If you thought nanoscience and technology is either all too hyped up, or too remote to touch your daily life, think again. When you reach out for your toothbrush and paste the first thing in the morning, you are using nanotechnology. Especially, if the product you are using claims some of these benefits such as prevents bleeding gums, infections, inflammations, paradontois, loose teeth, bad breath and pain, chances are the product has nano technology in it.

The shampoo and conditioner claiming to remove dandruff, fortify and reduce hair fall, the gel and hairspray that holds hair in place, all have nanotechnology in it. And, you have not even stepped out of your bathroom yet!  Add to this skin care products like sunscreen, moisturizer, and anti aging products, and you are talking of a burgeoning multi billion dollar Cosmeceuticals industry.

Business week reports that the beauty products business as a whole is making a big bet on nanotech. L’Oréal, which devotes about $600 million of its annual $17 billion revenues to research, is the industry leader on nanopatents. But rivals such as Procter & Gamble, Estée Lauder (EL ) of the U.S., Christian Dior of France, and Japan’s Shiseido (SSDOY ) also incorporate nanoparticles into their products.

The global market for cosmetics using nanotechnology is currently valued at $62m and is forecast to grow annually by 16.6 percent reaching $155.8m by 2012 according to the BBC research.

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In the beginning they came in search of spices to India, now they are back again. This time they are in search of beauty ingredients. Increasingly, Ayurvedic ingredients are utilized in the West as natural and more holistic products are in great demand.As this neo-traditional beauty industry heats up, an increasing number of US and European companies are heading towards India to tie up with the local herbal companies. At least in the realm of beauty, east meets west.

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Thanks to Vaibhav Tidke and his team, rural India need not depend on the empty promises made by politicians to make villages self sustainable. Tidke and his team made it to the top ten in the UNESCO-Daimler ‘Mondialogo Engineering Award’.  Considered the ‘Engineer’s Oscar’, the award is given for creating sustainable solutions for problems in developing countries.Tidke’s team won the prestigious award for developing an energy-efficient solar pond dryer that ensures longer shelf-life for farm produce.  

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Rensselaer professor of nanotechnology moves molecular action out of his lab to the movie screen in his debut film ‘Molecules to the MAX’ and going by the initial feedback and outstanding reviews, it is bound to be as popular as Finding Nemo.

His film is expected to hit the screens this winter, and Siegal is intrigued to see how “Molecules to the MAX” will fare not only against Hollywood blockbusters, but also against the growing cadre of sharks, dinosaurs, insects, historic sites, and heavenly bodies that have become the bread and butter of the giant-screen movie industry.

The movie is a magical, musical adventure into the world of ATOMS and MOLECULES! This Digital-Dome experience takes you on a journey with OXY, HYDRO and HYDRA, an amazing cast of atoms, aboard the most fantastic ship in the Universe: the MOLECULARIUM.

It is the result of an unprecedented collaboration between scientists and artists, educators and entertainers.Molecularium brings kids on a musical cartoon adventure into a NANOSCALE UNIVERSE created from accurate molecular simulations. They learn about the 3 states of matter as they travel into a cloud, watch a snowflake form, and count the number of water molecules in a raindrop.

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Are you Health conscious? A slave to beauty? Looking for that one magical potion which will keep you young forever? Forget that awful tasting health drink; ignore that bottle of anti-aging cream and say cheers. For, now you can drink your way to health and beauty, and glow like a heavenly beauty! At least that is what NESTLE seems to be saying with its newly launched cosmetic drink! These guys surely know how to milk money!

New products are redefining the market in health and beauty segment, where wellness is the new catchword mixing traditional ingredients with nanoscience and technology. NESTLÉ’s new product GLOWELLE says that it is a beauty drink dietary supplement, created for women and by women, helps enhance beauty from the inside out.

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In the beginning there was God. Now we have LHC.  Termed by the media as the Disneyland of physics the Large Hadron Collider or LHC for short, is the most expensive scientific instrument in history expected to change our fundamental understanding of the universe. 

Journey with the MSNBC science editor as he ruminates on the bigbang theory and the LHC . And if you are feeling patriotic and would like to know about the Indian contribution to playing God, check the story at msn.

Thought it takes hundreds of years to decompose human hair? Not anymore. Fertile thinking from R.K. Kohli of the Centre for Environment at Punjab University helps covert human hair into manure, which has the potential of reducing pollution.

In a report to Deccan Herald, explains Kohli, who carried out the study with other researchers: hair contains keratin, a fibrous structural protein that is hard and insoluble in most substances. Keratin makes it difficult for hair to decompose easily. He says that an enzyme in the gut of the earthworm breaks down keratin. While working on right conditions for vermitechnology, the researchers found that it worked best without using any chemicals or diluting it.

Kohli has also requested barbers to store hair so that it could be collected at intervals and used for the production of manure instead of disposing it.