Artificial leaf’ hits development hurdle

The company founded to commercialize the solar hydrogen device goes back to drawing board.

A glass already half-full for nano-based water treatments

Clean drinking water is in short supply for most of the world’s population, but nanotechnology can go a long way to ensuring no one goes thirsty.

Quantum dots appear safe in primates

A study to gauge the toxicity of quantum dots in primates has found cadmium-selenide quantum dots to be safe over intervals of time ranging from three months to a year.

Newswise, University of Buffalo: 21 May 2012

Nature Nanotechnology, Ling et al published online 20 May 2012

International standards for trade in nanotechnology foods?

Nanotechnology-derived food products will become increasingly available to consumers, but the Codex Alimentarius Commission has yet to agree on any agri-nanotechnology standards.

Nanowerk Spotlight: 16 May 2012

In Australia

Food Standards Australia New Zealand is the government regulator resposible for ensuring food is safe. They have recognised or acknowledged there may be risks with the use of some nanotechnologies in food or packaging, though their information on this issue is limited

Restoring sight with wireless implants

A combination of video goggles and photovoltaic retinal implants could make vision restoration more practicable.

Nature News: 13 May 2012

Electricity from viruses

Scientists have developed a way to generate power using harmless viruses that convert mechanical energy into electricity.

Lawrence Berkeley national Laboratories: 13 May 2012

Micro submarines clean oil spills

Self-propelled, artificial nano or microscale machines can pick up oil droplets from water helping clean up ocean oil spills.

Science Illustrated: 9 May 2012

Does nanotechnology offer athletes more than a sporting chance?

From bicycles to swimsuits, nanotechnology can be used in almost every sport to improve the performance of competitors. So should governing bodies be concerned?

The Guardian: 8 May 2012

Secondary teachers: TechNyou Nano- and Biotechnology Webinars

Dates

2 webinars over two days.

The first, nanotechnology on 16 May

The second, biotechnology on 17 May

Start times for both:

8.00 pm Eastern states

7.30 pm SA/NT

6.00 pm WA

10.00 am UTC

What and how

The webinars are being hosted by ASTA (Australian Science Teacher Assoc) Online Professional Learning and based on TechNyou’s new Science Education Resource. Each webinar will include discussion of a number of classroom activities in the Science Education Resource, plus discussion with experts, TechNyou, ASTA and the developers of the Science Education Resource.

You will need to register with the ASTA Online Learning Portal to access the webinars. It is free, simple and quick and once done you can access the other information and stuff you can read and watch to prepare for the webinar – eg watch our videos and read the relevant resource worksheets for discussion.

Registration

To register for the Nanotech webinar go here for details. To register for the Biotech webinar, go here for details.

Anyone interested in science education is welcome to establish a login on the site, and the only requirement is a valid email address.

Nanotechnology webinar 16 May

Presenter – Francesca Calati, Latrobe University and Joe Shapter, Flinders University.

This hour long seminar will open with a presentation introducing nanotechnology and its possibilities by Dr Joe Shapter, followed by Q&A and then discussion with Francesca Calati on the nanotechnology activities for the classroom below. Please review the videos and accompanying materials for each experiment and have questions ready for Francesca to address.

Videos for review

Synthesis of gold nano particles
Synthesis of ferro fluid
Smart memory alloys
Measurement of the diameter of a human hair using diffraction patterns

Biotechnology Webinar 17 May

Presenter – Jason Major, TechNyou, University of Melbourne

This hour long seminar will open with a presentation on the possibilities of biotechnology followed by discussion and Q&A on the topic and the classroom activities on biotechnology below. Please review the videos and accompanying materials for each experiment and have questions ready for Jason to address.