Nanoscience for superheroes

The research centres CIC nanoGUNE and the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) have presented the comic book Dayanne and Murillo. The Power of Nanoscience in Donostia-San Sebastian today. It is the final result of the nanoKOMIK project that aimed to produce the first participatory nanofiction comic book in 2016, and which received co-funding from the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT)-Spanish Ministry of the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness.The event was attended by Ana Arrieta, Vice Chancellor of the Gipuzkoa Campus of the UPV/EHU–University of the Basque Country, and the directors of the centres organising nanoKOMIK, TxemaPitarke (CIC nanoGUNE) and Ricardo Díez-Muiño (DIPC).

The huge scientific advances of the last century have enabled nanoscience to be turned into reality. Quantum mechanics helps us to understand the properties and phenomena that arise out of matter on the nanoscale and huge microscopes can manipulate atoms one by one.This new field of science opens up endless possibilities and will have great repercussions on different sectors, ranging from medicine to construction, that will bring about significant changes in our lifestyle.

With this reality in mind, the CIC nanoGUNE and DIPC research centres promoted nanoKOMIK; it is an initiative designed to spread science of a participatory, multidisciplinary and international nature and seeks to inform the general public about the advances that are taking place in the field of nanoscience and nanotechnology while also encouraging the creativity of youngsters. So nearly 200 youngsters of between the ages of 12 and 18 were involved in the nanoKOMIK challenge in which they built their own comic superheroine or superhero, providing him/her with nanopowers through the amazing properties that matter acquires on a nanometric scale. The educational comic book Dayanne and Murillo. The Power of Nanoscience has been produced by taking the best ideas submitted.

Dayanne and Murillo. The Power of Nanoscience

The educational comic book gathers together the most original ideas submitted by the youngsters participating in the challenge. The illustrator Hodei Iparraguirre, and the project coordinators Itziar Otegui (nanoGUNE) and Amaia Arregi (DIPC) participated in the production. The complete work is available under a creative commons licence in Basque, Spanish, French and English in a print version and in its digital version via www.nanokomik.com. Furthermore, the stories of Dayanne and Murillo will be reproduced in Jotdown Kids magazine over the coming months.

The presentation of the comic book comes within the framework of the official opening of the project’s travelling exhibition which, apart from the comic book itself, includes the most outstanding works in the challenge.This exhibition will remain open at the Carlos Santamaria zentroanCarlos Santamaría Centre in Donostia-San Sebastian until 30 December.