  |
 |
 SmallTalk is a podcast series where we chat about nanotechnology
with leading scientists, thinkers, artists, writers, and visionaries,
and look at quirky nanoscience stories in the news. Dr. Stephanie Chasteen,
of the Exploratorium’s Teacher Institute, hosts this monthly
series. New editions will be issued at the beginning of each month
through spring 2007.
Click on a link to listen now, or use your browser's Save As function
to download and listen later.
|
|
|
|
 | Nature’s Playing Field: Nanotechnology and Medicine
It’s hard to imagine building things as small as a cell, but now we can make things even smaller than that—as small as viruses or even DNA. This month, we talk to Dr. Tejal Desai from the University of California at San Francisco about nanotechnology’s fortuitous interface with the tiny stuff of biology. Research in this area has dramatic implications for the future of medicine. It could lead to artificially engineered tissues, for example, and more effective drug delivery. It could also result in new kinds of health monitoring devices, as Dr. Thomas Murray, from the Hastings Center, explains.
Date: 2007-05-22
Running Time: 00:30:48
Audio: Mono / MP3
Size: 12.6 MB | Download Podcast |
|  | A Little Ray of Sunshine: Nanotechnology’s Role in Making Cheap Solar Power
A lot of us would like to get off the grid, and get our power from the sun. But for most of us, it’s just too expensive. In this edition of SmallTalk, we’ll hear from Dr. Jeff Grossman at the University of California at Berkeley, who explains how nanotechnology may be used to make solar panels cheaper. And what could be wrong with that? Some ethical dilemmas crop up when we try to improve our lives through nanotechnology, and we’ll hear from philosopher Patrick Lin of the Nanoethics Group about those issues.
Date: 2007-04-16
Running Time: 00:26:04
Audio: Mono / MP3
Size: 10.6 MB | Download Podcast |
|  | Nano on the Market: Consumer Products Using Nanotechnology
We often think of nanotechnology as something that’s not going to happen until some far-off science future. But this month we’ll be talking about the science present—nanotechnology products that you could go out and buy right now! Julia Moore and Evan Michelson from the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars will tell us about what products they’ve found on the shelves. Should these products have some sort of special label? Journalist Philip Ball will tell us what he thinks about that controversy.
Image credit: David Hawxhurst -- Woodrow Wilson Center.
Date: 2007-03-15
Running Time: 26:56
Audio: Mono / MP3
Size: 10.8 MB | Download Podcast |
|  | Vroom! Nanocars and Nanofactories
In this edition of SmallTalk, we hear from the man who builds the world’s smallest vehicles. He calls them “nanocars.” Dr. Jim Tour, a chemist at Rice University, tells us about his nanocars and how he thinks they might lead to nano-sized factories. We’ll also hear from University of Florida graduate student Diane Hickey, who will tell us some of the interesting reactions she’s run into when explaining nanotechnology. And we’ll play our Nano News or Nano Nonsense quiz!
Image by Y. Shirai, Rice University
Date: 2007-02-15
Running Time: 00:28:20
Audio: Mono / MP3
Size: 9.9 Mb | Download Podcast |
|  | Nanograffiti: Building from the Atoms Up
Listen as we chat with IBM Fellow Dr. Don Eigler, who first used a scanning tunneling microscope to demonstrate the ability to build structures at the atomic level by spelling “I-B-M” with individual atoms. Also, meet Tom Rockwell, Director of Public Exhibition at the Exploratorium, who describes, in an audio essay, how he imagines the land of the very small. Finally, take the Nano News or Nano Nonsense quiz!
Image reproduced by permission of IBM Research, Almaden Research Center. Unauthorized use not permitted.
Date: 2007-01-19
Running Time: 00:22:52
Audio: Mono / MP3
Size: 7.9 MB | Download Podcast |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
All music is licensed under the Creative
Commons.
View
License |
|
|
