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Nano Bite: April 2011

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

What's new? NanoDays Successes!

 Thank you to all NanoDays participants!
A huge thank you to all those who participated in NanoDays events these past weeks at more than 200 locations from Puerto Rico to Hawaii! To see which Network partners participated this year, go to: /nanodays-2011-participants

Speaking of your wonderful events, the NanoDays report is now available! The deadline for getting in your NanoDays report online is May 1st. Check out the NanoDays 2011 page for more info about your report and the chance to win a prize if you report by May 1st. For those who want to look at a PDF version of the report to plan out answers before reporting online, please click on this blog post. Even if you did not get a physical NanoDays kit this year, but your institution still participated in NanoDays, we would love to hear from you.


→ Partner Highlight: CNSE at the University of Albany
Many NISE Net partners planned great events at their museums or research centers, but a few went a little further afield. For instance, as part of a comprehensive line-up of events for NanoDays, the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University of Albany hosted a series of programs at a local mall! To read more about the University of Albany's NanoDays experiences, check out this blog post: 
Partner Highlight: CNSE at the University of Albany 
 
Several additional blog posts are available on nisenet.org in relation to NanoDays 2011:
 
What Else?

→ Linked Products in the Catalog
The NISE Net Catalog has been re-designed. Activities and products are now labeled to show which products were developed by the NISE Network, and which were created by outside institutions but are linked in the catalog. Some linked products include:
  • The NanoZone is both a website and a permanent exhibition at UC Berkeley's Lawrence Hall of Science. The website includes links to games, videos, and activities for families and children, as well as professional resources for teachers and museum educators.
  • TED Talks about Nano is a curated selection of TEDTalks that relate to current nano science, technology, and engineering. From future medical applications to clean water, these videos give a voice and face to nano research.
  • NanoVenture: The Nanotechnology Board Game explores the connections between science, specifically nanotechnology, and society. In this game, players become leaders of a new country. The leaders are challenged to make decisions regarding their country's use of nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
 
→ Call for proposals
Congress: Teaching Social and Ethical Implications of Research. November 10-11, 2011 Tempe, Arizona.
This Congress will bring together a wide array of educators to share the programs, materials, assessment methods, and experience they have developed as well as serve as an opportunity to collaborate on new strategies to help scientists and engineers understand the social and ethical implications of research.

Proposals are invited for presentations, posters, and activities during the Congress. The deadline for proposals is June 1, 2011. So submit a proposal, or for more information, please contact [email protected].

Nano in the News

  • Continuous Medical Monitoring: Researchers at MIT and Northeastern have come up with a new system for monitoring biomedical indicators that could someday lead to implantable devices that would be implanted under the skin to give readouts of blood sugar levels or other biomedical information. These tiny "microworms" would allow, for example, people with diabetes to check their blood sugar just by glancing at an area of skin.
  • 3-D Nanoparticle in Atomic Resolution: The chemical and physical properties of nanoparticles are determined by their exact three-dimensional morphology, atomic structure and especially their surface composition. In a study initiated by ETH Zurich scientist Marta Rossell and Empa researcher Rolf Erni, the 3-D structure of individual nanoparticles has now successfuly been determined on the atomic level. The new technique could help improve understanding of the characteristics of nanoparticles, including their reactivity and toxicity.
Nano Trivia

A nanometer is approximately how many copper atoms long?
a) 2
b) 8
c) 23
d) 47

For the answer to this question and other nano trivia questions to use at your events (or just to impress your friends), check out this Nano Trivia post!

 

Questions? Haikus? Contributions to the newsletter? Contact Eli Bossin at [email protected]