a blog by the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
Did you know that, in addition to being Pi Day and Albert Einstein's birthday, today (March 14) is Equal Pay Day for 2023? As publicized by the National Committee on Pay Equity, "This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year." This Census Bureau site has more information and tons …
Continue reading "Equal Pay Day and Revisiting the Matilda Effect"
The periodic table of elements is one of the most recognizable icons of chemical science: An example periodic table of the elements (image by Offnfopt) It may not be as widely-known as next week's February holiday, but National Periodic Table Day, February 7, is a great excuse to talk about this amazing tool that is …
Continue reading "Happy National Periodic Table Day!"
Earlier this week I heard a quick piece on NPR's Marketplace called "75 years ago, the transistor ignited the fire of modern innovation," about how the transistor was "born" exactly 75 years ago today: December 16, 1947. It reminded me of a blog post written by CSN graduate student Diamond Jones (now Dr. Diamond Jones!) …
Continue reading "Happy 75th Birthday to the Transistor!"
Happy National Chemistry Week! This year's theme is "Sticking with Chemistry," a celebration of the science of glues and adhesives. It's no coincidence that today is also Mole Day, the annual festival honoring Avogadro's Number - the number of molecules or atoms that comprise a mole of a substance: 6.02 x 1023. That's 602,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 molecules …
Continue reading "Sticking with Chemistry on Mole Day!"
Zack Jones, a graduate student in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, gives diamonds to his study organism. But they're nanodiamonds, not jewelry, and after the tiny worms eat them, Zack uses their fluorescent and magnetic properties to see where the material accumulates within the worm's body. This episode of the Sustainable Nano Podcast talks about …
Continue reading "Podcast Ep 37. Shine Bright like a Diamond… Inside of a Worm"
Science communication takes a lot of different forms, including improvisation. In this episode, we interview Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology graduate student Paige Kinsley and alum Liz Laudadio. The episode dives deep into the life skills you can learn from doing improv, how it can make you a better listener, and how it relates to science …
How do you photograph the unphotographable? In this podcast episode we interview MIT research scientist Felice Frankel, who specializes in visualizing science, using pictures to draw audiences in and help scientists more deeply examine their own work, including nanoscale materials that are smaller than wavelengths of light! We also have a mini-interview with graduate student …
Continue reading "Podcast Ep 35. Photographing the Unphotographable"
For many of us, our news feeds and personal conversations have been dominated this week by COVID-19. The disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been in the U.S. for a couple of months, but public awareness has been increasing rapidly and we have reached the point where many university campuses …
Continue reading "COVID-19, Nano, and You"
Are you looking for the summer research program that will give you the experience you need to consider a career in nanotechnology? Are you interested in chemistry AND sustainability? If so, the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURE) might be for you! To give you insight into the program, we made a …
Are you an undergraduate student, or do you know any undergraduate students? If the answer is yes, this blog post is for you! Believe it or not, many summer research programs have application deadlines in January or February, which means that winter break is the perfect time for undergrads to be thinking and planning for …
Continue reading "Itās December ā time to apply for summer research!"
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