a blog by the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
LEGO blocks may be one of the simplest but most genius toys ever created, as evidenced by their popularity. Taking such simple building blocks that are modular and being able to create nearly endless different combinations of structures is liberating. On the other hand, it’s also great that LEGO can create a set of instructions …
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What is the color of “typical” carbons? As black as charcoal, or as clear as diamond (Fig. 1)? Can we imagine any other answers, such as blue, green, or red? You may think I am crazy, but actually, the answer is “Yes”! To explain the idea of multi-colored carbon, I’m going to tell you about …
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These days we are all familiar with the concept of recycling, which for most of us involves the weekly ritual of placing waste materials such as bottles, cans, and cardboard into oversized, colored recycling bins and placing them outside the house. After pick up, these recyclables are transported to collection centers where they are sorted, …
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