Sustainable Nano

We're back from winter break and preparing a fantastic batch of podcast episodes for spring 2017! Over the next few months we'll be featuring interviews with Dr. Hope Jahren and Dr. Mike Curry, plus a profile of Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, and much more. Stay tuned!

2017 is here! (image adapted from Vector Open Stock)

Art and science are often though of as completely separate pursuits, but what happens when artists and scientists actually talk to each other? In this episode of the podcast, we interview Dr. Cathy Murphy about her experiences inviting art students to spend time in her chemistry lab at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Painting by Leah Guadagnoli, inspired by nanocrystal waste! (courtesy of Cathy Murphy)

Some housekeeping news: Over the winter break, we will be moving the podcast to a new host. We'll still link to each episode here on the blog, and we hope there will be minimal (or zero!) disruption for listeners. However, if you subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, there is a chance you will need to re-subscribe next month. We'll post updates as we find out more! Meanwhile if you're want to catch up on earlier podcast episodes, you can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also find us on the National Science Foundation's Science360 Radio network.

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Interviewee: Prof. Cathy Murphy

Producer/Narrator: Miriam Krause

Music: Ketsa

Plastic debris in our water is a huge pollution problem, and just one source of that pollution is the tiny microbeads that have been widely used in personal care products. In this episode of the podcast, we interview Dr. Richard Thompson, a Professor of Marine Biology at Plymouth University and an expert on the effects of plastic debris in the marine environment. We discuss the recent federal ban on microbeads and what consumers can do to be more sustainable in our day-to-day use of plastics.

Plastic microbeads (image by MPCA photos)

Want more podcast episodes? You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also find us on the National Science Foundation's Science360 Radio network.

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Interviewee: Prof. Richard

Producers/Narrators: Miriam Krause and Stephanie Mitchell

Music source: Music by Ketsa

This episode of the podcast features an interview with University of Minnesota graduate student Peter Clement, discussing the book The War on Science by Shawn Otto. We focus on Otto’s explanation of the Seven Stages of Technological Adaptation — an observation that how our society adapts new technology has generally repeated the same sequence of steps over and over, from discovery through crisis and adaptation, especially since the mid-20th Century.

(image from amazon.com)

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/bookreview-waronscience.mp3

Want more podcast episodes? You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe on  iTunes or  Stitcher. You can also find us on the National Science Foundation’s Science360 Radio network.

Related links :

Interviewee :  Peter Clement

Producer/Narrator : Miriam Krause

**Music sources: ** Music by Ketsa

**Disclaimer: ** This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology grant. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed on this podcast are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation or the participating institutions.

Tagged: book review, nanotechnology, podcast, public policy, technology

On this episode of the Sustainable Nano podcast, we talk about one example of how nanotechnology is changing something many people use every day: bikes! Margy Robinson, a graduate student in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology and a competitive cyclist, explains how carbon nanotubes and graphene are currently being incorporated into some high-end bicycles.

Floyd Landis racing on a carbon fiber bike in 2006  (photo by Michael David Murphy)

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/ep8-nanotech-bicycles.mp3

For more information, check out Margy’s blog posts on this topic:  Nanomaterials in Bicycles???? Part 1 and  Part 2.

Want more podcast episodes? You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe on  iTunes or  Stitcher. You can also find us on the National Science Foundation’s Science360 Radio network.

Related links :

Interviewee :  Margy Robinson

Producer/Narrator : Miriam Krause

Music sources: Our music is by Ketsa and sound effects are from ZapSplat

Tagged: bicycles, carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanotechnology

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.

CSN Director Bob Hamers in front of Holgate Glacier  (photo by Bob Hamers)

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/whyglacierslookblue1.mp3

Stay tuned for more podcast episodes coming every other week this fall! You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can subscribe on  iTunes or  Stitcher. You can also find us on the National Science Foundation’s Science360 Radio network.

Related links :

Interviewee :  Prof. Bob Hamers

Producer/Narrator : Miriam Krause

**Music sources: ** Music for this episode is by Ketsa and the violin sample came from the  University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios

Tagged: color, colors, glaciers, music, nano, podcast, wavelength

October 9, 2016 was the first ever National Nanotechnology Day (10/9 = 10-9 for nano!). On this episode of the Sustainable Nano podcast, we talk with Dr. Lisa Friedersdorf, Deputy Director of the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, about National Nanotechnology Day, activities like  #100BillionNanometers, the Nobel Prize, and this year’s Generation Nano superhero contest.

image by the Hinkle Group

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/10/ep6-nationalnanotechday.mp3

Stay tuned for more podcast episodes coming every other week this fall! You can find them all on our podcast page, or you can also subscribe on  iTunes or  Stitcher.

Relevant links:

Interviewee : Dr. Lisa Friedersdorf

Host/Producer : Miriam Krause

**Music: ** Our music is by Ketsa, from the Free Music Archive

Tagged: nanotechnology, National Nanotechnology Day, podcast

As you may have heard, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration recently announced a ban on using the antibacterial agent triclosan (and 18 other substances) in soaps, and then last week the issue of antibacterial resistance was discussed at the UN General Assembly. In this episode of the Sustainable Nano podcast, we talk with scientist Eric Melby about different types of antibacterial chemicals and why we should care about triclosan in the environment.

Soap with triclosan? Not any more! (image by Kelly Thomas)

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/ep5-triclosan.mp3

Stay tuned for more podcast episodes coming every other week this fall! You can find them all on our podcast page, you can  subscribe on iTunes, or starting this week you can also find us on Stitcher.

Relevant links:

Interviewee: Dr. Eric Melby

**Producer/Host: ** Miriam Krause

**Music: ** Our music is by Ketsa, from the Free Music Archive

Tagged: antibacterial, antibiotic resistance, podcast, sustainability, triclosan

Welcome to episode 4 of the Sustainable Nano podcast! In this final new episode of our launch week, we interview the three high school student finalists from NSF’s  Generation Nano contest about their amazing nanotechnology-based superheroes.

image credit: Vegas Bleeds Neon

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/generationnano.mp3

Stay tuned for future episodes coming every other week this fall. You can find them here on the blog, or subscribe on iTunes.

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Interviewees : Madeleine Chang, Eric Liu, Vuong Mai, Prof. Suveen Mathaudhu

Producers/Narrators : Miriam Krause & Melissa Richardson

**Music sources: ** Our music is by  Ketsa (from the Free Music Archive) and sound effects are from ZapSplat.

Tagged: art, generation nano, high school, nanotechnology, NSF, podcast, STEAM, STEM, superheroes

Welcome to episode 3 of the Sustainable Nano podcast! In this episode, we talk about a recent research study that looked at how one type of battery nanomaterial affects bacteria called Shewanella oneidensis. We interview Mimi Hang and Ian Gunsolus, who were co-first authors of the study as graduate students in the Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology.

The Nissan Leaf is one example of an electric car that uses NMC in its batteries (image by Tennen-Gas)

https://sustainablenano.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/nmc-091416.mp3

The study may sound familiar to regular blog readers – Mimi summarized it in this post and it got some media attention, which we wrote about here and here.

Wrapping up our podcast launch week we will have one more new episode coming tomorrow (nanotechnology superheroes!). After that we will switch to an every-other-week schedule. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes so you don’t miss an episode! Or if you’re not an iTunes person, you can always still listen here on the blog.

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Interviewees :  Dr. Ian Gunsolus, Mimi Hang

Producer/Narrator : Miriam Krause

**Music sources: ** Music for this episode came from the Free Music Archive, specifically tracks by Kesta and  Dexter Britain

Tagged: bacteria, batteries, electric cars, nanotechnology, podcast, research, Shewanella oneidensis