woodchurch science

what is nanotechnology?
it’s a broad term used when referring to any science or technology that manipulates things at the atomic level, measured in nanometres. it comprises a diverse collection of fields, touching on biology, medicine, computing, materials, manufacturing, physics and many others.

what’s so good about nanotechnology?
the central theory of nanotechnology is that almost anything that doesn’t contradict the laws of physics can be built atom by atom by scientists. it was first introduced in 1959 by richard feynmann. a key understanding of nanotechnology is that it offers not just better products, but a vastly improved means of production. scientists believe that one day manufacturing will be as easy and cheap as copying computer files. that is why it is sometimes seen as the next industrial revolution.

how big is a nanometre?
a nanometre is one billionth of a metre. for example the width of a human hair is approximately 80,000 nanometres and human fingernails grow roughly one nanometre per second. a nanometre sized particle is also smaller than a living cell and can be seen only with the most powerful microscopes available today.

what is the difference between microtechnology and nanotechnology?
aside from the obvious difference in scale (nanoscale is one to three orders of magnitude smaller than the microscale), nanotechnology is based on the principles of quantum physics, which means different laws of physics apply in the nanoscale.

what is molecular nanotechnology?
it is the concept of building machines out of precisely designed molecules. most nanotech research occurs in this field,

what are the current uses of nanotechnology?
there are numerous products available to industry and consumers today which benefit from nanotechnology. most computer hard drives on the market today depend on nano-thin layers of magnetic materials to increase their storage capacity. nanomaterials are also used to produce anti-scratch surfaces and paints, protective and glare-reducing coatings for glasses and cars, several kinds of cosmetics and stain-free clothing.

how will nanotechnology affect our lives in the future?
the first major improvement will be in manufacturing techniques. due to the precision of working in the atomic scale manufacturers would have a better understanding of the building of things and greater flexibility in the types and quantities to build. consequently the cost of manufacturing would decrease significantly. in medicine the expected applications of nanotechnology are dramatic: machines would be able to travel through blood vessels, cleaning arteries or repairing damaged tissue from the inside. ‘nanobots’ could also be used as a helping hand against cancer cells or infections.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 1:22 pm and is filed under C2, chemistry, engineering, ks4, nanotechnology, warren, y10, y11. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.