At least in some mice injected with them.

That’s a relief, no?

So while the study is cause for some concern, it’s no reason to demonize carbon nanotubes, which have proved themselves quite useful in everything from electrical circuits to drug delivery mechanisms. At least not without doing a bit more research.

“Carbon nanotubes have great potential as a unique material that can be used in many unique and beneficial ways–from reducing our environmental impact to curing diseases,” Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, wrote in a post to his Web log. “But missteps now could easily undermine trust in this nascent industry, and prevent the material’s potential from being realized. The comparison with asbestos is firmly grounded in the physical resemblance between certain forms of the two materials, and this alone should stimulate clear action to ensure safe use. But the health impacts of asbestos exposure still resonate through society–deaths from asbestos-related disease are not expected to peak for another 10 years–and the mere suggestion of similarities between nanotubes and asbestos fibers could cause investors and users to shy away from this new technology unless there are clear assurances that health and safety concerns are being fully addressed.”

At least in some mice injected with them.

That’s a relief, no?

So while the study is cause for some concern, it’s no reason to demonize carbon nanotubes, which have proved themselves quite useful in everything from electrical circuits to drug delivery mechanisms. At least not without doing a bit more research.

“Carbon nanotubes have great potential as a unique material that can be used in many unique and beneficial ways–from reducing our environmental impact to curing diseases,” Andrew Maynard, chief science adviser to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, wrote in a post to his Web log. “But missteps now could easily undermine trust in this nascent industry, and prevent the material’s potential from being realized. The comparison with asbestos is firmly grounded in the physical resemblance between certain forms of the two materials, and this alone should stimulate clear action to ensure safe use. But the health impacts of asbestos exposure still resonate through society–deaths from asbestos-related disease are not expected to peak for another 10 years–and the mere suggestion of similarities between nanotubes and asbestos fibers could cause investors and users to shy away from this new technology unless there are clear assurances that health and safety concerns are being fully addressed.”

It might be 100 billion times smaller than the first commercial radios, but the University of California at Berkeley’s nanoradio still sounds halfway decent through the right headphones.

Alex Zettl, a professor of physics at the university, has managed to construct a working radio out of a single carbon nanotube that’s about 10,000 times thinner than a human hair. “The single nanotube serves, at once, as all major components of a radio: antenna, tuner, amplifier and demodulator,” Zettl explains. “Moreover, the antenna and tuner are implemented in a radically different manner than traditional radios, receiving signals via high-frequency mechanical vibrations of the nanotube rather than through traditional electrical means.”

Zettl and his team christened the device with its FM broadcast last year–Derek and the Dominos’ “Layla.” Watch the video below and you’ll here that unmistakable guitar riff not quite as clear as day, but clear enough.

Astonishing, eh? A single nanotube performing all the functions of a working radio. “I hate to sound like I’m selling a Ginsu knife–’But wait, there’s more! It also slices and dices!’–but this one nanotube does everything,” Zettl told the San Francisco Chronicle. And its practical applications? Apparently there are quite a few: climate-monitoring systems, cellphones and who knows what else. Says Zettl, “Maybe the kids will be wearing these instead of iPods, inside their ears.”