotechnology, Policy
As Barack Obama takes the oath and is inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, many are anticipating a new era of socially relevant science and technology. Having run one of the most technologically savvy campaigns in recent times—possibly ever—Obama’s...