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NISE Net Folks at the S.Net Conference

Larry Bell

Six members of the NISE Net programs team and four members of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society presented tabletop and stage programs at the Pacific Science Center yesterday and at the S.Net conference today. Jamey Wetmore and Ira Bennet of the CNS at Arizona State University have incorporated the development of tabletop demos into a couple of their courses with the aim of helping students think about the societal implications of their research by having them talk with the public about it. Troy Benn and Carlos Perez presented tabletop demos about nano silver socks and about nano transport mechanisms.

Troy with nano silver socks
Carlos with transport demonstration
Rae Ostman, of the Sciencenter in Ithaca and Brad Herring, of the Museum of Life and Science in North Carolina, presented two tabletop activities developed by the Franklin Institute -- one about nano iron and one about nano silver. Stephanie Long, of the Science Museum of Minnesota, and Frank Kusiak, of the Lawrence Hall of Science, presented SMM's Wheel of the Future program and a new OMSI program called Flying Cars, which is really about predicting the future. All of these educational activities were designed to raise questions about societal and environmental implications.