by Nikki Hoangedited by Stephanie Mitchell Did you know that scientists have used nanotechnology to develop a test for the MERS coronavirus? The results of the test can be seen by the naked eye within …
wavelength
What gives gold nanoparticles their color?
by Meng Wu edited by Natalie Hudson-Smith In a previous post, Can gold melt at room temperature? Melting temperature depression!, we talked about how the color of gold changes from shiny yellow to dark red …
Have You Ever Heard a Lemon Sing? Music and Chemistry
by Alicia McGeachy edited by Merve Doğangün Have you ever used a poem or song to help yourself remember a complicated concept or a list that you were sure to forget? (Figure 1) As I …
Electrocuting a Pickle: Demonstrating Major Concepts in Science
by Cathy Murphy Have you ever made lightning in a pickle? I have. It involves putting two iron nails in a pickle and applying 110 volts of electricity. It’s pretty smelly, but it is worth …
Royal Rife’s Universal Microscope (and Why It Can’t Exist)
by Natalie Hudson-Smith edited by Merve Doğangün In the 1930s, microscope designer Royal Rife made a splash with reports that he had designed a new microscope that could view nanoscale objects such as viruses!1 The …
Ep 7. What Do Glaciers Have to Do With Nanoscience?
Why do glaciers sometimes look blue? Hint: it’s not for the same reason we see blue as the color of the sky!
On this episode of the podcast, we have an interview with Dr. Robert Hamers, following up on his recent blog post. Bob is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology, and he tells us about a recent family trip to Alaska that got him wondering about why some glaciers have an amazing blue color.
Bob’s Beautiful Blue Glacier
by Bob Hamers Recently I had the fortune to visit the state of Alaska. While there, I took a boat trip around the Kenai Peninsula, where there are glaciers moving from the Harding Icefield toward …
Sunburns and Circuits: How Nanotechnology is Pushing the Boundaries of Computing
by John Van Gilder edited by Ian Gunsolus and Alicia McGeachy Last July, IBM announced that it had developed a new computer chip that could boost computer speeds by 50%.1 The company achieved this performance …
How the Fruits Got Their Colors
by Alicia McGeachy edited by Arielle Mensch It’s Sunday night and I am watching one of my favorite shows, which of course revolves around food. In this particular episode, competitors were challenged to incorporate blue …