NanoDays at our Partner Museums - March 28 - April 4, 2009 
Partners of the Arkansas Discovery Network will be hosting NanoDays events between March 28 and April 5 as part of a nationwide NanoDays celebration through a unique collaboration with Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network (NISE Net).
Mid-America Science Museum and UALR Nanotechnology Research Center are participating in NanoDays the week of March 28 through April 4, 2009 at Mid-America Science Museum (MASM). NanoDays is a community-based educational outreach event organized by Nanoscale Information Science Education (NISE) Network to raise public awareness of nanoscale science and engineering in local communities across the United States.
During the past week Mid-America had over 200 adults and children visit our Science Discovery Carts and learn about nano-scale science by participating in hands-on activities. Exploring Forces allowed visitors to discover how size affects the way materials, like water behave by observing the difference in affect of gravity on water that is poured from a regular-sized cup opposed to a miniature cup.
The Exploring Materials activities allowed visitors to investigate the properties of Ferro fluid and magnetic black sand and learn that the surprising difference in the behavior of these two materials is due to size. Exploration continued as visitors to discovered that how a material behaves on the macro scale is affected by its structure on the nanoscale as they investigated the properties of heat sensitive liquid crystal. They even made their own liquid crystal sensor. Exploring Tools allowed visitors use a flexible magnet as a model for a scanning probe microscope (SPM) to learn that an SPM is an example of a special tool scientists use to work on the nanoscale in order to view things at the atomic level. These activities are available for use by educators and others organizations who are interested in promoting informal learning experiences in the area of nanotechnology awareness.
Mid-America will continue our NanoDays event throughout the week by continuing to provide hands-on activities at 11:30 am and 1:00 pm daily. Dr. Alex Biris, lead researcher and scientist in the Nanotechnology Center at UALR, will be featured at Mid-America Science Museum on Saturday, April 4, 2009, at 2:00 pm. He will highlight various aspects of nanotechnology including research that is taking place in Arkansas, the social implications of nanotechnology, and how this research impacts society.
Arts & Science Center for Southeast Arkansas NanoDays March 30-April 3
NanoDays Outreach: It really is a small world after all! How would you like to take an elevator from the earth into space or create food or make your own diamonds? Students in Pine Bluff, as part of the nationally recognized NanoDays, learned about the tiny technological world of nanotechnology through outreach 
classes taken to various schools by the Arts& Science Center for Southeast Arkansas March 30-April 3. Students learned about and explored the world of nano by studying liquid crystals, using magnets tomanipulate ferrofluids, a unique magnetic material that acts like a liquid, and making large buckyballs that in real life are small, soccerball-shaped molecules made of carbon.
Museum of Discovery Nanodays April 1-4
Huge discoveries about tiny things are changing our world. Learn how scientists use nanotechnology to make our everyday lives better. Did you know, for example, that aluminum in a soda can is very safe but aluminum nano particles spontaneously explode?
Check with your other local network partners for details on events for the whole family in your area of Arkansas.
