Yes, it’s late October and that means National Chemistry Week! It’s the 30th anniversary of NCW, and this year’s theme is “Chemistry Rocks!”

It may not seem like this theme has a lot to do with sustainable nanotechnology, but we’ve had a number of blog posts in the past that relate to soil, minerals, and other geologically relevant topics.
Here are just a few Sustainable Nano posts that you might enjoy reading in honor of National Chemistry Week this year:
- Digging Deep: Celebrating the Gem Beneath Our Feet by Alicia McGeachy
- The Atomic Difference Between Diamonds and Graphite by Cathy Murphy
- Nuclear Proliferation & Sustainability: the History of Nanodiamonds by Bob Hamers
- Interstellar Carbon Nanoparticles: From Dull to Shiny by Gustavo Dominguez
The NCW website includes contests, outreach activities, and more. For other great reads (and some activities) related to the Chemistry Rocks! theme, here are a few more links:
- Scientific American – Solubility Science: How to Grow the Best Crystals by Science Buddies
- Things We Don’t Know – Comet Chemistry by Dr Kerry Hebden
- Scientific American – Lunar Rock Chemistry Argued to Reveal How the Moon Formed by Alexandra Witze
- West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey – Adaptive Earth Science Activities by Tom Repine et al.
Want to go further down the rabbit hole of links? Check out our previous National Chemistry Week posts:
- National Chemistry Week 2015: Chemistry Colors our World
- National Chemistry Week 2016: Solving Mysteries Through Chemistry
Thanks to Graham Andrews for assistance compiling this post.