Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is a field of research and innovation concerned with building 'things' - generally, materials and devices - on the scale of atoms and molecules. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. A sheet of paper is about 100,000 nanometers thick; a single gold atom is about a third of a nanometer in diameter. Instances of nanoscale structures include tuberculosis, a carbon nanotube, and DNA.

History

The concept of nanotechnology was introduced by Richard Feynman in his talk There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom, in which he described the possibility of synthesis via direct manipulation of atoms. The term "nano-technology" was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974.

Fundamental concepts

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.

Applications

Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, biomaterials energy production, and consumer products.

Implications

Nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials, and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios.

See also

• List of nanotechnology applications
• Nanotechnology in fiction
• Nanomedicine
• Nanoelectronics
• Nanomaterials
• Molecular nanotechnology

External links

• National Nanotechnology Initiative
• Nanotech-Now

Nanotechnology Resources
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