Tiny Is Beautiful: Translating 'Nano' Into Practical

In 1989 at Nagoya Technology for the Future Conference, I foresee the future of Technology go from Micro to Pico & Nao era in 20-30 years.

Now it is just the begining of the Nano Era.

I am confident that NaNo Technology is going to be the Key frontiers, be it in the Applications of:

Electronics,

Bio-Technology,

Instrumentations & Controls,

Robotics,

Energy,

Industrials,

Food,

Drinks,

Plants; Horticulture,

Nutritions & Supplements

Medicines,

Anti-Aging,

...etc.

The challenge is to use Physics to create NaNo objects near to the Atom or molecules size.


Scholars Probe Nanotechnology's Promise and Its Potential Problems

With a revolution in everything from toys to tumors on the horizon, scientists in the nanotechnology arena are working to gain the public's trust.

Hoping to both anticipate pitfalls and head off a publicity fiasco, policymakers and scientists are promoting research and public discussion on environmental, ethical, economic, and other societal implications of the burgeoning field of nanotechnology.

Students flock
Loosely defined as the purposeful creation of structures 100 nanometers in size or smaller, nanotechnology "is a real revolution because it is changing in a fundamental way how we build things," says Mihail Roco, who chairs the White House subcommittee that coordinates the multiagency National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI). Scientists predict that applications of nanotechnology will go far beyond their current uses—in sunblock, stain−resistant clothing, and catalysts—to, for example, environmental remediation, power transmission, and disease diagnosis and treatment.

But realizing nanotechnology's potential requires public trust, says Vicki Colvin, director of Rice University's Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology. The human genome project set a good example, she says, with 3−5% of its federal funds earmarked for studying implications of the research. That's in contrast to the nuclear energy and genetically modified organism industries, which are hobbled by bad public relations, she adds. "In GMO, they belittled the concerns of the people, and didn't take the risks seriously. I'd like nanotechnology to be a field that learns from the past."

To that end, some countries are beginning to invest in research into the broader impact of nanotechnology. This year, investment in nanotechnology by governments worldwide exceeds $3.5 billion, Roco says. NNI's fiscal year 2004 budget is $961 million, of which 11% goes to research on health and the environment; additional money is allocated to other studies relating to societal implications. Scholars in the humanities "were very encouraged by the language coming out of the NNI asking for there to be examination of implications early on," says Davis Baird, a philosophy professor and associate director of the University of South Carolina NanoCenter. "Roughly speaking, if you look at a new technology after it's gotten rolling, it's much more expensive to change things. At this stage, if you ask the right questions, you have more chance of nudging the technology in the right direction."

Magical materials



When matter is manipulated on the atomic scale, optical, electrical, magnetic, and other characteristics of materials change. "It's quantum mechanical in nature, and quantum mechanics is magic," says Stanley Williams, director of quantum science research at Hewlett−Packard Co in Palo Alto, California. "The new properties come out and make themselves available—and a lot of the time they are technologically useful. For example, if you take a hard material, a clay or a ceramic, and powder it down to the nanoscale, and mix it with a polymer, you wind up with a nanocomposite that can have a combination of hardness and toughness never seen in the natural world."

Other features that contribute to nanotechnology's promise are the expectation of cheap, low−polluting mass manufacturing and the possibility of making things, on the scale of biological building blocks, that could imitate or augment living systems. So far, most applications involve enhancements of preexisting materials, but new developments are in the works. A sampling includes lighter, more fuel−efficient cars, iron particles for immobilizing pollutants, and a liquid slurry that, when painted onto a surface, would collect solar energy.

Richard Smalley of Rice University, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his role in discovering fullerenes, talks about using conducting carbon nanotubes for efficient power transmission, and quantum dots and other nano−sized probes for testing and localizing disease. "We are imagining a time," he says, "maybe in just a decade or two, when the average person can go to a clinic and get a scan that tells the state of health in a noninvasive, low−cost way. This would have tremendous impact." In the more distant future, computers might be connected directly to the brain as a memory aid, he adds. "It would change what it means to be human."

Many questions, few answers

So what are the potential problems associated with nanotechnology? For now, questions far outnumber answers. What are the effects of nanostructures on human health and the environment? Are new protective measures needed to regulate nanotechnology? How do manmade nanomaterials differ from naturally occurring ones? How will individual privacy be protected from surveillance nanosensors? How will inexpensive mass manufacture of nanomaterials change the workforce? How will nanotechnology−related businesses affect local and global economies? Read More

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