The July 2013 issue of NISENet’s (Naoscale Informal Science Education Network) newsletter, The Nano Bite is surprisingly, given that it’s summer, full. Here are a few of the items I found most interesting. First up is today’s (July 2, 2013) 10 am PDT  Online Brown Bag conversation on mini-grants (these grants are for US institutions and researchers),

Partnerships to Reach New Audiences with NISE Net Mini-Grants – Tuesday, July 2nd, 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern: Creating meaningful partnerships to reach new audiences can be a challenging endeavor. Join us in a conversation as we explore what some institutions have done with mini-grant awards in developing partnerships. Tell us more about some of the great work you’ve been doing and how you’ve met some of your challenges head on. To sign up for this conversation, go to: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1272562/Online-Brown-Bag-Conversation-Partnerships-to-Reach-New-Audiences-with-NISE-Net-Mini-Grants

If you’re too late to attend today’s session, there’s one on Aug. 13, 2013,

Mini-Grants 2014 Brainstorming and Guidelines – Tuesday, August 13th, 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern: Have a great idea you want to turn into a NISE Network mini-grant project? You’re not alone! Please join us for a brainstorming session for the 2014 mini-grant application cycle. We will discuss the mini-grant program and have an opportunity for you to converse with colleagues and regional hub leaders about your project ideas. We also welcome previous mini-grant awardees with advice for future applicants to join in this conversation. To sign up for this conversation, go to:  http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/1272607/Online-Brown-Bag-Conversation-Mini-Grants-2014-Brainstorming-and-Guidelines

Larry Bell in a June 17, 2013 posting on the NISENet blog wrote about a ‘reverse’ site visit to the US National Science Foundation,

At our reverse site visit at NSF this week, Mihail Roco, NSF’s Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology, suggested that NISE Net envision its activities in the years ahead to encompass the applications that will be made possible by convergence. See the just published report at this website: http://www.wtec.org/NBIC2-Report/

The ‘convergence’ report mentioned and linked to in Bell’s posting was published by the World Technology Evaluation Center (WTEC) and it’s full title is, CONVERGENCE OF KNOWLEDGE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY: BEYOND CONVERGENCE OF NANO-BIO-INFO-COGNITIVE TECHNOLOGIES, and it was edited by Mihail C. Roco, William S. Bainbridge, Bruce Tonn, and George Whitesides. It’s also possible to watch a webcast (you will have to register) of the report presentation which occurred on Dec. 11, 2012 and featured some of the editors and contributors to the volume.

NISENet has added new video materials to its catalog,

→ New Linked Products in the Catalog

• Inside Science TV Nanotechnology Videos: Inside Science TV, produced by the American Institute of Physics, features videos on nanotechnology including Nanotech Material Protects Against Most Liquids.
• Nano Rap Videos from Science Rapper Coma Niddy: Science rapper Mike Wilson AKA Coma Niddy has created several different nanotechnology videos, including one that was linked to by Wired magazine!

Just click on the Resources tab to access the videos for Inside Science and Nano Rap video catalog items. Btw, Coma Niddy has been mentioned here before in my Mar. 8, 2012 posting where I embedded his Nano Love music video.

Finally, here’s the haiku for month,

Nano Haiku

Printed batteries
the size of a grain of sand
Power the future

Brad Herring of the Museum of Life and Science, referring to recent work at Harvard University and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign using 3D printing to create lithium-ion batteries the size of a grain of sand. The “ink” in this case contains nanoparticles of a lithium metal oxide compound with the right electrochemical properties.

The full July 2013 issue of The Nano Bite is available online here (http://www.nisenet.org/community/nanobite/nano_bite_july_2013).