There is a strong tendency to consider that every scientific or technical solution to a particular problem is irrefutable. Nowadays, scientific and technological knowledge usually eludes public criticism and even we have seen how important government decision making were made by the so-called technocrats . We often forget the contingency of this knowledge, the fact […]
Nowadays, there is a growing demand for new biosensors capable of detecting specific molecules, contaminants or toxic substances in food, drinking water, air, blood and so forth, with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, we preferably want these biosensors to be inexpensive, easily reproducible and with a rapid and accurate response. This demand […]
Just a few years ago, nanoparticles broke into almost every laboratory in the world in one way or another. It marked a boom in nanoscience and nanotechnology. The demand for these new ultrafine particles, halfway between the bulk scale and the molecule scale, increased in such a way that sometimes there was even a shortage […]
Nowadays we are getting more and more accustomed to making use of new technologies shortly after they have been developed. We like the idea of immediacy and our wishes coincide well with the commercial interests of industry. Nevertheless, there is a field in which this immediacy is almost impossible: the medical sector. Unfortunately, there is […]
If you have ever faced that thankless task of cleaning fish, for sure you will have realized, at least envisaged, the complex architecture of the fish’s natural armour. Fish scales play the role of a skeleton which provides both protection and flexibility at the same time. It goes without saying that this fact has not […]
You have probably heard of the plastic island , an enormous area full of plastic garbage, gathered by oceanic currents, in the North Pacific Ocean. In the last few decades the amount of plastic debris in this area has increased two orders of magnitude, representing one of the best examples of the environmental impact caused […]