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• Tough love for science and technology innovation

  From 2020science.org : The National Research Council of the National Academies releases its review of the National Nanotechnology Initiative Strategy for Nanotechnology-Related Environmental, Health, and Safety Research. And it’s not pretty. Most people Read More... Posted 13 December 2008 01:22 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 0 Comments Filed under: Nanotechnology, Risk, Policy, Oversight, Research, innovation, 2020 Science

• Toxic particles and trivial pursuits

  From 2020science.org : First impressions of the ICON EHS Database Analysis Tool What do you do this holiday season when the turkey’s lost its appeal, you’ve seen every movie worth watching ten times over, and conversational déjà-vu sets in? If you are Read More... Posted 27 November 2008 10:35 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 1 Comments Filed under: Nanomaterials, Risk, Research, 2020 Science

• A lotta money, but is it enough?

  $38 million! The number keeps floating before my eyes; a retinal imprint from the press release. $38 million for nanotechnology environmental impact research, courtesy of the folks at the U.S. National Science Foundation and Environmental Protection Agency. Read More... Posted 23 September 2008 05:19 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 6 Comments Filed under: Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Risk, Envrionment, Research, Funding

• Nano-silver: Old problems or new challenges?

  The SafeNANO blog is no stranger to the use (and possible abuse) of nanometre-scale silver—products ranging from silver-enhanced socks and toothpaste to plush toys and cure-alls have all appeared in the spotlight recently. With each passing month, the Read More... Posted 09 September 2008 19:32 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 1 Comments Filed under: Nanoparticles, Exposure, Hazard, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Risk, Policy, Safety, Envrionment, Health, Oversight, Research, Nano Silver, Argyria, Strategy, Nanotoxicology

• Lux to Nano Business: Safety Matters

  Addressing potential nanotechnology environment, health and safety (EHS) impacts up-front makes good business sense – doesn’t it? The US-based advisory firm Lux Research certainly thinks so. The latest document from the organization— “Nanomaterials State Read More... Posted 26 July 2008 01:12 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 0 Comments Filed under: Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Risk, Perception, Safety, Regulation, Industry, Business, Oversight, Research, Uncertainty

• Synthetic biology, ethics and the hacker culture

  Read Thomas L. Friedman’s “The World is Flat” or Neal Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon”, and you get a glimpse into how the hacker culture that emerged at the tail end of the twentieth century revolutionized the digital world. Will a confluence of emerging Read More... Posted 13 June 2008 19:36 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 6 Comments Filed under: Nanotechnology, Risk, Public engagement, Outreach, Risks, Perception, Engagement, Policy, Safety, Regulation, Oversight, Research, Synthetic Biology, Sustainability, Hacking, Biopunk, Synbio

• Smart materials; smart choices?

  Why nano? Why care? For non-nanotech initiates, an obsession with nanotechnology must sometimes seem a bizarre occupation of the sad and lonely. And even within the nanotechnology community, who hasn’t had occasional doubts over the legitimacy of singling Read More... Posted 31 May 2008 20:39 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 2 Comments Filed under: Nanoparticles, Hazard, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Risks, Benefits, Carbon Nanotubes, Regulation, Envrionment, Research, innovation, Asbestos, Novel materials

• Decoupling “nanotechnology”

  "Nanotechnology" as an overarching concept is great for sweeping statements and sound bites, but falls short when it comes to real-world decision-making. As nanoscale technologies are increasingly used in everything from antimicrobial socks to anti-cancer Read More... Posted 17 May 2008 23:04 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 2 Comments Filed under: Risk, Dialogue, Risks, Perception, Benefits, Policy, Safety, Regulation, Industry, Business, Oversight, Research, Nano Silver, Decoupling

• U.S. nanotechnology risk research funding—separating fact from fiction

  The most recent estimate from the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) puts nanotechnology risk research investment at $68 million for 2006 (the only year complete figures are currently available for—apparently). Yet the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Read More... Posted 18 April 2008 12:24 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 0 Comments Filed under: Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Risk, Policy, Safety, Research, Strategy, Funding

• NIOSH and nanotechnology—Big plans on a nano budget

  The US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has a plan for nanotechnology , and it’s a good one. But can they afford it? You have to hand it to NIOSH, this is an agency that actually seems to understand the word “strategy.” Unlike Read More... Posted 14 March 2008 16:08 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 2 Comments Filed under: Safety, Business, Research, Uncertainty, NIOSH

• NNI strategy for nanotechnology-related EHS research—now available

  After a long wait, the US National Nanotechnology Initiative’s strategy for nanotechnology-related environmental, health and safety research was finally published last week ( pdf file, 2.2 MB ). If you want to know what I think of it, I’m afraid you will Read More... Posted 21 February 2008 14:12 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 0 Comments Filed under: Risk, Safety, Research, Strategy

• Nanotechnology and the God of Small Things

  With apologies to Arundhati Roi for “borrowing” the title of her moving book, what—if anything—has nanotechnology got to do with religion? Barnaby Feder of the New York Times takes on this issue in his latest posting to the Bits blog: “There may not be Read More... Posted 12 January 2008 20:38 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 1 Comments Filed under: Dialogue, Benefits, Research, innovation, God, Religion

• Nanotechnology: The cause, the cure, and the spin-off product

  What do Alzheimers and body armour have in common? The answer could lie in the structures formed when proteins self-assemble at the nanoscale. At the end of last year, The Daily Telegraph Science Editor Roger Highfield wrote in an article: “The protein Read More... Posted 11 January 2008 21:40 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 0 Comments Filed under: Risks, Benefits, Policy, Safety, Health, Research, Amyloid

• 2007 - A personal nanotechnology retrospective

  It’s been a long slog, but the end of 2007 is in sight. A year of endless meetings, papers by the bunch, and more frequent flyer miles than any sane person should rack up (got to get that Carbon footprint under control). But did this all add up to progress Read More... Posted 28 December 2007 20:44 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 1 Comments Filed under: Hazard, Risk, Public engagement, Dialogue, Outreach, Risks, Twinkies, Engagement, Policy, Congress, Safety, Informal Education, Regulation, Industry, Envrionment, Health, Business, Oversight, Research, Good Practices, Consumer Products

• UK Government’s second nano risk research report

  When it comes to addressing the potential risks of engineered nanomaterials, no-one can accuse the UK Government of not having a plan. Today’s publication of the report “Characterizing the potential risks posed by engineered nanoparticles. A second UK Read More... Posted 19 December 2007 16:14 by andrew.maynard@physics.org | 1 Comments Filed under: Nanoparticles, Exposure, Hazard, Nanomaterials, Nanotechnology, Public engagement, Engagement, Benefits, Policy, Safety, Toxicology, Regulation, Industry, Envrionment, Health, Oversight, Research, Measurement