News & Comment

Themis Prodromakis explains how to engage primary school students in nanotechnology — even outside the classroom.

The time has come to implement a regulatory framework tailored to manufactured materials. I propose a new legislative framework that combines registration, evaluation, authorization and categorization of nanomaterials.

Risk assessment and life-cycle assessment provide complementary information on the impact of a technology on the environment. We present diverging opinions on how to integrate the two approaches to best evaluate the environmental impact of engineered nanomaterials.

The absence of nanotechnology-specific insurance policies could be detrimental to the development of the nanotechnology industry. Better communication between insurers and scientists is an essential step to provide a regulatory framework protecting both producers and consumers.

The first NanoCar Race was an opportunity to see how far we have come in manipulating single molecules. As the team with the fastest molecule in this race, we share the synthetic challenges to building a fast nanocar and the experimental approach needed for rapid translation across a surface.

Rémy Pawlak and Tobias Meier discuss how they got involved in the first international NanoCar Race and their impressions from this experience.

Chris Toumey illustrates how different groups of people involved with nanotechnology have different views on the history of the field and feel differently about its importance.

Last April, six teams raced molecules on a metallic surface using a scanning tunnelling microscope in the first NanoCar Race. The event brought scientific research in nanotechnology to the attention of the wider public.

Public perceptions of nanotechnology are shaped by sound in surprising ways. Our analysis of the audiovisual techniques employed by nanotechnology stakeholders shows that well-chosen sounds can help to win public trust, create value and convey the weird reality of objects on the nanoscale.