Bill Gates funds creation of graphene condoms (opens in new tab)

  I must admit I didn't see that one coming

C60 for example not only shows no indication of toxicity but also appears to have health benefits. My general understanding is while relatively little is known about graphene, what is known suggests it is much safer than CNTs [1]. As well, CNTs are most dangerous when inhaled. CNTs can do damage once inside a cell but breaching membrane is a special enough cirscumstance to make it relatively easily solvable compared to how to mass produce the fullerenes in the first place. The asbestos like quality also seems to be length dependent [2] and most risky to workers - which is a more controllable environment. While it is important to know how harmful these substances may be to us and our environment and I am a tad wary of CNTs, one must keep in mind that the setting of these experiments tend to be exceptional. The fear mongering on this seems like it will end up like GMO, vaccines and fission; yet another inappropriately maligned technology of great potential.

[1] The results show that GO [digraphene oxide] has a moderate toxicity to organisms since it can induce minor (about 20%) cell growth inhibition and slight hatching delay of zebrafish embryos at a dosage of 50 mg/L, but did not result in significant increase of apoptosis in embryo, while MWNTs exhibit acute toxicity leading to a strong inhibition of cell proliferation and serious morphological defects in developing embryos even at relatively low concentration of 25 mg/L

[2] The apparent similarity between multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and asbestos fibers has generated serious concerns about their safety profile. The asbestos-like pathogenicity observed for long, pristine nanotubes (NTlong, see scheme) can be completely alleviated if their effective length is decreased as a result of chemical functionalization, such as with tri(ethylene glycol) (TEG).

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11426-012-4620-z

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201207664/ab...

As an aside: don't forget the largest major anti-condom propagandists is not African at all (ie, the Catholic church).

Certainly worth a read:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/11/26/why_birth_c...

"We take a double-pronged approach: (1) Narrow the gap so that advances for the rich world reach the poor world faster, and (2) turn more of the world’s IQ toward devising solutions to problems that only people in the poor world face."

http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2011/11/02/the-sec...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Foundation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnegie_Corporation_of_New_Yor... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._and_Catherine_T._MacArt... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_and_Flora_Hewlett_Found... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_and_Lucile_Packard_Founda...