Nano-technology is a general term that covers many portions of science, study and technology. In its simplest form, it can be described as experimenting with things that are tiny. Things so samll that they can not be seen with normal microscopes. The same things that have always been there, but we just weren’t able to see it, the building blocks of nature, atoms and molecules. Nano-technology encompasses understanding matter at the “nano” comparison. A nanometer is 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter. In a comparison, a regular human hair is just about 100,000 nanometers in diameter.

New inventions of imaging tools, such as the atomic force microscopes, have allowed nanologists to take a look into the nano world, a world that before could only be seen as a theory. These new tools help scientists solidify theories about the form in which atoms group together to make molecules of different types and shapes.”Consider the element carbon at the nanoscale. In nature, when carbon atoms are arranged one way you get a diamond. If they’re put together another way, you get graphite.” – Eleanor Imster, Earth and Sky Radio Series

In 1985, the discovery of buckminsterfullerene (buckyball), opened new eyes for the chemistry of carbon and for novel materials. The Japanese Sumi Ijima, discovered nanotubes in the year 1991. The change into nanotechnology research in manufactured products is limited today, but some products canged relatively quickly to the marketplace and are already having a significant impact. The “jumbotron lamp,” that lights many of today’s sports stadiums ia a nanotube-based light. Other products available today that are benefactors from the unique properties of nanoscale materials include: bumbers on cars, sunscreens and cosmetics, stain-free clothing and much more.

New inventions of nanotechnology that are expected in 2-5 years are:

• Implantable devices that automatically administer drugs and sense drug levels.

• Cancer tagging mechanisms and
real time diagnostics for physicians.

• Sensors for airborne chemicals or other toxins.

• Improved solar cells and fuel cells

• Faster, smarter and inexpensive computers.

The power of nanotechnology is in the change of materials at the nano-scale. This lets scientists alter the properties of certain materials to make them do new things, do things better, and to invent materials not found in the natural world.