|
Welcome to the home of MSU's NanoDays!
Science, technology and engineering at the smallest scale
NanoDays 2009 was a great success. See you in 2010.
Congratulations, Trevor!
 Trevor Douglas, an amazing nanoscientist and one of the guys you meet every year at NanoDays, was honored by Montana State University with the President's Excellence in Outreach Award.
Douglas, who is also director of the Center for Bio-inspired Nanomaterials, is known nationally and internationally for his pioneering work in nanoscience. He is also known locally as the scientist behind MSU Science Saturdays, an outreach program for kids ages 6-15 that has attracted hundreds of area children to monthly events since it began in 2008.
Whether demonstrating how to connect electrodes to a lemon-powered motor or exploding a hydrogen-filled balloon, Douglas' hands-on explorations have enamored local children, proving that science can be both useful and fun.
Want to learn more about nanoscience? Check out "Teeth, Fangs and Gecko Feet. Oh, My!" at the June 2009 Peaks and Potentials camp at MSU.
NanoDays 2009 Schedule
March 31, 2009:
1pm - 5pm: Interactive multimedia exhibits, videos and demonstrations. Stop by anytime. (Teachers: Contact Extended University if you’d like to schedule a tour for your class: 994-6550 or ExtendedU@montana.edu)
6pm: “What’s all this fuss about nanotechnology?” presentation
6pm - 8pm: Hands-on family activities
Download a flyer [PDF]
Free refreshments and souvenirs!
Need directions? Access our Google Map.
NanoDays 2009 at MSU is sponsored by CBIN, MSU's Center for Bio-Inspired NanoMaterials and Extended University's Burns Technology Center.
For more information about NanoScience, visit, NISE, the Nanoscale Informal ScienceEducation site at http://www.nisenet.org
Facts about Nano
How small is "nano?"
The term “nano” comes from the Greek prefix meaning “dwarf.” In the metric system it represents one billionth of a unit. Just how small is that? A nanometer (0.000000001 or 10-9 meter) is less than 10 atoms wide. Some more ways to measure:
- A sheet of paper is 100,000 nm thick.
- A blonde hair is 15-50,000 nm thick…a black hair is 50-180,000 nm thick.
- A fingernail grows at 1 nm/second.
- DNA is 2-3 nm wide.
- There are 25,400,000 nm in an inch.
- A germ is 10,000 nm wide.
- If you are 2 meters tall (6’6’’), you would measure 2 billion nm!
At MSU, scientists are working with particles only a few nanometers in size so they can develop new drug delivery systems, alternative energy sources and new computers.
Nano in biology
A major problem associated with disease-fighting drugs is that they often affect cells and tissues they are not supposed to. However, the body’s cells will ignore nanoscale materials because they are so small (10,000 times thinner than a human hair). Scientists at MSU know how to put drugs within nano-sized delivery systems that can go straight to a diseased cell, attach to it and kill it, while the drugs are hidden from cells they are not supposed to affect.
Nanoparticles are also helpful when doctors need to look inside a human body, such as with an MRI, because inserting nanoparticle contrast agents offers a non-invasive, precise and high resolution view. Who knows...someday in the future, molecular nanorobots might enter a human body to detect and cure diseases!
Nano in technology
MSU scientists work with nano-particles that are 10,000 times thinner than a human hair! And while “nano” in science and technology has been around longer than the term nanotechnology (think of the sun-bathers with white noses: nanoparticles of zinc-oxide or titanium dioxide are the cause), consumers are now seeing the impact of this niche. Many materials are much stronger because they have nano-composites for added strength or stiffness.
Clothes have nano-fibers woven into them to prevent staining. Sony has released the first generation of organic light emitting diode (OLED) flat-panel TVs. These use nano-scale organic polymers as the LED source for the display, boasting contrast ratios of 1000000:1! Compare that to 10000:1 in most plasma and LCD flat panels.
Ethics and hazards of nanotechnology
MSU scientists are working with nano-sized particles (10,000 times smaller than a human hair) to develop new drug delivery systems, alternative energy sources and new computers. Like many emerging technologies, nanotechnology has its benefits and drawbacks. One issue being debated about the hazards of nanotechnology is the possibility of unintended consequences to the environment and our health.
For example, nano drug delivery can reduce the amount of drug necessary for treatment; however, being so small means that the nanoparticles may go places or interact with other components in the environment in unpredictable ways. We have an ethical responsibility to monitor the possible dangers of every beneficial advance in nanotechnology.
Nano in the future
As the tools and methods for working at the nanoscale improve, the applications for nanotechnology also continue to grow. MSU’s nanotechnology research may lead someday to alternative fuel solutions, targeted disease-fighting drugs and smaller computer storage. MSU graduate and undergraduate students are involved in this research, too, preparing themselves for a future of nanoproducts and applications.
The National Nanotechnology Initiative estimates that by 2015 nanotechnology products will contribute $1 trillion to the world economy and could create 7 million jobs, directly or indirectly related to nanotechnology. That’s a lot for something so small!
|
