Tag Archives: Trinity College Dublin

TED-Ed rolls out its new Superhero Science series: If superpowers were real

Yesterday, June 27, 2013 TED-Ed (TED is technology, entertainment, and design [conferences]) launched a new video series, Superhero Science: If superpowers were real. Here’s more from the announcement,

TED-Ed, TED’s education arm whose mission is to amplify the voice of great teachers, is rolling out today a six video series called “If superpowers were real…” ..:

For instance, did you know that if you were invisible then you also technically could not see because no light would reflect off your retina? Or if you had super strength and actually ran and caught the damsel in distress, that you’d do more damage to her body than the ground would? Or bugs would destroy your face if you could fly?

Each short is brilliantly animated and performed, and explores the scientific fallacies of six superpowers — speed, strength, invisibility, body mass, immortality and flight — with voice over work done by none other than James Arnold Taylor, the voice of Fred Flintstone and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Leonardo, among countless others. And each lesson was written by [*]Joy Lyn—a high school science from Austin, TX.

Given my interest in invisibility (June 17, 2013 posting; June 6, 2013 posting; Jan. 7, 2013 posting, and many more stretching back years), here’s the video,

These videos are meant for students K-12. I thought the material was presented in an engaging fashion and will likely stimulate curiosity, which according to their disclaimer (Invisibility Dig deeper webpage) is the intent,

Disclaimer: Due to time constraints, not all aspects of each superpower can be discussed and the science is sometimes simplified or generalized. We recognize this series is only the tip of the iceberg, not the final say in the continuous discussion of superpowers and scientific advancements. All we aim to achieve is inspiring young minds to ponder, discuss, and discover science through a glimpse into the world of superheroes.

As an adult, I found the voiceover to be exaggerated in a way I think is suitable for young children and not pleasurable much past the age of 12 (at least, in my case).

I previously mentioned superpowers in the context of a Sept. 14, 2012 posting about Trinity College Dublin’s Science Gallery and the Unleash Your Superpowers exhibit (scroll down the posting about 25% of the way) in their Magical Materials show which was highlighted during Ireland’s 2012 Nanoweek.

* Joy Lin contacted me via a July 10, 2013 email to note the correct spelling of her name.

Ireland’s 2013 Nanoweek

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This is the fourth annual outing for Ireland’s Nanoweek as the June 11, 2013 news item on Nanowerk notes,

NanoNet Ireland, the national network representing nanoscience across academia and industry, today launched Nanoweek 2013, which will take place from 14th – 21st June. Now in its fourth year, Nanoweek will celebrate the importance of nanoscience to the Irish economy; the excellence of nanoscience research within our universities, and look to grow public awareness of a technology which is fundamental to medicine, communications, pharmaceuticals, energy and transport among other industries.

The June 11, 2013 CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) news release, which originated the news item, notes that the organizers have introduced an international and cosmopolitan flavour to the proceedings as they are hosting a European meeting and their first ever outdoor ‘nano’ art exhibit (as well, it looks like they’re remounting the 2012 Magical Materials show mentioned in my Sept. 14, 2012 posting),

This year, Nanoweek 2013 goes international with the key event being Europe’s largest nanoscience meeting – EuroNanoForum 2013 – which takes place on 18th – 20th June at Dublin’s Convention Centre. The forum, which will include an opening address from Brussels by EU Commissioner for Science, Research and Innovation Máire Geoghegan Quinn, will attract over 1200 international delegates, 90 exhibitors and over 120 speakers. Dr. Mihail Roco, Senior Advisor at the National Science Foundation and National Nanotechnology Initiative USA, Prof. Andrea Ferrari, Director Cambridge Graphene Centre, as well as Professor Danias Pavalkis, Minister of Education & Science Lithuania, are among the key speakers, others include policy-makers and representatives from industry and academia. This event puts Ireland at the hub of the global nanoscience community in 2013.

…

Minister Sherlock [Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock TD] added, “The sector has grown rapidly in the last decade from a niche industry, to one which now contributes €15 billion of our annual exports and supports 250,000 Irish jobs. The Government, primarily through Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and the HEA, is strongly committed to supporting Irish nanoscience and the further development of excellent research that delivers real economic and social impact for Ireland and Europe.”

Also, during Nanoweek 2013, Ireland’s first outdoor nano-art exhibition will take place in Dublin and Cork. Free to the public, NanoArt 2013 will see over 100 images taken from nanoscience research at CRANN, Tyndall National Institute, Cork and MSSI, University of Limerick, on display in the grounds of Trinity College Dublin, the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork and foyer of Tyndall National Institute. The images have been chosen to show the beauty of nano-landscapes and nano-structures and the scale at which nanoscience research is undertaken – up to 2,000 times smaller than a grain of salt – and to bring nanoscience to a wider public audience. The images will also be on display at a number of cafés and pubs around Dublin and Cork. Images are available online and viewers can enter a competition to vote for their favourite from Friday 14th at http://crann.tcd.ie/Research/Research-Image-Gallery/NanoArt2013.aspx. The exhibition in TCD, which will be located in Fellow’s Square, the green public area near the Book of Kells will run from 17th June until 5th July.

Professor John Boland, Director of CRANN, representing NanoNet Ireland said, “Nanoweek is about celebrating the impact of nanoscience both to the economy and for society. Ireland is a base for 90% of the world’s technology companies and 70% of medical companies, and the quality of our nanoscience research contributes to those companies locating and expanding here. The sector is crucial for our economy, and Nanoweek delivers that message to Government, to industry and to the public. As a sector that affects every product we consume, it’s important that public awareness of nanoscience grows. We wanted to develop a series of exhibitions that act as conversation starters about nanoscience. It’s only when people start discussing science, that it becomes a real option for study and work, and its potential impact can truly take off.”

On Thursday 20th June, the Convention Centre Dublin will also open its doors to the public for the Nanotech Europe 2013 Magical Materials exhibition from 9 am to 2.30 pm. The exhibition will explore the peculiar properties of the world’s most spectacular materials and will feature aerogel, the world’s lightest solid; graphene, 200 times stronger than steel and flexible screens made from nanowires. Free to the public and with limited space, visitors should register in advance at https://www.eventsforce.net/enterpriseireland/805/register.

I mentioned the EuroNanoForum in a March 14, 2013 posting. , which details some of the events including a presentation on the Graphene flagship project which just won a 1B Euro research prize. One of my favourite EuroNanoForum events is a gala that sounds like they’ve taken their inspiration from reality television. From my May 31, 2013 posting,

The aim of the award is to highlight the innovative outcomes of EU research projects and to present how nanotechnologies enable progress in every aspect of daily life: from health to environment, energy, transport, food and communication. The 11 candidates will be voted on and a winner announced at the ENF2013 on 20 June 2013. [emphasis mine]

It sounds like the entire voting process is going to take place at the dinner which should make for a very exciting gala event.

I have mentioned Ireland’s Nanoweek in previous years, 2012 and 2011.

I wish them all the best.

2.5M Euros for Ireland’s John Boland and his memristive nanowires

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The announcement makes no mention of the memristor or neuromorphic engineering but those are the areas in which John Boland works and the reason for his 2.5M Euro research award. From the Ap. 3, 2013 news item on Nanowerk,

Professor John Boland, Director of CRANN, the SFI-funded [Science Foundation of Ireland] nanoscience institute based at Trinity College Dublin, and a Professor in the School of Chemistry has been awarded a €2.5 million research grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This is the second only Advanced ERC grant ever awarded in Physical Sciences in Ireland.

The Award will see Professor Boland and his team continue world-leading research into how nanowire networks can lead to a range of smart materials, sensors and digital memory applications. The research could result in computer networks that mimic the functions of the human brain and vastly improve on current computer capabilities such as facial recognition.

The University of Dublin’s Trinity College CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) April 3, 2013 news release, which originated the news item, provides details about Boland’s proposed nanowire network,

Nanowires are spaghetti like structures, made of materials such as copper or silicon. They are just a few atoms thick and can be readily engineered into tangled networks of nanowires. Researchers worldwide are investigating the possibility that nanowires hold the future of energy production (solar cells) and could deliver the next generation of computers.

Professor Boland has discovered that exposing a random network of nanowires to stimuli like electricity, light and chemicals, generates chemical reaction at the junctions where the nanowires cross. By controlling the stimuli, it is possible to harness these reactions to manipulate the connectivity within the network. This could eventually allow computations that mimic the functions of the nerves in the human brain – particularly the development of associative memory functions which could lead to significant advances in areas such as facial recognition.

Commenting Professor John Boland said, “This funding from the European Research Council allows me to continue my work to deliver the next generation of computing, which differs from the traditional digital approach. The human brain is neurologically advanced and exploits connectivity that is controlled by electrical and chemical signals. My research will create nanowire networks that have the potential to mimic aspects of the neurological functions of the human brain, which may revolutionise the performance of current day computers. It could be truly ground-breaking.”

It’s only in the news release’s accompanying video that the memristor and neuromorphic engineering are mentioned,

I have written many times about the memristor, most recently in a Feb. 26, 2013 posting titled, How to use a memristor to create an artificial brain, where I noted a proposed ‘blueprint’ for an artificial brain. A contested concept, the memristor has attracted critical commentary as noted in a Mar. 19, 2013 comment added to the ‘blueprint’ post,

A Sceptic says:

….

Before talking about blueprints, one has to consider that the dynamic state equations describing so-called non-volatile memristors are in conflict with fundamentals of physics. These problems are discussed in:

“Fundamental Issues and Problems in the Realization of Memristors” by P. Meuffels and R. Soni (http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.7319)

“On the physical properties of memristive, memcapacitive, and meminductive systems” by M. Di Ventra and Y. V. Pershin (http://arxiv.org/abs/1302.7063)

Namdiatream; a European multimodal diagnostics project

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I’ve written about lab-on-a-chip projects, point-of-care diagnostics, and other such initiatives on several occasions, most recently in a Mar. 1, 2013 posting about a technique where powder is used to make the diagnostic device more portable. This time it was a Europe-wide project described in a Mar. 4, 2013 news item on Nanowerk,which caught my attention (Note: A link has been removed),

The plan of the EU-funded consortium Nanotechnological toolkits for multi-modal disease diagnostics and treatment monitoring (Namdiatream) is not to cure cancer, per se, but to boost the sensitivity of diagnostics and the ability to monitor progress during treatment. They focused on three types – breast, prostate and lung cancer.

… The prototype devices being developed during the four-year project will detect common cancer cells much earlier and, with timely treatment, improve the chances of recovery.

According to the project leader, Professor Yuri Volkov of Trinity College Dublin’s School of Medicine, the portable nanodevices are based on innovative lab-on-a-chip, -bead and -wire technologies applicable in different settings – clinical, research, or point of care (i.e. hospitals). These lab-on-x technologies exploit the photo-luminescent (‘glow-in-the-dark’ light emitting), plasmonic (‘light-on-a-wire’), magnetic and unique optical properties of nanomaterials.

Volkov offers some insight into how the project started and its current state of evolution (from the news item),

This is ground-breaking work made possible thanks to advanced technology but also to EU funding for cross-border investigations. Teams across Europe were doing related but fragmented research, suggests Prof. Volkov. This risked leaving a team dangling if their approach failed or lacked funding.

“So we integrated our research and identified joint strengths to help one another develop the best technological approaches in case something didn’t work in one, or synergies were identified, thereby increasing the chances of wider success.”

At its half-way stage, notes Prof. Volkov, Namdiatream underwent a natural evolution when it became clear that by merging and refocusing work in some areas – i.e. in fluorescent nanomaterial technology and magnetic nanowire barcodes – it would speed up industrial implementation efforts.

“Now, work on the preclinical prototype devices is well under way,” he confirms. But one of the many remaining challenges is to calibrate their sensitivity, so that they do not give false readings, for instance.

The Namdiatream (Nanotechnological Toolkits for Multi-Modal Disease Diagnostics and Treatment Monitoring) home page offers more detail about the project,

Namdiatream is a truly interdisciplinary and Pan-european consortium that builds around 7 High-Tech SMEs [small to medium enterprises], 2 Multinational industries and 13 academic institutions. NAMDIATREAM will develop nanotechnology-based toolkit to enable early detection and imaging of molecular biomarkers of the most common cancer types and of cancer metastases, as well as permitting the identification of cells indicative of early-stage disease onset. The project is built on the innovative technology concepts of super-sensitive “lab-on-a-bead”, “lab-on-a-chip” and “lab-on-a-wire” nano-devices.

Interestingly, this too was on the home page,

The ETP Nanomedicine documents point out that nanotechnology has yet to deliver practical solutions for the patients and clinicians in their struggle against common, socially and economically important diseases such as cancer. Therefore NAMDIATREAM results will firstly aim to deliver to the diagnostic and medical imaging device companies involved in the consortium, and the clinical and academic partners. This could further provide the basis for cancer therapeutics as it will be possible to accurately assess the kinetics of cancer cell destruction during the course of appropriate therapy.

My carbon nanotube heart and patents

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The stem cell scientists at the National University of Ireland (NUI) and Trinity College Dublin’s CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) aren’t making hearts out of carbon nanotubes but they are using the particles to stimulate stem cells into becoming heart-like.The Sept. 19, 2012 news item on Nanowerk provides context for this work,

Stem cell scientists have capitalised on the electrical properties of a widely used nanomaterial to develop cells which may allow the regeneration of cardiac cells. The breakthrough has been led by a team of scientists at the Regenerative Medicine Institute (REMEDI) at the National University of Ireland Galway in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in Ireland. Once damaged by heart attack, cardiac muscle has very little capacity for self-repair and at present there are no clinical treatments available to repair damaged cardiac muscle tissue.

Over the last 10 years, there has been tremendous interest in developing a cell-based therapy to address this problem. Since the use of a patient’s own heart cells is not a viable clinical option, many researchers are working to try to find an alternative source of cells that could be used for cardiac tissue repair.

The NUI Sept. 19, 2012 news release, which originated the news item, describes how carbon nanotubes have properties similar to certain heart cells and how the researchers decided to exploit that similarity,

The researchers recognised that carbon nanotubes, a widely used nanoparticle, is reactive to electrical stimulation. They then used these nanomaterials to create cells with the characteristics of cardiac progenitors, a special type of cell found in the heart, from adult stem cells.

“The electrical properties of the nanomaterial triggered a response in the mesenchymal (adult) stem cells, which we sourced from human bone marrow. In effect, they became electrified, which made them morph into more cardiac-like cells”, explains Valerie Barron of REMEDI at National University of Ireland Galway. “This is a totally new approach and provides a ready-source of tailored cells, which have the potential to be used as a new clinical therapy. Excitingly, this symbiotic strategy lays the foundation stone for other electroactive tissue repair applications, and can be readily exploited for other clinically challenging areas such as in the brain and the spinal cord.”

The team’s collaborator at CRANN, Professor Werner Blau made a comment I found a bit odd (from the NUI news release),

“It is great to see two decades of our pioneering nanocarbon research here at TCD come to fruition in a way that addresses a major global health problem. Hopefully many people around the world will ultimately benefit from it. Some of our carbon nanotube research has been patented by TCD and is being licensed to international companies in material science, electronics and health care,” said Professor Blau.

I’m not a big fan of the current patenting regimes which seem to have been turned into innovation-killing machines. As for patenting medicines and medical devices, I recall that Frederick Banting and Charles Best who discovered insulin refused to patent the discovery as they believed it would constrain access.

I appreciate that businesses need to make money and scientists need money to do their work and so on but this blind rush to patent discoveries seems a little misguided to me and it might be a good time to consider new business and economic models.

Better beer in plastic bottles

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This innovation in beer bottling was developed in Ireland and I’m pretty sure the Irish have themselves braced for the humourous comments sure to follow given the legends about the Irish and beer.

Here’s more about the nanotechnology-enabled plastic beer bottles from the Sept. 18, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

Scientists at CRANN [Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices], the Science Foundation Ireland-funded nanoscience institute based at Trinity College Dublin, have partnered with world-leading brewing company SABMiller on a project to increase the shelf life of bottled beer in plastic bottles. The new deal will see SABMiller invest in the project over a two year period.

Professor Jonathan Coleman and his team in CRANN are using nanoscience research methods to develop a new material that will prolong the shelf-life of beer in plastic bottles. Current plastic bottles have a relatively short shelf life, as both oxygen and carbon dioxide can permeate the plastic and diminish the flavour.

The new material, when added to plastic bottles will make them extremely impervious, meaning that oxygen cannot enter and that the carbon dioxide cannot escape, thus preserving the taste and ‘fizz’.

The Sept. 18, 2012 CRANN news release does not include many more details about the technology,

The team will exfoliate nano-sheets of boron nitride, each with a thickness of approximately 50,000 times thinner than one human hair. These nano-sheets will be mixed with plastic, which will result in a material that is extremely impervious to gas molecules. The molecules will be unable to diffuse through the material and shelf life will be increased.

As well as increasing the shelf life of the beer itself, less material is required in production, reducing cost and environmental impact.

If you are lucky enough to have a subscription or have some other access to Science magazine, you can read more about Coleman’s and his team’s work on boron nitride and thin films. Here’s the citation and abstract for the article,

Two-Dimensional Nanosheets Produced by Liquid Exfoliation of Layered Materials by Jonathan N. Coleman, Mustafa Lotya, Arlene O’Neill, Shane D. Bergin, Paul J. King, Umar Khan, Karen Young, Alexandre Gaucher, Sukanta De, Ronan J. Smith, Igor V. Shvets, Sunil K. Arora, George Stanton, Hye-Young Kim, Kangho Lee, Gyu Tae Kim, Georg S. Duesberg, Toby Hallam, John J. Boland, Jing Jing Wang, John F. Donegan, Jaime C. Grunlan, Gregory Moriarty, Aleksey Shmeliov, Rebecca J. Nicholls, James M. Perkins, Eleanor M. Grieveson, Koenraad Theuwissen, David W. McComb, Peter D. Nellist, and Valeria Nicolosi in Science 4 February 2011: Vol. 331 no. 6017 pp. 568-571 DOI: 10.1126/science.1194975

If they could be easily exfoliated, layered materials would become a diverse source of two-dimensional crystals whose properties would be useful in applications ranging from electronics to energy storage. We show that layered compounds such as MoS₂, WS₂, MoSe₂, MoTe₂, TaSe₂, NbSe₂, NiTe₂, BN, and Bi₂Te₃ can be efficiently dispersed in common solvents and can be deposited as individual flakes or formed into films. Electron microscopy strongly suggests that the material is exfoliated into individual layers. By blending this material with suspensions of other nanomaterials or polymer solutions, we can prepare hybrid dispersions or composites, which can be cast into films. We show that WS₂ and MoS₂ effectively reinforce polymers, whereas WS₂/carbon nanotube hybrid films have high conductivity, leading to promising thermoelectric properties.

This announcement comes during Ireland’s Nanoweek 2012 (Sept. 14 – 21, 2012) which I mentioned along with other nano-themed events currently taking place in Ireland in my Sept. 14, 2012 posting.

Nano goes big and magical at the Trinity College Dublin’s Science Gallery

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There are three inter-related nanotechnology-themed events taking place in Ireland starting today, Sept. 14, 2012 with the twin launches of Nanoweek 2012, which runs until Sept. 21, 2012, and a preview of the Magical Materials exhibition, which runs Sept. 15 – Oct. 14, 2012, at Trinity College Dublin’s (TCD) Science Gallery.

During Nanoweek 2012, which is hosted by NanoNet Ireland, the third inter-related event, which as it turns out, is the organization’s 3rd national nanotechnology conference and that will be held Sept. 17 – 18, 2012 at Trinity College Dublin. Details here.

The Sept. 13, 2012 news item on Nanowerk provides more detail about the Magical Materials exhibit,

CRANN [Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices], the Science Foundation Ireland funded nanoscience institute based at Trinity College Dublin, today celebrated the launch of Nanoweek 2012 with the opening of a new exhibition jointly developed with Science Gallery. Magical Materials is a free, month long show at Science Gallery which explores the peculiar properties of the world’s most futuristic and spectacular materials. Visitors to the exhibition will have a chance to see, touch and experience almost fifty Magical Materials including:

Aerogel, the lightest solid in the world (dubbed ‘solid smoke’)

Graphene, a layer of graphite just one atom thick but 200 times stronger than steel

Smart textiles that store information, keep your gadgets charged and raise oxygen levels in blood.

The Sept. 13, 2012 news release from CRANN (which originated the news item) provides some insight into how nanotechnology’s importance in Ireland,

Speaking at the Magical Materials exhibition, Dr. Diarmuid O’Brien, Executive Director of CRANN said, “The hugely significant impact of nanoscience and material science on our everyday lives is such that general and widespread understanding of its reach is crucial. Nanoweek 2012, through “Magical Materials” brings the impact of this research to life in a very tangible way for the public. Nanoscience is a crucial contributor to the Irish economy. It is linked to 120,000 jobs, totalling 10% of our annual exports or €15 billion across a range of sectors including medicine, pharmaceuticals, technology and energy. Science Gallery has an impressive track record of attracting large numbers of young visitors to their exhibitions and we are delighted to have collaborated with them on this month long exhibition, We hope that this event will lead to a growing awareness of the importance of nanoscience to Ireland”.

As for the Magical Materials*; Unleash Your Superpowers exhibit itself, here’s more, from the exhibition webpage,

What makes a material magical? An ability to change shape before your eyes, to turn from a liquid to a solid or to be one of the lightest materials on earth and yet also one of the strongest? MAGICAL MATERIALS explores the properties of some of the world’s most mysterious materials, giving you an opportunity to investigate and experiment at the cutting edge of material science.

Six nanotechnology superheroes have been created for this, here’s Florogirl,

Floro Girl by Stephen Byrne for Trinity College Dublin’s Science Gallery ‘Magic Materials’ exhibition.

I love the description of how and why this superhero was created,

The sixth and final superhero comic book cover in artist Stephen Byrne’s MAGICAL MATERIALS-inspired series sees him bringing to life a category of materials called Designed By Nature [aka biomimicry].

…
Inspired by artificial photosynthesis, Stephen imagined an investigative reporter who had accidentally exposed herself to nickel-molybdenum-zinc, and found herself able to imitate the process of photosynthesis by converting light from the sun and moisture from the air into energy, and named her Florogirl. Florogirl can use her powers to create highly concentrated energy beams, and while she can store up energy, she runs the risk of running out of her energy reserves at night.

…

Nickel-molybdenum-zinc is a compound used in manufacturing ‘artificial leaves’. Resembling thin playing cards, when covered with water and placed in sunlight, artificial leaves go through a biomimetic process that replicates capturing sunlight energy, water and carbon dioxide and converting them into carbohydrates and oxygen. This mimics photosynthesis, an efficient way of turning sunlight into energy, and replaces nature’s use of pigments such as chlorophyll.

I recommend visiting the Florogirl page where there is a video about artificial leaves, links to other resources, and links to more nanotechnology superheroes created by Byrne.

Concurrent with these nanotechnology-themed events, the Science Gallery is presenting a related project, Let’s Make Stuff, and associated events. The glue binding together the nanotechnology theme and ‘making stuff’ theme is the emphasis on materials. From the CRANN news release,

As part of Magical Materials ‘Director of Stuff, Producer of Things, Maker of Objects and Collector of Materials’, Zoe Loughlin, will present ‘Performativity of Matter’ on the 18th September, while Mark Miodownik from the Institute of Making will speak on September 27th. During the exhibition, Science Gallery will also explore science fiction in ‘From Grey Goo to Tricorders – How Science Fiction Influences Reality’ and bring back the hugely successful Curated Dinner series for members.

Sadly, I was not able to find any information about the ‘From Grey Goo to Tricorders – How Science Fiction Influences Reality’ event but perhaps they haven’t been able to schedule it yet. In the meantime, here’s a little more about the ‘Performativity of Matter’, from the event page (where you can book a ticket for this talk),

“First presented in 2008 at the ICA [Institute of Contemporary Art] in London, this ‘science demonstration lecture performance’ spotlights the performing nature – or performativity – of materials. As Zoe explains, performance isn’t just about animate objects – inanimate objects perform, too. This ever-evolving piece first emerged after a successful work by Zoe in which she gave a performance lecture about a mathematical equation she discovered. Since then, Zoe has been invited to perform around the UK and Europe to all manner of audiences. For example, last year saw her devise a lecture performance show on liquids for the Fundus Theatre in Germany.

Importantly, “The Performativity of Matter” is never the same twice. It is responsive to each diverse audience and setting, taking into account that the main performers on the stage – the materials – can’t always be controlled. But, to use one of Zoe’s expressions, if an on-stage demonstration works as it should on stage, it’s science. If it doesn’t, it’s art.”

Zoe Laughlin is a co-founder/director of the Institute of Making and the Materials Library project. She holds an MA from Central Saint Martin’s College of Art and Design and obtained a PhD in Materials within the Division of Engineering, King’s College London. Working at the interface of the science, art, craft and design of materials, her work ranges from formal experiments with matter, to materials consultancy and large-scale public exhibitions and events with partners including Tate Modern, the Hayward Gallery, the V&A Museum, the Science Museum and the Wellcome Collection.

A Q&A session will follow Zoe’s talk

The Science Gallery currently has opened a popup shop under its Let’s Make Stuff banner, from the Science Gallery home page,

MAKESHOP — a pop-up experiment by Science Gallery, is a new collaborative workshop space where you can learn everything from cross-stitching to DIY robotics.

One last item on the ‘making stuff’ theme, Mark Miodownick’s talk on Sept. 27, 2012, from the event page (where you can book a ticket),

Whatever people think about the rapid pace of change in the past, the fundamental arrangement of materials on the planet has not altered. There are living things which we call life, and there are non-living things which we call rocks, tools, buildings and so on. As a result of our greater understanding of matter, this distinction is now becoming blurred and is likely to usher in a new materials age.

Mark Miodownik, from the Institute of Making, believes bionic people with synthetic organs, bones and even brains will be the norm. Just as we become more synthetic, so our man-made environment is changing to become more lifelike: living buildings, and objects that heal-themselves are on the horizon.

His talk will review the imminent changes to the material world that are coming our way, and a Q&A session will follow.

Hats off to the Science Gallery, CRANN, TCD, and NanoNet Ireland, this looks to be a very exciting set of programmes engaging experts and the public in a variety of ways and means. I’d dearly love to know if anyone is analyzing these various initiatives for their impact on public awareness and understanding of nanotechnology and materials.

*’Mateirals’ corrected to ‘Materials’ on Nov. 7, 2014.

Future of Film & Video event being livestreamed from Dublin’s Science Gallery July 13, 2012

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As I’ve noted previously (my April 29, 2011 posting) Dublin is celebrating itself as a ‘City of Science’ this year. As part of the festivities (e.g. the Euroscience Open Forum [ESOF} meetings are now taking place in Dublin), the Future of Film & Video at the Science Gallery will be livestreamed on Friday, July 13, 2012 from 1800 to 1930 hours (10 am – 11:30 am PST), from the event page,

Join Academy award winners Anil Kokaram and Simon Robinson, and BAFTA award winner Mark Jacobs as they discuss the future of film and video, from today’s cutting-edge 3D tech, to tomorrow’s innovations being imagined in labs across the world. You’ll never look at a screen the same way as these visionaries show that in the film and video industry you should expect the unexpected.

This event is part of the UCD Imagine Science Film Festival, and is part of Dublin City of Science. We are grateful for the support of Google Dublin, the Chrome-Media Group at Google, Mountain View, the Sigmedia Group in the Engineering Dept, Trinity College Dublin and also Science Foundation Ireland.”

…

Simon Robinson

Academy Award winner, Simon Robinson is a Founder and the Chief Scientist of The Foundry, one of the most well recognised names in the creation of visual effects software. His technology has touched most of the blockbusters that reach our screens today e.g. Oscar Winning titles Hugo, Rango and effects laden works such as The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings and Avatar. In 2007 he was awarded a SciTech Academy Award for his influence on motion picture technology and in 2010 he was ranked in the top 100 most creative people in business in the fast Company’s annual ranking. His company has made the Sunday Times tech track top 100 list for two years in a row. The Foundry now numbers over 100 employees and speaking to the FT recently Simon is quoted as saying , “We never wanted to grow beyond six staff. We never thought we would sell it. We never thought we would buy it back. We are often wrong.”

Mark Jacobs

Mark Jacobs is a BAFTA award winning Producer/Director with a unique track record in innovation. His extensive experience of more than 25 years in broadcasting, with the BBC and other organisations, ranges from traditional programme making and commissioning, to delivering cutting edge innovation. Mark pioneered some of the first applications of 3D animation for both the BBC and Discovery and in 2000 he joined the BBC’s R&D arm to help pioneer new ways of using multimedia content. Mark has recently produced a 40 minute, multi-screen interactive film for the Natural History Museum with David Attenborough and led the BBC’s series of natural history documentary trials for stereo 3D production. He has a BAFTA for Interactive TV/ Mobile and introduced some of the first tests in computer graphics and augmented reality into the BBC. He has produced many award winning films for BBC series, ranging from Wildlife On One and Supersense to landmark series on the natural history of Polynesia and Central America and also a programme on the Dingle Dolphin!

Anil Kokaram

Academy award winner, Anil Kokaram is a Professor at Trinity College Dublin with a long history in developing new technologies for digital video processing and particularly in the art of making old movies look like new. He started a company called GreenParrotPictures in 2004 which specialised in translating cinematic effects tools into the semi-professional and consumer space. In 2007 Anil was awarded a SciTech Academy award for his work in developing motion estimation technology for the cinema industry in collaboration with Simon Robinson. GreenParrotPictures was acquired by Google in 2011 and Anil now heads a team of engineers in the Chrome Media Group in the Googleplex, Mountain View, California developing new video tools for Chrome and YouTube. He continues to collaborate with his research group www.sigmedia.tv in Trinity College Dublin.

Location:

Paccar Theatre

Admission:

Free – prebooking essential [go to event page to prebook]

I’m hoping this will be focussed on something other than the future of 3D technology.

Transforming flat screens with P-type conductors at CRANN

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I’m not sure about window-integrated flat screens as one of the applications for this technology breakthrough at Trinity College Dublin’s (TCD) CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices). I think there’s enough signage and video being beamed at me everywhere I go but all indications are that more and more surfaces are going to become display and/or communication devices and these researchers seem to have found a way to speed that process.

From the March 21, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

Researchers at CRANN, the Science Foundation Ireland funded nanoscience institute based in Trinity College Dublin (TCD), have discovered a new material that could transform the quality, lifespan and efficiency of flat screen computers, televisions and other devices (see paper in Applied Physics Letters: “Magnesium, nitrogen codoped Cr₂O₃: A p-type transparent conducting oxide”).

The research team was led by Prof Igor Shvets, a CRANN Principal Investigator who has successfully launched and sold two spin out companies from TCD and who is involved in the Spirit of Ireland energy project. A patent application protecting the new material was filed by TCD. Commenting on the research, Prof Igor Shvets said, “This is an exciting development with a range of applications and we are hopeful this initial research will attract commercial interest in order to explore its industrial use. The new material could lead to innovations such as window-integrated flat screens and to increase the efficiency of certain solar cells, thus significantly impacting on the take-up of solar cells, which can help us to reduce carbon emissions.” [emphasis mine]

The application for solar cells sounds a lot more appealing to me. CRANN issued a March 21, 2012 press release which included some technical details,

Devices that the new material could be used with such as solar cells, flat screen TVs, computer monitors, LEDs all utilise materials that can conduct electricity and at the same time are see-through. These devices currently use transparent conducting oxides, which are a good compromise between electrical conductivity and optical transparency. They all have one fundamental limitation: they all conduct electricity through the movement of electrons. [emphasis mine] Such materials are referred to as n-type transparent conducting oxides. Electricity can also be conducted through as p-type materials. Modern day electronics make use of n-type and p-type materials. The lack of good quality p-type transparent conducting oxides, however, led the research team to develop a new material – a p-type transparent conducting oxide.

I wish I better understood the fundamental limitation of an n-type transparent conducting oxide and how the new p-type transparent conducting oxide addresses that limitation.

After reading the description of p-type materials, it seems to me that electrons also move in that material. From the Wikipedia essay on p-type materials,

The dopant atom accepts an electron, causing the loss of half of one bond from the neighboring atom and resulting in the formation of a “hole”. Each hole is associated with a nearby negatively charged dopant ion, and the semiconductor remains electrically neutral as a whole. However, once each hole has wandered away into the lattice, one proton in the atom at the hole’s location will be “exposed” and no longer cancelled by an electron. [emphasis mine] This atom will have 3 electrons and 1 hole surrounding a particular nucleus with 4 protons. For this reason a hole behaves as a positive charge. When a sufficiently large number of acceptor atoms are added, the holes greatly outnumber thermal excited electrons. Thus, holes are the majority carriers, while electrons become minority carriers in p-type materials.

Well, I am interpreting the “wandering away” bit as a type of movement so I find the descriptions just a bit confusing. As for the holes being the majority carrier in p-type materials, perhaps the electrons in the n-type materials are the majority carriers?

If there’s anyone out there who could help lift the veil of confusion, I would much appreciate it.

For those who don’t need as much handholding as I do, you can find out more about Shvets and his work here.

International art/science script competition ceremony will be hosted by Trinity College Dublin’s nano centre and STAGE

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CRANN (Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices) at Trinity College Dublin has announced that it will be co-hosting the winner’s ceremony (and a reading of the winning script) for an international scriptwriting contest featuring science- and technology-inspired plays. From the Jan. 11, 2012 news item on Nanowerk,

CRANN, the SFI [Science Foundation of Ireland] funded nanoscience centre based at Trinity College Dublin, today announced that it is bringing the STAGE International Script Competition to Ireland during Dublin City of Science 2012. The competition judges will include a Pulitzer Prize winner and a Nobel Laureate.

The STAGE International Script Competition is a unique collaboration between art and science that awards a prize of $10,000 for the best new play about science and technology. STAGE – Scientists, Technologists and Artists Generating Exploration – began as an alliance between the Professional Artists Lab, a dynamic artistic laboratory, and the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Through CRANN’s relationship with CNSI, Dublin has beaten off stiff international competition to bring STAGE to Ireland.

…

As the 2012 City of Science, Dublin will host a programme of science-related events and activities throughout the year. The city will host Europe’s largest science conference, the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) 2012 from July 11-15, 2012, at which the winner of the 5th STAGE International Script Competition will first be announced to the public.

Later in the year, STAGE and CRANN will collaboratively host the award ceremony, at which the winning playwright will receive their STAGE Award from a science Nobel Laureate. In tandem with the ceremony, there will be a staged reading of the winning play, performed by professional Irish actors. Nancy Kawalek, Founder/Director of STAGE, will direct the reading.

Unfortunately, it’s too late for interested parties to submit their plays for this cycle (the 5th); submissions were closed as of Dec. 1, 2011.

The competition certainly seems to have attracted some high profile interest in past years (from the news item on Nanowerk),

Each cycle, the winner of the STAGE International Script Competition is chosen by a stellar panel of judges. Judges for the last cycle were Pulitzer Prize and Tony-Award winning playwright David Auburn; Tony, Olivier, and Obie Award-winning playwright John Guare; Nobel Laureate Alan Heeger; Nobel Laureate and KBE Sir Anthony Leggett; and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire. In addition to Mr. Lindsay-Abaire, who has shown his support for STAGE by signing on as a judge ‘in perpetuity’, the judges for this 5th cycle of the competition will include two science Nobel Laureates and two additional distinguished writer-artists from the theatre world. The names of these jurors will be announced in early 2012.

The 3rd cycle winner was a play about Rosalind Franklin; I’ve long been interested in her story and I mentioned it in a July 28, 2010 post about science-inspired knitting (there’s a ‘Rosalind’ scarf),

For anyone not familiar with Franklin (from the San Diego Super Computer Center at the University of Southern California web page),

There is probably no other woman scientist with as much controversy surrounding her life and work as Rosalind Franklin. Franklin was responsible for much of the research and discovery work that led to the understanding of the structure of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA. The story of DNA is a tale of competition and intrigue, told one way in James Watson’s book The Double Helix, and quite another in Anne Sayre’s study, Rosalind Franklin and DNA. James Watson, Francis Crick, and Maurice Wilkins received a Nobel Prize for the double-helix model of DNA in 1962, four years after Franklin’s death at age 37 from ovarian cancer.

Here’s a bit more about the 3rd cycle STAGE winner, Photograph 51, from the news item on Nanowerk,

A film version of third STAGE Competition winner Photograph 51 is being produced by Academy Award-nominated director Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan), Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz, and Ari Handel. Playwright Anna Ziegler will adapt her play for the screen. Photograph 51 was featured at the 2011 World Science Festival in New York City; the play has also enjoyed prestigious productions in New York City and Washington, D.C.

…

About the Play: What does a woman have to do to succeed in the world of science? It is 1953 and Dr. Rosalind Franklin, brilliant, passionate and ambitious, pours herself into her work at King’s College Lab in London. When fellow scientists Watson and Crick find out about her discoveries in the field of DNA, her work is suddenly not her own – and shortly thereafter they claim credit for a major breakthrough. A compelling drama about a woman’s sacrifice for professional success, Photograph 51 asks how we become who we become, and whether we have any power to change.

I checked the playwright’s, Anna Ziegler, website for more information about the upcoming movie and found this,

Anna has been awarded [April 2011] a Tribeca Film Festival / Sloan Grant to adapt her play PHOTOGRAPH 51 into a film. Rachel Weisz, Ari Handel, Audrey Rosenberg and Darren Aronofsky are producers.

You can find out more about STAGE and other winners of the competition here.

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Transforming flat screens with P-type conductors at CRANN

International art/science script competition ceremony will be hosted by Trinity College Dublin’s nano centre and STAGE