What is Nanotechnology
What exactly is nanotechnology anyway?
Nanotechnology , the buzzword most commonly heard when referencing the technologies associated with the small tech industry, has so many potential applications that it has been labeled “the next industrial revolution”. With the U.S. government currently appropriating $679 million annually to nanotechnology research and development (according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative) and industry analysts projecting a $1 trillion industry for small tech products by 2015, it may very well be the next big thing.
Nanotechnology can be loosely defined as technological developments and manipulations of nano-sized matter towards a commercial application. This matter is typically measured in terms of a nanometer, or one-millionth of a millimeter. In short, it describes our ability to arrange atoms and molecules exactly the way we want. Some of the most common disciplines of nanotechnology as they exist today include nanodevices, self assembly, and bionanotechnology.
There are two basic methods of fabricating nanodevices -the top-down approach, which involves molding or etching materials into smaller components and the bottom-up approach, which works by assembling structures atom-by-atom or molecule-by-molecule. A typical nanodevice may include tiny robotic tools, perhaps photon powered, that are able to travel in and around human cells to perform molecular-scale surgery or deliver drugs directly to a cell.
The idea of self assembly describes the ability of microscopic matter to automatically assemble into a pre-defined shape or order due to its programmed atomic structure. Just as the force of nature utilizes laws of physics to construct materials, nanotechnology will be the force that allows humans to apply some of the same laws of physics to create our own unique self-assembling materials.
Bionanotechnology includes technologies such as tissue engineering, DNA manipulation, peptide sequencing, and protein-substrate adherence. Much of this technology is also derived from duplicating the forces of nature, and this particular field provides a big first step in creating “living machinery” or devices capable of being interfaced with living tissue.
The uses of nanotechnology are being defined as we speak, but one thing is for certain: it will touch a wide array of aspects of our lives. Some of the applications will impact us profoundly, such as with regenerative medicine and the bio-organic nanotechnology used to repair human tissues. And some of the uses will hardly be perceivable -making us unable to pinpoint when they entered out lives. Consider applications of nanotechnology already in use, such as tire compounds, some cosmetics and sunscreens, even special tennis balls. The point being that the applications of nanotechnology should not be confined merely to ultra technical devices or tiny robots. One of the very premises that nanotechnology operates on -the mimicking of nature’s building blocks (officially called biomimetics), means that there realistically may be no limit to its uses.
With the current U.S. government’s annual appropriation of $679 million to nanotechnology research and development, industry analysts are projecting a $1 trillion industry for small tech products by 2015. Nanotechnology, it may very well be the next BIG THING
Some of the Industry it has impacted are:
•Aerospace
– Mission to Mars stronger and lighter materials
•Automobile Industry
- BMW 740i has 70+ Mems (Micro Electronic Mechanical Devices)
•Consumer Electronics
- Digital Camera OLED display, the 3.1-megapixel EasyShare LS633 zoom digital camera by Kodak
•Beauty Products
- Plenitude Revitalift antiwrinkle cream by L’Oréal Paris, first nanotechnology product in 1998.
•Sports
– Cerax Ski & Snowboard Nanowax produces a hard, fast-gliding surface. The ultrathin coating lasts much longer than conventional waxing systems
•Textile Industry
– Eddie Bauer’s Nano-Care comfort-waist corduroy pants and Kathmandu Tobin shirt Pants
•Medical
– Biosensors for detecting disease • Alternative Energy Sources – cheaper gas
