Did you know that Girl Scouts can earn a badge by learning about nanotechnology? The Discovering Technology badge, which is for Junior Girl Scouts (age 8-11), identifies nanotechnology as one of the six tasks (#9 - The Future is Here) necessary to be completed in order to earn this badge. More details can be found in the Junior Girl Scout Badge Book, or talk with your daughter’s Scout leader.

Calling all 7th and 8th grade students! Don’t forget to register for this year’s Future City Competition. Hurry! Registration closes in mid-October. This year’s theme is Building a Livable Tomorrow. The national finals will be held during National Engineers Week (February 15-21, 2009) in Washington, DC. Engineers - please volunteer to mentor a team. Visit the Future City website for more details.

Calling all kids age 9-14! Don’t forget to register for this year’s FIRST LEGO League. Hurry! Registration closes in September. This year’s theme is Climate Connections - details of the challenge will be released on October 5th.

What exactly is thermal imaging? FLIR Systems has a really interesting 10-minute video called “The History of Infrared,” which explains the basics of thermal imaging - including its history and how it was discovered. It’s a fascinating reminder that basic curiosity can often lead to important scientific discoveries.

In the movie Iron Man, super-human strength comes courtesy of some out-of-this-world technology. Even better, it’s real! See how the Exoskeleton works in this YouTube video from Raytheon Missile Systems.

Here’s a link to the fascinating report, A Path to the Next Generation of U.S. Banknotes: Keeping Them Real, which takes a look at the various ways nanotechnology, MEMS and other emerging technologies might be used to make the counterfeiting of money more difficult.

FIRST LEGO League is an international robotics competition for kids age 9-14 (up to age 16 outside the US) that focuses on teamwork, friendship, creativity and innovation. Having spoken with numorous teams over the past two years, I can tell you that this is an activity that kids really dig into - both boys and girls alike. Get your kids involved, volunteer to mentor a team, or show your support and be a sponsor. In some areas of the country, there are more kids who want to be involved than there are coaches or kits. The LEGO MINDSTORMS kits are just a few hundred dollars - and teams also need financial support to get to the World Festival. Support our future scientists and engineers! To learn more about FIRST LEGO League, or to get information about teams in your area, please visit the FIRST LEGO League website.

National Engineers Week is all about “increasing understanding of and interest in engineering and technology careers”…and to also raise “public understanding and appreciation of engineers’ contributions to society.”  One way they do this is through the annual Future City competition, where teams of kids envision the city of the future. A cool new website, Discover Engineering, was recently created to offer all kind of fun resources aimed at getting middle school students excited about science, technology, engineering and math.

Future City is all about engaging kids in science, technology, engineering and math, through hands-on, real-world applications. Teams create their city of the future via software, build a 3-dimensional tabletop model, write an essay and then make a presentation to a panel of judges. Want to get your kid involved or volunteer your time to mentor a team? Find out more at www.FutureCity.org

Learn more about how Gemesis is creating spectacular yellow diamonds in the laboratory, molecule by molecule. To see a fantastic assortment of the end product, visit Joseph Schubach Jewelers.

CTIA Wireless 2008 is accepting submissions for their 3rd Annual Fashion in Motion Scholarship. A $10,000 scholarship is awarded to a student or class project for a product or prototype that combines wireless technology and fashion. For more details visit the CTIA website. Hurry! The deadline for submissions is February 15th.

Calling all engineers! The FTF Design Challenge is all about creating the next green/eco-friendly breakthrough product, using at least one or more of Freescale’s suite of technologies, such as their MEMS acccelerometer or pressure sensor, or microcontroller, networking and/or wireless ZigBee solutions. There’s $150,000 in prize money at stake so get registered now! Visit Freescale FTF Design Challenge for more details .

In this hilarious website, Florence Henderson (the Brady Bunch mom) and her family teaches you all about germs. Play “spot the germ” and you could even win your very own plush microbe toy!

Here’s a great way to teach kids about nanotechnology, and in the process, get them interested in science, engineering and math: a video game called NanoMission. Co-developed by PlayGen and Cientifica, three modules (or scenarios) are currently available. NanoMission is free and you can download it here: www.nanomission.org. Stay tuned - another module will be available in January 2008 and five more are in the works.

Test your nanotechnology knowledge with this fun 20-question quiz from the folks at Nanowerk.