BINGHAMTON, NY – The Binghamton University Chemistry Department will host two upcoming NanoDays events in celebration of a nationwide festival of education programs about nanoscale science and engineering. Both events are free and open to the public.
The first program, “Explore and Discover What is nano?,” is scheduled to be held from 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 24, at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City. Participants will experience a range of hands-on activities, including creating nanomaterials with the use of scotch-tape, investigating super thin materials used in solar cell technology, and how to change the color of a butterfly’s wings. Other featured activities include an ‘I Spy’ Nano game and real nano gold.
The second event, “Science Café,” featuring guest speaker and Syracuse University Professor Mathew Maye will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, Mar. 27, in the Science 2 Building, room 144, on the Binghamton University campus. Maye will discuss ways in which nanotechnology is revolutionizing research and development in medicine, computing, new materials, food, energy, and other areas. He will also discuss latest advances in the nanoscience field.
Nanodays is organized by the Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net), and will be celebrated nationally from Mar. 24 to Apr. 1. A collection of community-based events, NanoDays is the largest public outreach effort in nanoscale informal science education and involves science museums, research centers, and universities from Puerto Rico to Alaska.
NanoDays at Binghamton University is sponsored by the Materials Research Society Binghamton University Student Chapter and the American Chemistry Society’s Binghamton local Section and the Oakdale Mall.
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More about Nano and NISE Network
At the nanoscale—the scale of atoms and molecules—many common materials exhibit unusual properties. Our ability to manipulate matter at this size enables innovations that weren’t possible before. Nanotechnology is revolutionizing research and development in medicine, computing, new materials, food, energy, and other areas.
Nano will affect our economy, environment, and our personal lives. Some scientists think that future nanotechnologies and materials could transform our lives as much as cars, the personal computer, or the internet! But the costs, risks, and benefits of this new technology can be difficult to understand, both for experts and for the general public. The NISE Network helps museums, research institutions, and the public learn from each other about this emerging field so that together we can make informed decisions.
The Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net) is a national community of researchers and informal science educators dedicated to fostering public awareness, engagement, and understanding of nanoscale science, engineering, and technology. The NISE Network community in the United States is led by 14 organizations, and includes hundreds of museums and universities nationwide. NISE Net was launched in 2005 with funding from the National Science Foundation, and received a five-year renewal in 2010.
Through products like NanoDays, the NISE Network is actively building partnerships between science museums and research centers to increase their capacity to engage the public in learning about nanoscale science and engineering.
For more information about NISE Net or to download a digital NanoDays kit please visit:
http://www.nisenet.org/nanodays.
For more information about Nano please visit:
http://www.whatisnano.org.
This project is based on work supported by the NSF under Award Nos. ESI-05322536 and 0940143.
NanoDays™ is trademarked by North Carolina State University and used by the NISE Network with permission.
