a blog by the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
On a lovely spring day, as I was lying on the Skinner Green and soaking up the sun, my phone buzzed. It was an email from the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology (CSN) regarding my application for their Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program. My heart dropped a beat when I glimpsed the content of the email and …
Continue reading "Authentic Research Experiences Amid The Pandemic"
Note: There has been much public discussion recently around preservation of public monuments. This blog post is about how science can play an important role in preserving historical monuments. Although people, including scientists, must make judgments about historical preservation, nothing in this post is intended to express any opinion on recent public discussions about those …
Continue reading "How can nanotechnology preserve stone cultural heritage sites?"
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"
Hearing of the fire at Notre Dame de Paris a year ago broke my heart. I have only been there once in my life, but that visit is one of my most cherished memories. Before studying chemistry and joining the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, I earned a music education degree, with a major in voice …
Continue reading "Molecular music: Patterns of vibrations at the quantum level"
In these days of social distancing, everyday electronic devices such as cell phones and laptops are more crucial than ever. But many of these devices, ubiquitous as they are, contain materials that are difficult to come by, called scarce rare earth and specialty elements (RESEs). For example, audio equipment such as speakers, headphones and microphones, …
Continue reading "Nano-enabled Recovery of Scarce Metals: From benchtop to startup"
Did you know that scientists have used nanotechnology to develop a test for the MERS coronavirus? The results of the test can be seen by the naked eye within 10 minutes of interacting with the viral DNA, which can shorten the analysis and interpretation time.1 Current testing for the COVID-19 virus takes hours or days.2 So, …
Continue reading "Can nanotechnology help make a better COVID-19 test?"
A brief introduction of nanoparticle applications in agriculture from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station There are currently about 7.67 billion people on Earth, and by 2050 the population is expected to increase to nearly 9.8 billion.1 That is a lot of people who all need to eat. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the …
Continue reading "Nanotechnology and Modern Agriculture"
Fuel cells are a technology for transforming the chemical energy of a fuel into electricity using redox reactions (usually combining hydrogen fuel with oxygen from the air). They are different from most batteries, because they require a constant source of oxygen and fuel to sustain the chemical reaction. In batteries, the energy comes from metals …
Continue reading "Nanotechnology and the Future of Fuel Cells"
Guess what? Your skin is the biggest organ in your body, with an area of 2m2 (pretty much the size of a beach towel)! Skin plays an important role in the protection of your muscles, bones, and organs, and acts as a physical barrier against pathogens. It also regulates your temperature, and when exposed to the …
Continue reading "Nanotechnology for Younger & Healthier Skin?"
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"
Sustainable Nano 