Nanotechnology Images from Kavli Nanoscience Institute at Caltech

Just shared this on our Micro Nanotechnology (MNT-EC) LinkedIn page and thought you might appreciate seeing the full sized gallery.

Image 3 was taken with an optical microscope. (Steven Wood, Painter Lab, Kavli Nanoscience Institute, Caltech)

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Images 1, 2 and 3: Images of the same quantum transducer device. Fabricated using eight layers of electron beam lithography and five different material platforms. Images 1 and 2 were taken with the Zeiss Orion helium ion microscope.
Images 1, 2 and 3: Images of the same quantum transducer device (Closeup). Fabricated using eight layers of electron beam lithography and five different material platforms. Images 1 and 2 were taken with the Zeiss Orion helium ion microscope.

Random Small _NASA Astronaut Tech, Scholarships, Vacuum Workshop

Kristine Davis, a spacesuit engineer at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, wearing a ground prototype of NASA’s new Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), is seen during a demonstration of the suit, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019 at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The xEMU suit improves on the suits previous worn on the Moon during the Apollo era and those currently in use for spacewalks outside the International Space Station and will be worn by first woman and next man as they explore the Moon as part of the agency’s Artemis program. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Thanks for reading our monthly email update, if that’s how you found this post. If you found us by digging into our website and the Think Small news and blog section, we are so glad you found us. “Random Small” is a monthly catch-all post for the latest happenings here at the Micro Nano Technology Education Center and in our wider, bigger community of scientists of all types. 

You probably noticed two distinct images — one of an astronaut (just above), and another of a website logo for Skype a Scientist. 

First, in the monthly MNT Update, I mentioned how NASA technology often gets transferred outside of NASA into commercial enterprises that license it for new products. This article, Feeling Hot, Staying Cool, is a powerful example of how that works. It highlights the work of a new company, London-based Fifty One Ltd, which is “using a temperature-controlling material developed in part under an SBIR from Johnson Space Center for spacesuit gloves, Fifty One of London is making clothes to alleviate the symptoms of menopause.”

Screenshot of the Fifty One company and project with menopause clothing that is based on the NASA phase change material technology. Image is from the NASA Spinoff website.

Since women make up half the world’s population, there is a lot of need and opportunity (as in billions of people) for materials scientists to work on these phase change materials to find solutions. 

In fact, NASA has an entire microsite dedicated to technology transfer called Spinoff and it includes an annual report, of sorts, that highlights the many advances that power our world. 

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Let’s jump to Skype A Scientist because it is so fun and energetic and something you can use in your classrooms or perhaps sign up to help out. From their website: “The mission of Skype a Scientist is simple, yet impactful: to make science accessible and fun through personal connections with scientists. We are an educational entity with a focus on connecting the general public with scientific disciplines in fun and meaningful ways, making science education available and engaging for everyone…” 

The Skype A Scientist Instagram page is worth a follow, too. Here’s a sample YouTube videos of a wonderful talk with a brain scientist at the University of Washington. Love Sydney’s enthusiasm. Plus, we’re hoping to interview Dr. Sarah McAnulty, Squid Biologist​, and Executive Director of Skype A Scientist.

Sydney Floryanzia is a first-year Ph.D. student in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Washington (UW). Her research involves investigating the blood-brain barrier, drug delivery to the brain, and therapies for degenerative brain diseases.

There are two new scholarship opportunities for STEM-oriented students. These will be added to our Micro Nano Scholarship page later this week, but to give you the absolute latest, cutting edge, head start information we’re putting them here and on our MNT LinkedIn Page (which you seriously might want to follow, but no pressure, of course. Not much pressure…).

  • The DOD Historically Black Colleges and Universities & Minority-Serving Institutions (HBCU/MI) Summer Research Internship Program is an annual summer research program offered to current students and recent graduates who studied STEM disciplines at HBCU/MI.

The last item, but certainly a great opportunity and worth sharing with your networks (not so subtle hint..): Check out the High Vacuum System Operation Basics Workshop at Normandale Community College coming up next week on two separate days, Monday Dec 12 and again on Wednesday, Dec 14.