Nanotechnology has made great improvements in the fields of medicine and technology, but many people don’t know its cultural implications. This new technology can improve our understanding of our heritage and can better preserve historical and cultural artifacts for future generations.

Nanoscrubbers allow art restorers to better control the extent of the cleaning and allows for a deeper cleaning of the artwork. Nanoparticles are smaller than the paint particles, so they can simply squeeze in between the paint particles. Traditional cleaners can only clean the surface and they can be harder to remove after their application.

To read the full article, visit http://blogs.dickinson.edu/mindmeetsmatter/category/nanoparticle-infused-gels-in-art-restoration/

A mixture of current drugs and carbon nanoparticles shows potential to enhance treatment for head and neck cancers, especially when combined with radiation therapy, according to new research conducted by investigators at Rice University and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. The therapy uses carbon nanoparticles to encapsulate chemotherapeutic drugs and sequester them until they are delivered to the cancer cells they are meant to kill.

The new strategy, developed by a team led by James Tour and Jeffrey Myers of Rice, is detailed in a paper published in the journal ACS Nano. This therapy combines paclitaxel and Cetuximab with hydrophilic carbon nanoparticles functionalized with a form of the biocompatible polymer polyethylene glycol that is known as PEG-HCC.

To read more, click here... and to read the published abstract, click here...

Pressure-treated wood is great stuff, but the chemicals used to preserve it from decay can leach out, where they can be toxic to bugs, fungi and other hapless creatures that have the bad luck to be in the neighborhood. Now, a team of Michigan Technological University scientists has used nanotechnology to keep the chemicals inside the wood where they belong.

The initial tests show that the nanoparticle-treated wood is just as resistant to rot and insects as conventionally treated lumber. The researchers are now testing the wood in the warm, wet weather of Hawaii.

To read more click here...

Scope of the call for information:

Interested parties are invited to submit any relevant information that could assist the scientific committee with the assessment of the safety, health and environmental effects of nanosilver. In particular, the Scientific Committee is interested in receiving any scientific information related to the "nano" forms of silver.

Visit http://ec.europa.eu/health/scientific_committees/consultations/calls/scenihr_call_info_12_en.htm to particpate