Top 10 things to know about nanotechnology
For more nano images, see NIST's Nanotechnology Graphics Gallery. (Image courtesy National Institute of Standards and Technology.)
EarthSky’s guide to being in the know about nano.
Nanotechnology – the science of the very small – will have a profound impact on humanity’s future in this century and beyond. EarthSky asked our Science Advisors who are experts in nanotechnology to help explain what you should know about an area of scientific research sure to affect our lives.
1. Nanotechnology is all about making things that are less that 100 nanometers in size. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. A single strand of hair – sliced across like salami – would measure 100,000 nanometers across.
2. The nanometer scale is the scale of atoms and molecules. The molecules of living things – such as proteins and DNA – have dimensions on the nanoscale. At this scale, atoms are in constant motion and quantum effects begin to be important.
3. In the past two decades, tools such as the scanning tunneling microscope have let scientists see the world at the nanoscale and begin to manipulate it.
4. Using nanotechnology, scientists and engineers are able to create molecular devices not found in nature.
5. Materials act profoundly differently at the nanoscale. At this scale, a material’s properties – like electrical conductivity and mechanical strength – change.
6. Manufactured nanoparticles have many applications that scientists are only now beginning to explore.
7. Scientists have high hopes for quantum dots. These and nanoparticles made of other materials have a range of applications including electronics, the creation of solar cells and the detection and treatment of diseases.
6. Carbon nanotubes – atoms arranged into tiny tubes only a few nanometers in width – are extremely strong and flexible. They have many potential applications: for example, they act as semiconductors and so are important in making computer chips. They also have some far-out applications; for example, they may someday be used to build an elevator to space.
7. The concept of self-replicating nanomachines, also known as grey goo, is a nano-myth.
8. Nanotechnology has a huge potential for good, but – as with all new technologies – there is a need to understand and control its potential to cause harm. Some nanoparticles might be toxic to the human body and/or the environment. Some worry about nanotechnology’s potential to lead to a loss of privacy. Eventually, someone may build nanotech-related weapons.
9. Products made with nanotechnology are available on the market today, including advanced microchips, cosmetics and sunscreens, new fabrics, lightweight sports equipment, dressings for burns and injuries, and more.
10. Nanotechnology has applications in many different areas critical to 21st century challenges. Think of keeping our water pure, of growing food for Earth’s burgeoning population, of computers, medicine, energy and the protection of the environment. Nanotechnology will impact them all.
div(note). Earth & Sky would like to thank its Science Advisors for help in preparing this top 10 list. A special thank you to Dr. George Whitesides of Harvard University, Dr. Carl Batt of Cornell University, Dr. Barbara A. Baird of Cornell University, Dr. Emmanuel P Giannelis of Cornell University, Dr. Michael J. Sailor of University of California San Diego, Dr. Christian Lang of the University of Oxford, and Dr. Robert Celotta, Director of the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland. For more about nanotechnology, see all things nano: a roundup of articles, interviews, radio shows and more from Earth & Sky.
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Dear whom this concerns:
I am currently a high school student, interested in the progression of nano-technologies and to which extent these matters are being studied. What are some the the more lucrative applications for this technology? I noticed you had mentioned on the site [http://www.earthsky.org/blog/top-10-things-to-know-about-nanotechnology] That it’s possible to create “Carbon nanotubes,” is it possible to arrange the Carbon molecules on the molecular scale so that there isn’t spaces between the particles? I am ingaged in an independent study for my Grade 11 chemisty class and the concept of manipulating nanos has sparked a certain interest. I would appreciate any information you would be able to forward me on this technology, and its current abilities and application. Sweetman_14@hotmail.com is the address you may be able to reach me at.Thanks for your time.
Bradley Burton
Self-replicating nanomachines and “grey goo” are not one and the same. The former is a legitimate goal of nanotechnology, whether we’re talking about the “officially sanctioned” nanotech sponsored by the U.S. government (“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe, everybody return to your homes) or the much-mislabeled and misidentified goals of true molecular nanotechnology. Grey Goo is unlikely to the point where it is nothing more than a scifi plot device.
can people bulid nano robots
For a scholarly discussion on why humans need not lose any sleep over the possibility that self-replicating nano-robots might devour the Earth, see: http://www.foresight.org/nano/Ecophagy.html
i wondered how nano can built an elivator for space.
any way i am amazed about nano.
with the help of nano can people rectify cancer?
i wondered how nano can built an elivator for space.
any way i am amazed about nano.
with the help of nano can people rectify cancer?send me informations about nano in the following address
srinivas_40000@yahoo.co.in
HI