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What is Nanotechnology?Engineering Things that are Very SmallThe term nanotechnology has been bandied about for years, but what is it, and more importantly, where is it going?
Nanotechnology is a form of engineering on the molecular scale. It is a series of technologies used to manipulate atoms and molecules into specific positions in order to create nanoscale structures. It is in the domain of both chemistry and physics. Nanotechnology is often considered ghostware. The term 'nanotechnology' has been overhyped in the last 20 years, and the fruits of the actual technologies involved are sparse. The future does hold tremendous promise, if and when the technologies mature, and could revolutionize medicine, agriculture, space exploration, warfare, fuel synthesis, and consumer products. Essentially, nanotechnology could give us the ability to manipulate all of Earth's resources more efficiently.
Creating Objects on the Nanoscale There are two different possible ways to create objects at the nanoscale: 1. Building or carving 2. Growing In building an object, the object is constructed deliberately, piece by piece, much like an object at the macroscopic scale would be built. Carving is also similar to carving on the macroscopic scale, filing away bits of source material. Much effort must be made to create a single object, and the construction tools have to be precise and guided. This is currently difficult to scale to mass production, but many different type of structures can be made. We currently have tools to position atoms precisely. Growing is more akin to biological processes or crystallization. It is extremely complicated to plan and design a structure. In contrast to building and carving, once the design has been worked out, it could scale very easily to mass production. Some designs could also use self-assembly, a form of reproduction. As in biology, there is a risk of mutation in each successive generation. Computers are instrumental in modeling and testing designs. We know a lot about how each type of atom behaves in the presence of other atoms. This is chemistry. That information can be use to program a computer (most likely a super computer or a networked computer 'farm') to create virtual objects and see how they behave in a variety of environments.
Possible Dangers The potential dangers of nanotechnology revolve around human welfare. The most drastic potential danger is the runaway growth of self-replicating nanomachines, often called "the gray goo problem". It's possible, but unlikely, that a "species" of nanomachine could consume Earth's biosphere (especially if it required carbon to survive). If it ever started it would be a slow enough process that we could probably figure out a way to contain or destroy it. A more likely problem is nanoparticle toxicity. The smaller an object is, the more bioreactive it is. That means that it could adversely affect biological processes such as cell replication or cellular nutrient absorption. This is also a more immediate problem since the first commerical applications of nanotechnology are nanoparticles, specifically design molecules. These are already being incorporated into paints, cosmetics, and food packaging. As the variety of nanoparticle designs grows, the amount of medical research necessary to determine toxicity also grows. If funding is lax, this could be a huge health problem. (remember asbestos?) In a broader context, if nanotechnology fulfills it's promises, and changes the way we manipulate our natural resources, it could change societal structures the way the informational, industrial, and agricultural revolutions did. If this happens over just decades, the social upheaval has the potential to be very chaotic.
The copyright of the article What is Nanotechnology? in Atomic/Molecular/Optical Physics is owned by Katharine M. J. Osborne. Permission to republish What is Nanotechnology? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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