By Porter Wright on The January 23, 2012 issue of Bloomberg BNA’s Daily Environment Report carried an article (Repoduced with permission from Daily Environment Report, 13 DEN A-11, 1/23/2012. Copyright -2012 by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc (800-372-1033 http://www/bna.com) "Government, Industry, advocacy Groups Work on Carbon Nanotube Release Measures" that focused on the work of the NanoRelease Project. As … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The National Nanotechnology Coordination Office, in a "Notice of Public Meeting" published in the Federal Register of 02/02/2012, announced that on March 27-28 of this year, it would be holding an "International Symposium on Assessing the Economic Impact of Nanotechnology". The symposium, organized by the National Nanotechnology Initiative and theOrganization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Among the United Kingdom’s many traditions is the Queen’s New Year’ Honors List, a list of politicians, actors, writers and others awarded with knighthoods for distinguished services in fields ranging from charitable work to business to acting. Among this years honorees are Professors Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, both of the University of Manchester. As noted here in October … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On December 21, 2011, the International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA), along with fellow plaintiffs Friends of the Earth (FOE), the Center for Environmental Health, Food and Water Watch, the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and the Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration filed a complaint in the US District Court for the District of Norther California … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In the midst of "The Great Recession" the last month’s announcement by Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York that a consortium composed of IBM, Intel, Samsung Electronics US, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), and Globalfoundries, will be investing $4.4 billion over five years to create R&D facilities in Albany, Utica, and other cities in upstate New York, for the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Congress returns to Washington from the August recess this week and among the bills that may come up for consideration between now and the end of the 1st session of the 112th Congress is H.R. 2359, the "Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011", introduced by Rep. Janice Schakowsky (D-IL-9th) on June 24, 2011 and subsequently referred … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Denmark’s Environmental Protection Agency (DEPA) recently released "Survey on basic knowledge about exposure and potential environmental and health risks for selected nanoparticles". The survey was written by Sonja Hagen Mikkelsen, Erik Hansen and Trine Boe Christensen of COWI A/S, Anders Baun and Steffen Foss Hansen of DTU Environment and Mona-Lise Binderup of DTU Food, all working under contract with … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on "Rep. Michael H. 'Mike' Honda", "Steve Westly" "H.R. 2745" "The NANO Act" "The Nanotechnology Advancement and New Opportunities Act", "Blue Ribbon Task Force on Nanotechnology" "Thinking Big about Thinking Small: An Action Plan for California" "National Science Foundation" "Incubator" "Tax Credit" "Secretary of Commerce" "Secretary of Energy" "Secretary of Homeland Security" "Secretary of Health and Human Services" "Environmental Protection Agency" "House Committee on Ways and Means" "House Committee on Homeland Security" "House Committee on Science, Space and Technology" "House Committee on Energy and Commerce" "Nanomanufacturing" "Congress" "August Recess"… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Wednesday’s Federal Register carried a notice from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) extending the comment period for proposed methods of collecting information regarding the use of nanoscale materials in pesticides published in the Federal Register of June 17, 2011. The original deadline for submitting comments was July 18, 2011. The deadline for submission has been extended … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on An article, "Dotting the Eyes" published in the June 16, 2011 issue of The Economist, noted something that many of us who spend a good part of their day looking into Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) screens, such as the monitor for the pc that I’m writing this on or the one you’re reading it on, have … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The new 2011 edition of Nanotechnology Law published by West/Thomson/Reuters is now out. I update the book every year and the new edition has lots of new stuff. They make excellent Christmas and Birthday gifts, and are a general cure for insomnia. All proceeds go to my underprivileged daughters’ college fund. Everyone should have one … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation Subcommittee on Science and Space will be holding a hearing at 10AM on Thursday July 14, "The National Nanotechnology Investment: Manufacturing, Commercialization and Job Creation", As the Commerce Committee considers a reauthorization of the National Nanotechnology Initiative, the hearing will examine the potential of nanotechnology, federal initiatives to coordinate … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On June 17, 2011, the Senate Committee on Armed Services announced that S. 1253, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2012 had been passed unanimously and had been reported out of Committee and sent on to the Senate for debate. S. 1253 provided $200 million in funding for the "Rapid Innovation Program" established by PL 111-383, the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On June 17, 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a notice in the Federal Register announcing that it was seeking "comment on several possible appraoches for obtaining information about what nanoscale materials are present in registered pesticide products. . . . and its potential effects on humans or the environment. . . ." Under … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Official Birthday, Buckingham Palace released the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Among those honored with a knighthood was Professor Mark Edward Welland of the University of Cambridge, where he heads the Nanoscience Centre and also currently serves as Chief Scientific Advisor to the UK Ministry of Defence. Professor Welland is also … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on As a follow-up to and outgrowth of the June 2005 OECD Joint Meeting of the Chemicals Committee and the Working Party on Chemicals, Pesticides, and Biotechnology, the OECD Working Party on Manufactured Nanomaterials (WPMN) was established in September 2006, with the mission of helping "member countries efficently address the safety challenges of nanomaterial". Presented at the … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on One June 9, the President’s Office of Budget and Management, United States Trade Representative, and Office of Science and Technology Policy issued a joint memorandum directed to all Executive branch departments and agencies entitled "Policy Principles for the U.S. Decision-Making Concerning Regulation and Oversight of Applications ofNanotechnology and Nanomaterials." The Policy Statement is important because it … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Senate returned from its Memorial Day recess this week. Among the bills that it may begin debating is H.R. 1540, the FY 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. Introduced by Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-CA-25th), Chairman of the House Committee on Armed Services , on 04/14/2011, HR 1540 was amended during a "markup" session of the Committee … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Running from June 6 to June 8, 2011 at the Sheraton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington Virginia, the 2011 TAPPI Conference on Nanotechnology for Renewable Materials will focus on the theme of Nanotechnology for a Sustainable Future. Speakers will give presentations on subjects including : -Importance of Nanotechnology/Nanomaterials to the Forest Products Industry of the 21st Century … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on An official at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration ("OSHA") stated recently that the agency has never cited an employer for exposing workers to nanomaterials. OSHA remains focused on prevention and the development of guidance measures to stop exposures before they happen. Moreover, because the agency is aware that workers can be exposed to … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Senator Lautenberg:This isn’t a reorganization of the way we function here. It is to be another version of TSCA, far less harmful but having a law that does cover the bases. Introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) on 04/14/2011, S. 847, the "Safe Chemicals Act of 2011", is the third bill introduced in the last … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on A food safety strategist for "As You Sow" recently indicated that the group is conducting a survey "of a wide selection of food manufacturers and retailers regarding their use of nanomaterials in food products." The group is also creating a "Nanofood Sourcing Framework" designed to guide food-related companies on the issues they should be considering … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In a notice published in the Federal Register for 05/04/2011, the FDA Science Board, an advisory panel that provides advice to the FDA Commissioner and the Commission on "specific complex and technical issues as well as, emerging issues within the scientific community, in industry and academia . . . .advice to the Agency on keeping pace with … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Nano Engineering Students Create World’s Smallest Images of Stephen Colbert Two nanotechnology engineering students at the University of Waterloo, in Waterloo, Canada, have created the world’s smallest images of comedian Stephen Colbert. The undergraduate students, John Maier and Erin Bedford, made the images using aluminum sputtered onto substrate through a photoresist mask. The smallest … Continue Reading
