There’s a nano song making the rounds. The video concept sounds delightful but I’m having problems with videos lately. It’s something do with Adobe Flash Player 10. It gave me a horrible time (my system almost goes to sleep) last week and the week before and I’m at the point where I’m afraid to look at videos. So if you want to take a look at the nano song video, it’s here or here.

There was an announcement about a new type of swimsuit, Nanotechnology Swimsuits Gear Up to Become the Biggest Revolution in Swimwear since the Bikini. It turns that the fabric dries instantly. Somehow that doesn’t seem to be on par with the ‘bikini’ revolution. Interestingly, there is no detail about the process or how it works. From the article,

“Sun Dry Swim fabrics are treated using our proprietary methods with a nanotechnology process that is inert, UV stable, and completely harmless to skin. Our non-toxic nanotechnology treatment is water based and environmentally friendly,” according to Amy Hardin of Sun Dry Technologies.

I wonder how they determined it was non-toxic, environmentally friendly, etc. There’s no mention of testing.

The Canadian government today (Feb. 23, 2009) announced the investment of money ($120.4 M) to fund 134 new or renewed Canada Research Chairs. (Government of Canada provides support to Canada Research Chairs at 37 universities) Jillian Buriak at the University of Alberta holds a new Canada Research Chair in Nanomaterials. I read recently that this programme has attracted a lot of research talent to Canada and is being looked at by other countries as a model. After the cuts in research funding in the latest federal budget, it’s nice to be able to mention something a little more positive.