* Blogmanac | Out with the smelly socks!
Smelly socks could one day be just a nasty memory thanks to nanotechnology. Scientists in South Korea have discovered a method of impregnating silver particles into the polypropylene widely used in textiles, which give it "excellent" antibacterial properties. The particles are around 30 nanometres across. (A nanometre is a billionth of a metre.)

They have managed to make safe anti-microbial fibres with a range of applications, including socks, carpets, napkins and surgical masks. Another company is already using nano silver particles in its under-arm deodorants.

[The Prince of Wales recently prompted the British Government to launch an independent investigation into nanotechnology after he voiced fears that tiny robots could one day reduce the planet to a "grey goo". Prey, a novel by Michael Crichton, envisaged a world where people are taken over by predatory nano-scale robots. However, Lord Sainsbury, the UK Science Minister, dismissed the Prince's concerns as mere "science fiction".]

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