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Nano Bite: September 2012

Welcome to the September Nano Bite, the monthly e-newsletter for the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).

What's new?

New in the Catalog: Big Fish, Little Fish
Big Fish, Little Fish is a cart demo that focuses on biomagnification: what it is and how it happens in our ecosystems, including a discussion of the potential biomagnification of nanoparticles. Visitors see a short visual demonstration followed by an interactive game. Big Fish, Little Fish can also be used as a classroom activity.

 New in the Catalog: Bilingual Design Guide and Updated Translation Process Guide
These guides are intended to complement each other as resources for partners designing and translating bilingual and multilingual products.

  • The Bilingual Design Guide presents the variety of interpretive and design strategies the Network has used for different bilingual products, including exhibits, programs, and media. The guide focuses on products offered in English and Spanish, but the considerations and solutions presented are more generally applicable to bilingual and multilingual museum experiences.

  • The updated Translation Process Guide is intended to help navigate through the process of creating quality translated educational porducts. It includes a suggested process model that will help to ensure that your translations maintain an appropriate interpretive tone and a high level of scientific accuracy.
→ 2013 Mini-Grants
The NISE Network is making available a limited number of small, one-time awards to support initiatives by NISE Net partners to engage their local audiences in nanoscale science, engineering, and technology topics. Requests can be made for an award up to $3,000 dollars to fund a small project or be put towards a larger endeavor.  Applications are due November 4, 2012. For more on how to apply, sample projects, and eligibility requirements, please read the Program Overview.

A list of previously funded mini-grant projects is available here: www.nisenet.org/community/mini-grants.


 
What Else?

National Chemistry Week - October 21-27
The theme this year is "Nanotechnology: The Smallest BIG Idea in Science."  This year the NISE Network has teamed up with the American Chemical Society (ACS) to provide online outreach resources for the event.  We encourage you to visit www.nisenet.org/national-chemistry-week to find out how you can get involved and get links to chemistry activities from past NanoDays kits and the online catalog. You can also find a link to ACS's website listing events and chemistry collaborators nationwide including some that may be located near you.

NISE Net at ASTC 2012
For those of you attending the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) annual conference October 13-16 in Columbus, Ohio, the NISE Network will have many activities and professional development opportunities. For details check out: www.nisenet.org/community/events/astc/astc_annual_conference_2012.


NanoDays 2013
NanoDays will be held March 30-April 7, 2013.  Kit applications will be available beginning October 1st. Check the website after October 1st to apply for a physical kit here: www.nisenet.org/nanodays

NOVA's Making Stuff Re-airs on PBS September 19 and 26
The public television series NOVA, working in cooperation with the Materials Research Society (MRS), introduced the science of materials to the general public for the first time in January 2011, when Making Stuff: Stronger, Smaller, Cleaner, Smarter. Now the four-hour series returns on September 19 and 26 on PBS to give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at scientific innovations happening every day. For more information visit www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/tech/making-stuff.
 
 
Nano in the News
  • Next Generation of Mars Rovers Could be Smaller than Grains of Sand: With excitement over the landing of Mars rover Curiosity, Popular Science looks into the next generation of Mars rovers, and finds potential in nanobots.
     
  • Weighing Molecules One at a Time: Physicists have created the first ever mechanical device that can measure the mass of individual molecules at one time. This new technology could one day help with disease diagnosis, the study of viruses, and the probing of the molecular machinery of cells as well as allow scientists to measure nanoparticles and air pollution.
     
  • First Photo of Shadow of Single Atom: Researchers have been able to photograph the shadow of a single atom for the first time. At the heart of this achievement is a super high-resolution microscope, which makes the shadow dark enough to see. The atom is isolated within a chamber and held in free space by electrical forces so that it could be photographed.

Nano Haiku
 
Nanobots on Mars!
Dust motes collecting info.
Maybe Someday.

Vrylena Olney of the Museum of Science, Boston shared the above haiku inspired by the article Next Generation of Mars Rovers Could be Smaller than Grains of Sand.

 

Questions? Haikus? Contributions to the newsletter? Contact Eli Bossin at [email protected]
Read the Nano Bite e-newsletter online at /newsletter/nano-bite-september-2012.

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