Home > Press > Investigating the impact of natural and manmade nanomaterials on living things: Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology develops tools to assess current and future risk
"Nanotechnology: Super Small Science" is a six-part series that shows viewers how atoms and molecules that are thousands of times smaller than the width of a human hair can be used as building blocks to create future technology. The series features a dozen world class American researchers, including quantum physicist and National Medal of Science winner Paul Alivisatos. His team at the University of California, Berkeley, is working to develop a new type of solar cell using nano-sized crystals called quantum dots. Quantum dots are already helping to produce brighter, more vivid color in displays. Find out more in this Special Report. Credit: NBC Learn and the National Science foundation |
Abstract:
We can't see them, but nanomaterials, both natural and manmade, are literally everywhere, from our personal care products to our building materials--we're even eating and drinking them.
At the NSF-funded Center for Environmental Implications of Nanotechnology (CEINT), headquartered at Duke University, scientists and engineers are researching how some of these nanoscale materials affect living things. One of CEINT's main goals is to develop tools that can help assess possible risks to human health and the environment. A key aspect of this research happens in mesocosms, which are outdoor experiments that simulate the natural environment - in this case, wetlands. These simulated wetlands in Duke Forest serve as a testbed for exploring how nanomaterials move through an ecosystem and impact living things.
CEINT is a collaborative effort bringing together researchers from Duke, Carnegie Mellon University, Howard University, Virginia Tech, University of Kentucky, Stanford University, and Baylor University. CEINT academic collaborations include on-going activities coordinated with faculty at Clemson, North Carolina State and North Carolina Central universities, with researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Environmental Protection Agency labs, and with key international partners.
The research in this episode was supported by NSF award #1266252, Center for the Environmental Implications of NanoTechnology.
Miles O'Brien, Science Nation Correspondent
Ann Kellan, Science Nation Producer
####
For more information, please click here
Contacts:
National Science Foundation
4201 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, Virginia 22230, USA
Tel: (703) 292-5111
IRS: (800) 877-8339
TDD: (800) 281-8749
Copyright © National Science Foundation
If you have a comment, please Contact us.Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Related News Press |
News and information
New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024
Energy transmission in quantum field theory requires information September 13th, 2024
Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024
Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024
Govt.-Legislation/Regulation/Funding/Policy
New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024
Physicists unlock the secret of elusive quantum negative entanglement entropy using simple classical hardware August 16th, 2024
Single atoms show their true color July 5th, 2024
Possible Futures
Rice research could make weird AI images a thing of the past: New diffusion model approach solves the aspect ratio problem September 13th, 2024
New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024
Discoveries
Energy transmission in quantum field theory requires information September 13th, 2024
Breakthrough in proton barrier films using pore-free graphene oxide: Kumamoto University researchers achieve new milestone in advanced coating technologies September 13th, 2024
Quantum researchers cause controlled ‘wobble’ in the nucleus of a single atom September 13th, 2024
Announcements
New discovery aims to improve the design of microelectronic devices September 13th, 2024
New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024
Environment
New method in the fight against forever chemicals September 13th, 2024
Safety-Nanoparticles/Risk management
Tests find no free-standing nanotubes released from tire tread wear September 8th, 2023
Billions of nanoplastics released when microwaving baby food containers: Exposure to plastic particles kills up to 75% of cultured kidney cells July 21st, 2023
The latest news from around the world, FREE | ||
Premium Products | ||
Only the news you want to read!
Learn More |
||
Full-service, expert consulting
Learn More |
||