What is Nanotechnology?

Ask 100 people this question and you'll get 11 different answers; 90 people will say "I have no idea", and the other ten will give you varying definitions.

Lately we've been talking with a lot of people who have little awareness of nanotech, so we've had to answer the question many times. Here is CRN's preferred definition:

'Nanotechnology' is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale.* This covers current work and concepts that are more advanced.

In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, highly advanced products.

Based on Richard Feynman's vision of miniature factories using nanomachines to build complex products, advanced nanotechnology (sometimes referred to as molecular manufacturing) will make use of positionally-controlled mechanochemistry guided by molecular machine systems. Its best known exposition is in the books of K. Eric Drexler. Formulating a technology roadmap for its development is an objective of a broadly based "Productive Nanosystems" project led by Battelle (the manager of several U.S. National Laboratories) and the Foresight Institute.

Shortly after this envisioned molecular machinery is created, it will result in a manufacturing revolution, probably causing severe disruption. It also has serious economic, social, environmental, and military implications.

When Eric Drexler popularized the word 'nanotechnology' in the 1980's, he was talking about building machines on the scale of molecules, a few nanometers wide -- motors, robot arms, and even whole computers, far smaller than a cell. Drexler spent the next ten years describing and analyzing these incredible devices, and responding to accusations of science fiction. Meanwhile, mundane technology was developing the ability to build simple structures on a molecular scale. As nanotechnology became an accepted concept, the meaning of the word shifted to encompass the simpler kinds of nanometer-scale technology. The U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative was created to fund this kind of nanotech; their definition includes anything smaller than 100 nanometers with novel properties.

Nanotechnology is often referred to as a general-purpose technology. That’s because in its mature form it will have significant impact on almost all industries and all areas of society. It offers better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer, and smarter products for the home, for communications, for medicine, for transportation, for agriculture, and for industry in general.

Like electricity or computers before it, nanotech will offer greatly improved efficiency in almost every facet of life. But as a general-purpose technology, it will be dual-use, meaning it will have many commercial uses and it also will have many military uses -- making far more powerful weapons and tools of surveillance. Thus it represents not only wonderful benefits for humanity, but also grave risks.

A key understanding of nanotechnology is that it offers not just better products, but a vastly improved means of production. A computer can make copies of data files -- essentially as many copies as you want at little or no cost. It may be only a matter of time until the manufacture of products becomes as cheap as the copying of files. That’s the real meaning of nanotechnology, and why it is sometimes seen as “the next industrial revolution”.

In practical terms, most people will encounter nanotech through an apparently simple device called a nanofactory that may sit on your countertop or desktop. Packed with miniature chemical processors, computing, and robotics, it will produce a wide-range of items quickly, cleanly, and inexpensively, all controlled by a touch screen. Nanotechnology not only will allow making many high-quality products at very low cost, but it will allow making new nanofactories at the same low cost and at the same rapid speed.

This unique (outside of biology, that is) ability to reproduce its own means of production is why nanotech is said to be an exponential technology. It represents a manufacturing system that will be able to make more manufacturing systems -- factories that can build factories -- rapidly, cheaply, and cleanly. The means of production will be able to reproduce exponentially, so in just a few weeks a few nanofactories conceivably could become billions. It is a revolutionary, transformative, powerful, and potentially very dangerous -- or beneficial -- technology.

How soon will all this come about? Conservative estimates usually say 20 to 30 years from now, or even later. However, CRN is concerned that it may occur much sooner, quite possibly within the next decade. This is because of the rapid progress being made in enabling technologies, such as optics, nanolithography, mechanochemistry and 3D prototyping. If it does arrive that soon, we may not be adequately prepared, and the consequences could be severe.

We cannot say with certainty that full-scale nanotechnology will not be developed with the next ten years, or even five years. It may take longer than that, but prudence -- and possibly our survival -- demands that we prepare now for the earliest plausible development scenario.

Mike Treder

*Definition updated on March 17, 2006.

Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog

Comments

[Mike Deering]

Mike, that is a wonderful little post. It is concise, clear, and covers all the main points of an introduction to nanotechnology. Very well done.

[hey i was doing a report and i got your information.]

i just wanted to say that i really enjoyed reading some of your infor. and that it really helped me understand nanotechnology a little bit better

[Janessa Ravenwood]

First spammers now traitors. We REALLY need a "Report To Moderator" button here. Not much NANO discussion going on with all these distractions.

[Mike Deering]

Traitors? I love this country (USA), and I love The Constitution, and the freedoms that this country exemplifies. I just have a problem with the government. Has it become un-American to criticize the government?

[Janessa Ravenwood]

Criticizing the government is FAR different than cheering for the mastermind of the greatest terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

That's not being anti-war, it's being on the other side. BIG difference. Criticize the government all you want, I certainly do. But I do not cheerlead for the enemies of America (and the rest of the civilized world) as the previous poster did.

[Brett Bellmore]

It's still not "treason", the only crime specifically defined in the Constitution.

[Janessa Ravenwood]

It certainly meets MY definition of treason. One does not cheer for the defeat of one's country and the violent deaths of its citizens by crazed terrorists.

[Mike Deering]

I must have missed something. Where is this treasonist post you refer to?

[Janessa Ravenwood]

They removed apparently just after I posted a response. It was: "Long Live Osama Bin Laden!!!"

[Mike Treder, CRN]

MODERATOR'S NOTE: I removed that comment as being totally unrelated to the topic, and apparently posted simply for the annoyance factor. Normally I will not censor opinions, even those that some might find objectionable, but they have got to be at least reasonably on topic, and not outrageously offensive.

[nirmal]

this page is very useful to me to know about the nanotechnology.im also in the 90% people before seen this page.but now i know what is nanotechnology & its applications in various field

thanking you

[sujai s]

very good.but i am a beginner.i m doing my b.e
degree(2 year).my branch of study is eee.
the sites like this enable me to get a wide
knowledge on nanotechnology.

sujai

[Derek Williams]

Please send me articles, definitions, anything you can on the studyand development of nanotechnology

[Mike Treder, CRN]

Derek, the best thing to do is visit our main website (www.CRNano.org). There you'll find numerous articles, definitions, and more on "the study and development of nanotechnology".

[jagrati]

here u do,not discrive about the relation between spintronics and nano technology.

[Chris Phoenix, CRN]

Spintronics is a small subfield of nano-electronics, which is a small subfield of nanotechnology. There are hundreds of other sub-subfields; no way we could or should list them all in an introduction.

Chris

[paul]

woah... thx for info

[jared fields]

I realy am interested in this stuff. If it is not too much trouble could you send me current events and news updates? I would really enjoy it.

[Mike Deering]

Sign up for the CRN Newsletter!

http://www.crnano.org/contact.htm#Newsletter

[diane]

id just like to say that this was a very helpful article. i am a student in high school and this is the first article i found that explained nanotechnology in a simple and easy to understand way. Thank you very much!

[sherin suzkin]

this was a very helpful article. i'm a student doing Msc in electronics. i wish it could be l'll more discriptve

[John B]

Take a look around the rest of this site, and the www.crnano.org site - you'll find much more detail than almost anyone needs, on many aspects of nanotech.

'Course, as this is theorized but likely, the final forms are in no way known. Which tends to cut down on the detail . . .

-John

[suresh kumar]

REspected sir,
iam physics student i want to know what is a nano?
and size of it?
thanking u sir
yours
suresh kumar.p

[Mike Treder, CRN]

Suresh,

Nano is the Greek prefix for dwarf or very small.

A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; approximately the length of three to six atoms placed side-by-side, or the width of a single strand of DNA; the thickness of a human hair is between 50,000 and 100,000 nanometers. Very small indeed.

You can learn much more here and here.

[K.V.sriram]

sir,please send me a detailed description on nanotechnology,as iam very much anxious to know about it .Also please give me even the detailed applications of it in present day life.Please let it be more related to biotechnlogy.Thankyou sir.