Project Press Releases
- August 8, 2007pdfPlenty of Clean Water at the NanofrontierThe single most important application of nanotechnology could be solving the global shortage of clean water—benefiting people in both industrialized and developing countries significantly. A new podcast explores how Eric Hoek and his engineering research team at UCLA developed a new nano-membrane that promises to dramatically reduce the cost and energy needed to desalinate seawater and clean wastewater. In the near term, these membranes could work in municipal desalination plants in water-thirsty areas, such as those planned for the California coastline. In the future, this groundbreaking technology can be adapted to meet the clean water needs of poor countries and people who rely on low cost, decentralized water treatment systems.
- August 6, 2007pdfWhat's the Difference Between Harry Potter and Nanotechnology?What is the difference between Harry Potter and nanotechnology? Answer: they both look like magic but only one really is! Imagine materials as light as plastic and as strong as steel; car batteries that make gasoline look like steam power; or cancer treatments that selectively target diseased cells. Using nanotechnology, researchers are pushing the boundaries of what is possible, and making the dreams of yesterday the reality of tomorrow.
- July 26, 2007pdfNanoWaste Needs Attention of EPA, Industry, and InvestorsThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must make key decisions about how to apply the two major end-of-life statutes to nanotechnology waste in order to ensure adequate oversight for these technologies, concludes a new report from the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. However, the report notes that the Agency lacks much of the data on human health and eco-toxicity that form the basis for such determinations, creating some tough challenges ahead in EPA’s decision-making process.
- July 25, 2007pdfFDA Nanotechnology Task Force Takes Positive Step ForwardStatement by Michael R. Taylor, Former FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy (1991-94)
- July 25, 2007pdfFDA Nanotechnology Task Force Takes a Step ForwardAccording to Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Director David Rejeski, “Today, FDA took a step forward in fulfilling its responsibilities for nanotechnology oversight. If nanotechnology regulation was a baseball game, FDA has scored the first run in the first inning. But the agency must act rapidly to adopt and fully implement the Nanotechnology Task Force’s recommendations. Without moving quickly and building on the recommendations in the Task Force report, FDA will not be able to keep pace with today’s rapidly developing nanotechnology market or engender consumer and investor confidence in emerging products.”
- July 12, 2007pdfEPA Foregoes Opportunity to Improve Nanotechnology OversightThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its current thinking on whether a nanoscale material is a “new” or “existing” chemical substance under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). In the document, TSCA Inventory Status of Nanoscale Substances—General Approach, EPA states that it will maintain its practice of determining whether nanoscale substances qualify as new chemicals under TSCA on a case-by-case basis.
- July 9, 2007pdfTomorrow's Green NanofactoriesViruses are notorious villains. They cause serious human diseases like AIDS, polio, and influenza, and can lead to system crashes and data loss in computers. A new podcast explores how nanotechnology researcher Angela Belcher, from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), is working with viruses to make them do good things. By exploiting a virus’s ability to replicate rapidly and combine with semiconductor and electronic materials, she is coaxing them to grow and self-assemble nanomaterials into a functional electronic device. Through this marriage of nanotechnology with green chemistry, Belcher and her team are working toward building faster, better, cheaper and environmentally-friendly transistors, batteries, solar cells, diagnostic materials for detecting cancer, and semiconductors for use in modern electrical devices—everything from computers to cell phones.
- June 25, 2007pdfNanotechnology: Consumers Must Be Convinced Benefits Outweigh Risks“There is no doubt that nanotechnology has the potential to make the world a better place,” said Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Chief Scientist Andrew Maynard. “But if consumers and other stakeholders are not convinced that the benefits outweigh the risks, many applications will not see the light of day. Likewise, if the benefits are unclear and the risks uncertain, the products of nanotechnology will be a hard sell.”
- June 7, 2007pdfProject on Emerging Nanotechnologies and Grocery Manufacturers Association to Develop Case StudiesThe Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and The Pew Charitable Trusts) and the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA) today announced that they are jointly sponsoring the development of a series of case studies on the commercialization and regulation of engineered nanoscale materials for food and packaging materials. The case studies will illustrate and critically evaluate the path to commercialization of hypothetical products, focusing on supply chain stewardship and regulatory oversight. They will be developed by technical experts from government, academia, industry, and nongovernmental organizations.
- June 4, 2007pdfNanotechnology Used in Nearly 500 Everyday ProductsThe number of consumer products using nanotechnology has more than doubled, from 212 to 475, in the 14 months since the Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) launched the world’s first online inventory of manufacturer-identified nanotech goods in March 2006. Noted as a resource for advertised or labeled nanotechnology products in an article in the July 2007 issue of Consumer Reports magazine, the newly updated PEN list is available free at www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts.