The USA Food and Drug Administration has come to the conclusion that they have sufficient capability to test and regulate products containing nanoparticles. Products will not need special labeling to indicate the presence of nanoparticles -- a decision that will no doubt put a number of companies at ease. More details here and here.
Is this a good thing? It's hard to say, because the decision seems to be being made based on a lack of information -- the FDA simply doesn't know enough about nanoparticles to say they are a danger. This, of course, doesn't necessarily mean some of them aren't.
It really comes down to deciding just how cautious we want to be about nanotechnology. This is a tough call to make, and I sincerely hope that the FDA knows enough about the many different properties of the many different kinds of nanoparticles to make it.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: The More Things Change...
Maybe Charles Babbage was onto something...
Computers have become so integrated into our lives that it's sometimes easy to forget how much energy is required to keep them going. Silicon chips use a lot of power and Nanowerk has a great article today on the consequences of that energy use:
Maybe we can find the way forward by looking backwards.
Dr. Robert Blick at the University of Wisconsin is developing nanomechanical computational devices -- chips that sacrifice a degree of speed but in return are vastly superior to silicon in terms of energy consumption and robustness. Soft Machines adds to the discussion and distinguishes Dr. Blick's work from Eric Drexler's rod logic.
Computers have become so integrated into our lives that it's sometimes easy to forget how much energy is required to keep them going. Silicon chips use a lot of power and Nanowerk has a great article today on the consequences of that energy use:
...about 200 billion kWh of electricity a year used by computers.... That means that generating the electricity for using 1 billion computers will release some 128 million tonnes of CO2 (280 billion pounds) into the air.
Maybe we can find the way forward by looking backwards.
Dr. Robert Blick at the University of Wisconsin is developing nanomechanical computational devices -- chips that sacrifice a degree of speed but in return are vastly superior to silicon in terms of energy consumption and robustness. Soft Machines adds to the discussion and distinguishes Dr. Blick's work from Eric Drexler's rod logic.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Aim for where the Target is Going to Be
Two interesting recent posts from the Nanotechnology Development Blog.
First, they mention how nanotechnology is being used to develop "green" packaging. By adding nanoparticles to the bioplastic Plolylactic acid (PLA), bags made from it become stronger while still maintaining their transparency. The great thing about PLA bags is that they are made from corn, biodegradable and require less energy to create than conventional plastic bags. A few fewer plastic bags in the world might not seem like a big deal -- but it is.
The other post that I thought was interesting was about the increasing demand for Electron Microscopes. Apparently the spiraling decent of semiconductors to the nano-scale is making Electron Microscopes essential for product inspection. This should really have been an easy trend to predict.
Here's a prediction of my own -- a lot of money is going to be made by companies that take the adoption of nanotechnology as a given, and position themselves to provide goods or services that make that adoption easier.
First, they mention how nanotechnology is being used to develop "green" packaging. By adding nanoparticles to the bioplastic Plolylactic acid (PLA), bags made from it become stronger while still maintaining their transparency. The great thing about PLA bags is that they are made from corn, biodegradable and require less energy to create than conventional plastic bags. A few fewer plastic bags in the world might not seem like a big deal -- but it is.
The other post that I thought was interesting was about the increasing demand for Electron Microscopes. Apparently the spiraling decent of semiconductors to the nano-scale is making Electron Microscopes essential for product inspection. This should really have been an easy trend to predict.
Here's a prediction of my own -- a lot of money is going to be made by companies that take the adoption of nanotechnology as a given, and position themselves to provide goods or services that make that adoption easier.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Safety, Nano-Particles and Fuel Cells
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to participate in a day of meetings and discussion about nanotechnology and safety at the National Research Council, Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation. Nanowerk has a great article on the major challenges to realizing the potential of hydrogen fuel cells and how nanotech fits in to making that happen.
The researchers at the CFCI need to deal with nano-particles as part of their work. Tuesday was an attempt to get a handle on how to evaluate and respond to health risks caused by nano-particles.
The problem is a lack of knowledge. With conventional materials we know how much a person can be exposed to safely. When we use those same materials at the nano-scale however, our information starts to fall apart. Most of these nano-materials are new even if their macro-scale counterparts are not, and are being developed much faster than toxicologists can test them.
Nobody can guarantee safety, especially at this point. The key, and I heard this reiterated many times, is to be proactive. Traditionally, health and safety have been reactive and investigatory, i.e. it's only after someone gets sick or dies that we try to find out why and stop it from happening again. The specter of asbestos looms large.
That kind of approach isn't good enough. Researchers and health and safety experts are working hard to intelligently calculate risks and develop ways to protect people well before the damage is done. The price for this kind of forethought is dealing with a lot of unknowns, but step by step we're getting it figured out, and in the process making nanotechnology safer.
The researchers at the CFCI need to deal with nano-particles as part of their work. Tuesday was an attempt to get a handle on how to evaluate and respond to health risks caused by nano-particles.
The problem is a lack of knowledge. With conventional materials we know how much a person can be exposed to safely. When we use those same materials at the nano-scale however, our information starts to fall apart. Most of these nano-materials are new even if their macro-scale counterparts are not, and are being developed much faster than toxicologists can test them.
Nobody can guarantee safety, especially at this point. The key, and I heard this reiterated many times, is to be proactive. Traditionally, health and safety have been reactive and investigatory, i.e. it's only after someone gets sick or dies that we try to find out why and stop it from happening again. The specter of asbestos looms large.
That kind of approach isn't good enough. Researchers and health and safety experts are working hard to intelligently calculate risks and develop ways to protect people well before the damage is done. The price for this kind of forethought is dealing with a lot of unknowns, but step by step we're getting it figured out, and in the process making nanotechnology safer.
Monday, July 16, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Beetles, Wood and Nanotech
Speaking of using nanotech to benefit the environment, Nanowerk has a very good summary of some of the many ways that nanotechnology looks to be able to reduce greenhouse gases.
Global Warming is something we've been hearing about for a long time. It's only been comparatively recently that visible, serious consequences are starting to hit home. One of the least discussed but most serious consequences of a warming climate is the expansion of pests into new territories.
In BC that means the Mountain Pine Beetle. Thanks to a series of warm winters that caused the population of the Pine Beetle to explode, vast stretches of forests in British Columbia have turned rust red and died.
Unfortunately nanotechnology doesn't offer any easy solutions to the Pine Beetle problem. Pine Beetle damaged wood can be sold, but at reduced prices and this is hitting the forest industry hard. Nanotechnology cant protect the trees themselves, but it might be able to protect the economies that rely on forestry by enabling the creation of new high value products from damaged timber.
Nanocrystalline Cellulose is a product of plants derived through nanotechnology. As is so often the case when dealing with nanotech, nanocrystalline cellulose has properties that are quite different from its macro-scale counterpart, including "extraordinary catalytic, electrical and optical properties."
Nanocrystalline Cellulose is an example of how nanotechnology is allowing us to look at the resources we depend on and see them in a new way. By examining materials at the nano-scale we sometimes find uses and capabilities that nobody dreamed were there.
Global Warming is something we've been hearing about for a long time. It's only been comparatively recently that visible, serious consequences are starting to hit home. One of the least discussed but most serious consequences of a warming climate is the expansion of pests into new territories.
In BC that means the Mountain Pine Beetle. Thanks to a series of warm winters that caused the population of the Pine Beetle to explode, vast stretches of forests in British Columbia have turned rust red and died.
Unfortunately nanotechnology doesn't offer any easy solutions to the Pine Beetle problem. Pine Beetle damaged wood can be sold, but at reduced prices and this is hitting the forest industry hard. Nanotechnology cant protect the trees themselves, but it might be able to protect the economies that rely on forestry by enabling the creation of new high value products from damaged timber.
Nanocrystalline Cellulose is a product of plants derived through nanotechnology. As is so often the case when dealing with nanotech, nanocrystalline cellulose has properties that are quite different from its macro-scale counterpart, including "extraordinary catalytic, electrical and optical properties."
Nanocrystalline Cellulose is an example of how nanotechnology is allowing us to look at the resources we depend on and see them in a new way. By examining materials at the nano-scale we sometimes find uses and capabilities that nobody dreamed were there.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Cool(er) Runnings
Hydrogen fuel cells seem to be one of those technologies that's perpetually just about to change the world. It's such a simple idea -- hydrogen + oxygen = energy, with no waste product more harmful than water. Of course fuel cells aren't primary power sources, but with every car on the street running off of them, it would sure be a lot easer to breath deeply in the middle of rush-hour.
Unfortunately there are a few serious stumbling blocks to producing viable hydrogen fuel cells. One problem is the necessity of platinum as a catalyst. Another is the heat of the reaction -- up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and enough to burn out the cell's materials in short order.
Now it looks like there might be a solution at hand to the heat problem and it comes, not surprisingly, from nanotechnology. Researchers at UC Davis have been able to create nano-scale cubic zirconia. As with so many materials, the properties of cubic zirconia are different at the nano-level than they are at the macro -- being much more conductive to electricity. This translates into cooler temperatures for fuel cells; perhaps as low as 50 degrees Celsius.
BC has a lot going on with regards to fuel cells -- Ballard and the NRC-IFCI in particular. It'll be interesting to see how this development impacts their work.
Unfortunately there are a few serious stumbling blocks to producing viable hydrogen fuel cells. One problem is the necessity of platinum as a catalyst. Another is the heat of the reaction -- up to 1,800 degrees Celsius and enough to burn out the cell's materials in short order.
Now it looks like there might be a solution at hand to the heat problem and it comes, not surprisingly, from nanotechnology. Researchers at UC Davis have been able to create nano-scale cubic zirconia. As with so many materials, the properties of cubic zirconia are different at the nano-level than they are at the macro -- being much more conductive to electricity. This translates into cooler temperatures for fuel cells; perhaps as low as 50 degrees Celsius.
BC has a lot going on with regards to fuel cells -- Ballard and the NRC-IFCI in particular. It'll be interesting to see how this development impacts their work.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Use Nanotech Instead
Nanotech gets its incredible potential from the unusual properties that materials sometimes exhibit at the nano-scale. That potential is a double-edged sword however -- we don't know very much about the toxicity of most nano-particles or how they interact with natural environments. This should, and is being studied.
At the same time nanotechnology promises new technologies that have the potential to address some of our most serious environmental problems. Nanowerk brings up a further use for nanotechnology -- to substitute for dangerous chemicals that are in use now.
The key to nanotechnology is that it allows us, to an extent, to rationally design our materials. This isn't a simple process but it holds the promise of allowing us to create new substances that can meet our needs without the often very serious drawbacks of conventional chemicals.
At the same time nanotechnology promises new technologies that have the potential to address some of our most serious environmental problems. Nanowerk brings up a further use for nanotechnology -- to substitute for dangerous chemicals that are in use now.
The key to nanotechnology is that it allows us, to an extent, to rationally design our materials. This isn't a simple process but it holds the promise of allowing us to create new substances that can meet our needs without the often very serious drawbacks of conventional chemicals.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Watch and Learn
Soft Machines led me to homunculus which in turn led me to Nano2Hybrids...
It's one thing to read about nanotechnology, but now you can watch it happening. Over the next three years Nano2Hybrids is going to be posting video diaries recording real experimental nanotechnology research.
Are you ready to see what science looks like? It might not be pretty...
Not quite ready for that? Brush up on the basics with the Top 10 things to know about nanotechnology.
It's one thing to read about nanotechnology, but now you can watch it happening. Over the next three years Nano2Hybrids is going to be posting video diaries recording real experimental nanotechnology research.
Are you ready to see what science looks like? It might not be pretty...
Not quite ready for that? Brush up on the basics with the Top 10 things to know about nanotechnology.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Worm's Eye View
Watching new advances in nanotechnology come rolling in everyday is exciting -- but with all the single-molecule sensors and nano-wagon wheels, it's easy to loose sight of what "nanotechnology" means to the average consumer.
For anybody interested in a worm's eye view of nanotechnology, take a few minutes to go through the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. It's a consumer product inventory focused on nanotechnology.
Browsing the inventory is an educational experience, if only for the number of dubious claims you're likely to encounter. For a lot of products "nano" seems like magic, imparting remarkable qualities by virtue of association alone (Galaxia Nano Technology Limited Nano Cup Group Aerobics Living Supply Box.) There are also a lot of cases where limited nanotechnology, in the form of nano-particles like nano-silver is being used, even though there isn't yet a real sense of the long term health or safety consequences of some of these applications.
This is just a roundabout way of saying that nanotechnology is new and complicated. It takes time and patience to tell the snake-oil from the real medicine. Consumer groups play an important role in this process. It's also important for people to understand how really big (ironically enough) the word "nano" is -- encompassing a huge range of sciences, technologies and even particle types. Christine Peterson does a great job in today's Nanodot post of getting across how important it is for everybody, particularly consumers to recognize the variety within the nano lable.
For anybody interested in a worm's eye view of nanotechnology, take a few minutes to go through the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. It's a consumer product inventory focused on nanotechnology.
Browsing the inventory is an educational experience, if only for the number of dubious claims you're likely to encounter. For a lot of products "nano" seems like magic, imparting remarkable qualities by virtue of association alone (Galaxia Nano Technology Limited Nano Cup Group Aerobics Living Supply Box.) There are also a lot of cases where limited nanotechnology, in the form of nano-particles like nano-silver is being used, even though there isn't yet a real sense of the long term health or safety consequences of some of these applications.
This is just a roundabout way of saying that nanotechnology is new and complicated. It takes time and patience to tell the snake-oil from the real medicine. Consumer groups play an important role in this process. It's also important for people to understand how really big (ironically enough) the word "nano" is -- encompassing a huge range of sciences, technologies and even particle types. Christine Peterson does a great job in today's Nanodot post of getting across how important it is for everybody, particularly consumers to recognize the variety within the nano lable.
Monday, July 9, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Nano-Agony and Nano-Ecstasy
It's not winning that counts, it's how you play the game.
The SFU team at the Nanogram division of the 2007 RoboCup ran into trouble with their plastic-based "Whirling Dervish" entry to the worlds smallest soccer competition. It seems the robot -- less than one-sixth the size of an amoeba -- didn't have the weight to move smoothly across the "field."
Complications notwithstanding, the nanogram soccer competition is succeeding admirably at its goals: raising nanotechnology's profile in a fun and exciting way, and providing proof of principal for more demanding future nanotechnology applications off the soccer field.
The SFU team at the Nanogram division of the 2007 RoboCup ran into trouble with their plastic-based "Whirling Dervish" entry to the worlds smallest soccer competition. It seems the robot -- less than one-sixth the size of an amoeba -- didn't have the weight to move smoothly across the "field."
Complications notwithstanding, the nanogram soccer competition is succeeding admirably at its goals: raising nanotechnology's profile in a fun and exciting way, and providing proof of principal for more demanding future nanotechnology applications off the soccer field.
Friday, July 6, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Everyday I Write the Book
I keep stumbling upon great nanotech blogs:
Nanotechnology Development Blog -- articulate and wide ranging. I've only read the first four or five posts, but they seem to have a nice balance between research and business. It's definitely on my daily reading list from now on.
Blog-Nano: Nanoscale Materials and Nanotechnology -- I hadn't even gotten through the Weekly Round-up post before I linked to it. In particular I'm grateful for the link to SFU's grand achievement in fine-print: the Worlds Smallest Book. Here's a picture, but make sure you have your glasses (or a scanning electron microscope) handy.
Finally, I can't finish the week without linking to something a bit more mind expanding. Nanowerk has a great article about nanotechnology and neural interfaces. Nanotech is starting to blur the line between human and machine, raising questions that we need to start considering.
Nanotechnology Development Blog -- articulate and wide ranging. I've only read the first four or five posts, but they seem to have a nice balance between research and business. It's definitely on my daily reading list from now on.
Blog-Nano: Nanoscale Materials and Nanotechnology -- I hadn't even gotten through the Weekly Round-up post before I linked to it. In particular I'm grateful for the link to SFU's grand achievement in fine-print: the Worlds Smallest Book. Here's a picture, but make sure you have your glasses (or a scanning electron microscope) handy.
Finally, I can't finish the week without linking to something a bit more mind expanding. Nanowerk has a great article about nanotechnology and neural interfaces. Nanotech is starting to blur the line between human and machine, raising questions that we need to start considering.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: Very Small Soccer
Under-20 is one thing; under a micron is something else. I've never been too interested in FIFA, but I'll be cheering for the Simon Fraser University team competing in the nanogram division of the 2007 RoboCup. Even the Vancouver Sun is following the game!
PhD Students Daniel Sameoto, See-Ho Tsang and Ian Foulds have developed a soccer team so small you need a scanning electron microscope to follow the action. Soccer might not be the first thing you think of when you hear "nanotechnology", but success on the playing field could be the first step to more significant applications in medicine, electronics and a wide range of other fields.
Go Canada!
PhD Students Daniel Sameoto, See-Ho Tsang and Ian Foulds have developed a soccer team so small you need a scanning electron microscope to follow the action. Soccer might not be the first thing you think of when you hear "nanotechnology", but success on the playing field could be the first step to more significant applications in medicine, electronics and a wide range of other fields.
Go Canada!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
The Nanotech BC Blog: 3 Views of the Nanotech Mountain
Long View:
Nanoscale memory devices made of quantum dots and viruses -- could lead to disease treating nanorobots.
Short View:
Simple magnet can control the color of a liquid through affecting nano-particles of iron oxide -- could lead to new display screens and electronic paper and ink.
Panoramic View:
NanoArt -- science, technology, photography and sculpture; beautiful snapshots of the nanoworld.
Nanoscale memory devices made of quantum dots and viruses -- could lead to disease treating nanorobots.
Short View:
Simple magnet can control the color of a liquid through affecting nano-particles of iron oxide -- could lead to new display screens and electronic paper and ink.
Panoramic View:
NanoArt -- science, technology, photography and sculpture; beautiful snapshots of the nanoworld.
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