Dr. Andrew Maynard, chief science advisor at the Project for Emerging Nanotechnologies, calls his general nanotech presentation, ‘The Twinkie Guide to Nanotechnology'.^[1]

Copyright 2005 Larry D. Moore. For permission and licensing info. on Copyright and permissions.

It's a fun (Maynard likes to eat Twinkies), five point presentation illustrating various principles, benefits, and a single risk presented by nanoparticles. (For anyone interested in viewing the presentation, under Leaving the mysteries, click on Dr. Andrew Maynard's Twinkie Guide to Nanotechnology.)  It does seem that Maynard's presentation downplays any possible dangers in favour of nanotech's benefits but it should be noted that Maynard has done serious research on health issues posed by nanotechnology.^[2] (For more about nanotechnology risks, under Jump joints, click on Risks.) 

(For anyone who may not be familiar with Twinkies, they are a snack cake made of golden sponge and filled with a vanilla cream. Loved by children and adults alike, Twinkies occupy an interesting place in the pop culture imagination in Canada and the US. The word and/or the cake can be used in comedies to get a laugh. The word itself can be used as a derisory comment, particularly in US jurisprudence circles as per 'The Twinkie Defense'. The defense has a history dating back to 1979 and a very well known [in the US] San Francisco incident where a former city supervisor or city councillor, Dan White, murdered the Mayor, George Moscone, and the first openly gay [homosexual] supervisor elected to office in the US, Harvey Milk. White's defense lawyer claimed that junk food had caused White to lose his senses and murder his former colleagues, in a legal strategy now known as the 'The Twinkie Defense'.)^[3]

For permissions and licensing info., see Copyright and permissions.

Jump back

Scientists play too

Jump joints

Risks

Jump points

Scientists get fashionable

Scientists get literary

Scientists get musical

Scientists get virtual

Scientists get whimsical

Scientists read comics, watch tv, and more

Leaving the mysteries

Dr. Andrew Maynard's Twinkie Guide to Nanotechnology