Turns out that stovetops produce a lot of very small nanoparticles that are a threat to respiratory and cardiovascular health.

Researchers have known that burners on gas and electric stovetops emit nanoparticles when they’re used, but until now they hadn’t been able to measure the smallest nanoparticles — those under 10 nanometers. A study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology found that stovetops produce as much as 10 times as many particles under 10 nanometers as nanoparticles over that size.

Nanoparticles readily enter the bloodstream through the lungs, pass through cell membranes and accumulate in organs. Nanoparticle toxicity is related to its surface; nanoparticles of a substance are more toxic than the same mass of larger particles of the same substance.

I guess we’ll have to update the old saying. If you can’t stand the nanoparticles, get out of the kitchen.

Interesting news from around the science press:

A locked-in syndrome patient with an electrode implanted in his brain was able to control a speech synthesizer with his thoughts, according to an item in Nature News. He was able to produce vowel sounds, and people could eventually “speak” whole sentences this way. Talk about speaking your mind.

Marijuana has the potential for warding off the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease, according to an item in Scientific American. It looks like pot improves memory by reducing inflammation and stimulating the growth of new brain cells. What was that about short-term memory loss?

Infrared light stimulates the inner ear nerve cells responsible for hearing, according to an item in New Scientist. It’s possible that future laser-based cochlear implants could significantly improve the quality of hearing aids. I guess that’d be called hearing the light.

An item in the current issue of our sister publication ERN spotlights a growing debate in the biofuels community about whether net energy — the amount of energy a fuel produces minus the energy it consumes — is helpful or harmful as a measure of a biofuel’s sustainability. Some researchers say a broader set of metrics is needed.