a blog by the NSF Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology
While a tablespoon of pond water might look quite devoid of life, a closer look reveals quite the opposite. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIMJWWpOrjw Though they may be difficult to spot with the naked eye, that doesn't mean they're not important or amazing. Here are some of the amazing critters shown in that video and some interesting facts about each. …
Continue reading "Hidden Life in Pond Water"
We perform many different kinds of experiments in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology—some that you might expect (like making new kinds of nanoparticles), and some that you might not (like feeding nanoparticles to tiny organisms such as bacteria and water fleas). The second kind of experiment may seem a little strange to you: why is …
Happy Friday! That was a video by our friends at the Center for the Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology at Duke University. Our research goals are related to theirs. They are looking at things more from the perspective of the entire ecosystem, while we are taking a more "zoomed-in" approach--looking at things from the atomic- and molecular-scale. …
Continue reading "Friday Video: Does Every Silver Lining Have a Cloud?"
Silver nanoparticles can be found in socks and sports clothing because of their ability to kill bacteria and inhibit unwanted odors. Their antibacterial properties are exploited in a number of other products on the market, including cutting boards, computer keyboards, personal care products…and the list goes on. The multitude of uses explains why nanoparticles made …
Continue reading "Silver For Your Smelly Socks??"
In Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, the evil emperor creates an army of “clones” that are exactly identical to one another, all the way down to their DNA. Similarly, we scientists use a little water flea called Daphnia magna for this same reason, however it is not for evil purposes. Daphnia, just like the …
Now that you’ve somehow gotten to this blog, you’re probably wondering, “Where am I? What is this ‘Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology’?” Our “center” is actually a group of people who care about our environment and are doing collaborative research to help ensure that our planet will be habitable hundreds of years from now – in …
Sustainable Nano 