Wide Angle: One Giant Nano Family

April 02, 2009

Nanotech holds great promise for everything from cleaning water to treating cancer, but what if it ends up in my corn flakes? Coming soon: a dose of sunlight for the shiny nanotools in our scientific box.

This week, while we've been taking a closer look at this teeny tiny tech, it's clear how much we still don't know. A few months ago, Kristen Kulinowski made the case for a new, expansive wiki. The director for external affairs at Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology envisioned a website that pools collective wisdom from the people most familiar with nanomaterials. It would keep us from staying in the dark.

Now the Good Nano Guide site, coordinated by Rice's International Council on Nanotechnology, is nearing completion. Kulinowski says it should be operational in the next couple months (check GoodNanoGuide.org in a couple of days for the landing page). Scientists from around the world who handle nanomaterials will be posting best practices, forming a helpful virtual community.

At first the site will focus on occupational practices and later expand to cover manufacturing, disposal, and beyond. "One of the things we're trying to demonstrate is that there's a large international community of experts who are sharing information, identifying knowledge gaps and trying to fill them," Kulinowski says. "We're not turning a blind eye."

Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson.