Tag Archives: Risk Bites

Outreach statistics and more in the July 2014 issue of the the Nano Bite (from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network)

In something being described as a ‘reverse site visit’, Larry Bell and his colleague, Paul Martin, of the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISENet) gave a presentation to the US National Science Foundation featuring these statistics (from Larry Bell’s July 1, 2014 posting on the NISENet blog),

Since 2008, a total of 1400 NanoDays kits have been distributed to 439 different organizations. The kits have provided 121 different educational products as well as a wide range of support materials.

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The team reviewed answers to questions on the annual NanoDays reports and calculated an estimate of the number of individuals reached by the NanoDays kit outside of NanoDays events to be over 1,000,000. With the distribution of the last batch of Nano mini-exhibitions next year, a total of 90 mini-exhibitions will reach over 9 million people each year. So between NanoDays kits and mini-exhibitions, NISE Net resources reach over 10 million individuals each year!

You can read more about the ‘reverse site visit’ in the July 2014 Nano Bite or in Bell’s July 1, 2014 posting.

The newsletter, fittingly for this time of year, features some materials on nano and other sunscreens,

→ Five Things Worth Knowing about Nanoparticles and Sunscreen. As summer arrives and people start thinking about sunburns and sunscreen (and skin cancer), The University of Michigan Risk Science Center Risk Bite short video takes a look at five things worth knowing about nanoparticles in sunscreens and their safety.

Related NISE Network activities and resources:

Exploring Products – Sunblock (NanoDays 2011 and 2012) – a NISE Net hands-on activity comparing sunblock containing nanoparticles to ointment.

Invisible Sunblock – a NISE Net hands-on activity exploring how nanoscale particles are used in mineral sunblocks.

A Little Bit of Sunshine – a NISE Net video in which Mr. O from the Children’s Museum of Houston compares sunblock containing nanoparticles to ointment.

You can watch the June 15, 2014 Risk Bites video about nanosunscreens now,

The July 2014 Nano Bite also features a partner institution’s latest project,

→ Mission: Nano
Author credit: Aaron Guerrero from Children’s Museum of Houston and Ennio Tasciotti from the Houston Methodist Research Institute

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to play the Mission: Nano game.

Funded by a NISE Network mini-grant, the Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI) and Rice University’s Center for Technology in Teaching and Learning (CTTL) in Houston, TX partnered to develop a nanotechnology-based multimedia game app. The product, Mission: Nano, educates players about uses of nanotechnology in medicine and inspires them to consider careers in the STEM sectors.

Mission: Nano consists of a series of four challenges to diagnose and treat a bone injury utilizing medical nanotechnology. Players can choose a “story mode” where they lead the doctor to complete all four challenges or a “practice mode” to complete the four challenges as quickly as possible. Mission: Nano is currently available in web and Android versions and is hosted on the Houston Methodist Research Institute’s website: http://www.houstonmethodist.org/mission-nano.

Mission: Nano was developed under the supervision of Dr. Ennio Tasciotti, Co-Chair of the Department of NanoMedicine, Director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine, and Scientific Director of The Surgical Advances Technology Laboratory…continue reading the full Partner Highlight.

Find out more about what the Houston Methodist Research Institute’s NanoMedicine department is doing by visiting, http://www.houstonmethodist.org/Nanomedicine or contact Aaron Guerrero of the Children’s Museum of Houston, the NISE Net South Hub and Children’s Museum Hub Leader.

That’s it for the tidbits from the July 2014 Nano Bite. If you want more, you can read the whole issue here.

Surprising facts about silver nanoparticles from the University of Michigan

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Dr. Andrew Maynard, Director of the University of Michigan’s Risk Science Center, has featured seven surprising facts about silver nanoparticles in his latest video in the Risk Bites series. Before getting to the video,here’s an introduction to the topic of silver nanoparticles from a Feb. 18, 2014 posting by Ishani Hewage on the University of Michigan’s Risk Sense blog (Note: A link has been removed),

Silver – known for its germ-killing capabilities – has been used for thousands of years. In recent times though, concerns have been raised over the potential health and environmental risks associated with one particular form of silver that has been used increasingly in a range of products: engineered silver nanoparticle. In this week’s Risk Bites, Andrew Maynard, director of the Risk Science Center, rounds-up seven aspects of silver nanoparticles that might help you weigh up their risks and benefits.

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“Silver has long been used for its medicinal properties,” says Andrew. “People used to intentionally dose themselves with silver nanoparticles in the form a silver laced tonic as a cure-all.”

Nowadays, the use of silver nanoparticles is not just limited to the medical field. The military, athletes and manufactures are increasingly using them to develop smart new technologies that inhibit bacterial growth and enhance overall performance. These microscopically small particles make it easier to get silver into products without compromising them …

Without more ado, here’s the video, ‘7 surprising facts about silver nanoparticles and health’:

Both the blog posting and this link will lead you to more information about silver nanoparticles.

The long, the short, the straight, and the curved of them: all about carbon nanotubes

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I implied a question in my Mar. 12, 2013 post about the recent announcement from the US National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH) concerning a carbon nanotube toxicity study. I indicated some curiosity about the length of the multi-walled carbon nanotubes studied in this latest research. Coincidentally, Dr. Andrew Maynard (Executive Director of the University of Michigan Risk Science Center answered this implied question in his Mar. 14, 2013 posting about the study (on Andrew’s 2020 Science blog),

The carbon nanotubes in this study were inhaled multi-walled carbon nanotubes with a predominantly long, straight fiber-like morphology. Mice were exposed at a level of 5 mg/m3 for 5 hours per day, over a 15 day period.

It’s well worth reading Andrew’s posting for the context he provides about the research and for links to further information.

For anyone who wants the short story, multi-walled carbon nanotubes (predominantly the long, straight fibre-type were used in the study) when combined with a known cancer-initiating chemical are more toxic than plain carbon nanotubes. The study has yet to be published but the results were discussed at the Society of Toxicity’s 2013 annual meeting.

Happily, he also provides this charming video (part of his Risk Bites video series) describing carbon nanotubes and their ‘infinite’ variety,

Thank you Andrew for clearing up some of my longstanding questions about carbon nanotubes.

Happy weekend to all!

FrogHeart

Commentary about nanotech, science policy and communication, society, and the arts

Tag Archives: Risk Bites

Outreach statistics and more in the July 2014 issue of the the Nano Bite (from the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network)

Surprising facts about silver nanoparticles from the University of Michigan

The long, the short, the straight, and the curved of them: all about carbon nanotubes