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Nano Bite: April 2010

Welcome to the April Nano Bite, the monthly e-newsletter for the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).
April 22nd is Earth Day!  There are tons of potential nano tie-ins, including videos, podcasts, presentations, and demos related to energy, solar cells, light bulbs, water purification, nano in nature, and more.  Here's a small sample on a few different topics:
Energy 
The NISE Net has two programs related to energy and nanotechnology in our catalog right now:
Solar Cells
Water Purification
  • DragonflyTV Episode: Water Clean Up (about using nanoiron to clean up pollution in soil and prevent it from getting into drinking water)
  • Museum of Science Podcast: Purifying Pollutants (about using glass to remove oil from water, plus a videocast on the same topic)
You can find a list of resources and more information about nano and lightbulbs, geckos, nasturtium leaves, and nanosilver on nisenet.org here.
NanoDays!
  About half the NanoDays 2010 events are over and half yet to go; thanks to all those who participated (or are about to). A list of all locations is included at www.nisenet.org/nanodays.
 Reports and prizes!
Once your events are over, don't forget to fill out a NanoDays report.  What's in it for you? If you submit your report by May 1, 2010 we'll enter you into a drawing for free registration and a limited travel stipend to a national professional development conference.  What's in it for us?  We find out about what you did during NanoDays, how it went, and get some information that may help us improve NanoDays in the future.  Even if you don't win one of the prizes, you are guaranteed to win heaps of appreciation from us.
What else?   
   20th Anniversary On April 5, 1990, Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer announced in Nature that they had arranged 35 single atoms of xenon to spell out IBM.  Chris Toumey of University of South Carolina looks back on the experiment in the April issue of Nature Nanotechnology You can watch Don Eigler talk to visitors at the Museum of Science about moving atoms in a series of YouTube videos here (part of the Talking Nano dvd set).
 
  Spanish-Language Translations
Based on input from NISE Network partners, we have adapted our most popular programs for Spanish-speaking audiences! Go to www.nisenet.org/catalog/spanish to explore Spanish versions of several NISE Network public programs and resources and learn a bit more about our translation process.
 
  Nano in the news
AOL News recently launched a big special report on nanotechnology titled The Nanotech Gamble: Bold Science. Big Money. Growing Risk.  Check it out here.
 
   Outreach & Education at the Materials Research Society Conference
Going to the MRS Spring 2010 meeting in San Francisco this April 5 - 9?  The NISE Net is sponsoring three professional development workshops.  You can also visit us in the public outreach center, where you can catch a sneak peak of the new PBS series Making Stuff and check out some hands-on demos.  Find more information about the conference here.
 
Big Thoughts about Super-Small: Nano in Children’s Museums Workshop
There's still some space (and travel subsidy funding) available for the May 5th Nano in Children's Museums workshop at the Association of Children's Museum Meeting.  Register for the meeting through ACM.  For more information about travel subsidies, email Krystal Willeby at [email protected].
 
Archived Newsletters and How To Subscribe
All our old newsletters are currently archived on nisenet.org!  Read through past months and subscribe or update your email address at www.nisenet.org/community/nanobite.  (If you don't have a nisenet.org profile already, you can also subscribe at the same time that you create your profile.)  
 
Nano Haiku
A post-NanoDays haiku for all of you who held events last weekend:
 
For hours, I build a
giant balloon nanotube.
Ouch. My fingers hurt!
 
by Karine Thate, Education Associate, Museum of Science, Boston
Questions? Haikus? Contributions to the newsletter? Contact Vrylena Olney at [email protected]