nano technology

Innovations at the intersection of medicine, biotechnology, engineering, physical sciences and information technology are spurring new directions in R&D, commercialization and technology transfer. Basic research in nanomedicine and bionanotechnology is rapidly producing commercially viable products. Governments and industries across the globe are staking their claims by investing billions for research. Clearly, international rivalries are growing and political alliances and battle lines are beginning to gel.
Micro technology strives to build smaller devices; materials science strives to make more useful solids; chemistry strives to synthesize more complex molecules; manufacturing strives to make better products. Each of these fields requires precise, molecular control of complex structures to reach its natural limit, a goal that has been termed molecular nanotechnology. It has become clear that this degree of control can be achieved. The paper says about applications other than computation (describing 109-instruction-per-second submicron scale CPUs executing ~ 1016 instructions per second per watt)
Today's nanotechnology harnesses current progress in chemistry, physics, materials science, and biotechnology to create novel materials that have unique properties because their structures are determined on the nanometer scale. Some of these materials have already found their ways into consumer products, such as sun screens and stain-resistant pants. Others are being intensively researched for solutions to humanity's greatest problems — diseases, clean energy, clean water, etc. Other work is aimed at developing a roadmap for productive nanosystems, in which a path is sought from today's nanotechnology capabilities to advanced future systems in which molecular tools will build useful materials, devices, and complex systems to atomic precision.
INTRODUCTION
What is Nanotechnology?
The term "nanotechnology" has evolved over the years via terminology drift to mean "anything smaller than microtechnology," such as nano powders, and other things that are nanoscale in size, but not referring to mechanisms that have been purposefully built from nanoscale components.
Meaning of Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology can best be considered as a 'catch-all' description of activities at the level of atoms and molecules that have applications in the real world. Nanotechnology involves the use of man-made materials so small; they are measured on the scale of a nanometer. The word "Nano" is derived from the Greek word for Dwarf. It means "a billionth." A nanometer is a billionth of a meter, that is, about 1/80,000 of the diameter of a human hair, or 10 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
The ideas behind it are simple ones: Every substance on earth is made up of molecules composed of one or more atoms (the smallest particle of element); to describe the molecule that constitute a physical object & how they inter-relate is to say nearly everything important about the object. It follows, then, that if you can manipulate individual atoms & molecules & put them together in certain configuration.
Nanotechnology, more descriptively known as molecular manufacturing, involves the design, modeling, fabrication and manipulation of materials and devices at the atomic scale. It necessitates thorough spatial control of matter at the level of molecules and atoms, with capabilities to process and rearrange them into custom designs.
HISTORY OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Richard Feynman was the first scientist to suggest that devices and materials could someday be fabricated to atomic specifications: "The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom."
An early promoter of the industrial applications of nanotechnology, Albert Franks, defined it as 'that area of science and technology where dimensions and tolerances in the range of 0.1nm to 100nm play a critical role'. In 1959, the great physicist Richard Feynman suggested that it should be possible to build machines small enough to manufacture objects with atomic precision.
The term nanotechnology was not used until 1974, when Norio Taniguchi, a researcher at the University of Tokyo, Japan used it to refer to the ability to engineer materials precisely at the nanometer level. Indeed, at IBM in the USA a technique called Electron Beam Lithography was used to create nanostructures and devices as small as 40-70nm in the early 1970's. It was not until the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1985 that scientists were able to actually see atoms.
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. In 1990, with Eric Drexler's 'Engines of Creation - the coming era of Nanotechnology', Nanotechnology entered the popular imagination with visions of molecular manufacturing guided by nanocomputers and fantastic advances in medicine and surgery carried out by Nanorobots. In 1996, Richard Smalley was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery of fullerenes and with the creation of the United States National Nanotechnology Initiative in 2000 Nanotechnology seemed truly possible.
BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO THE CORE CONCEPTS

The nanoscale mantra

Molecular Mechanics
Consider, however, the bearing illustrated in figures 1 and 2. Unlike the protein folding problem, where an astronomical range of configurations of similar energy are feasible, the bearing basically has only one configuration: a bearing. While the protein has many unconstrained torsions, there are no unconstrained torsions in the bearing.

A molecular bearing. The bearing taken apart.
APPLICATIONS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Gaining molecular-level control over the structure of matter will bring a wide variety of positive applications. Although nanotechnology is in the "pre-competitive" stage (meaning its applied use is limited) then to it has various applications such as: Nanoparticles are being used in a number of industries. Nanoscale materials are used in electronic, magnetic and optoelectronic, biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, energy, catalytic and materials applications.
AIIMS, IIT take nanotech route to cancer treatment

Nanotechology could help people avoid chemotherapy and radiotherapy now that experts at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have jointly developed nano-particles that can kill cancer cells when injected in the body.
Scientists develop particles for delivering drugs to kill tumour cells while sparing healthy ones, thereby reducing side effects“Side effects like loss of hair, vomiting and renal damage can be avoided if only that particular area of the body which is cancerous is targeted. Once (the technology is) introduced, cancer cure will be high with least morbidity. Various infections and bone marrow suppressions can henceforth be avoided,” A K Dinda, Department of Pathology, AIIMS, said.

The nano-particular drug delivery system can be injected intravenously. At present, experts are working on breast and ovarian cancer, but cancer in other parts of the body will be focused on in due course.“We are trying to develop a xeno-transplantation (the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from one species to another) model of breast cancer and test the nano-particles system in that. Nano-particles will be further developed for targeting other cancers,” Dinda added.
Disease and ill health are caused largely by damage at the molecular and cellular level, yet today's surgical tools are too large to deal with that kind of problem. If we can reduce the cost and improve the quality of medical technology through advances in nanotechnology, then we can more widely address the medical conditions that are prevalent and reduce the level of human suffering.
A nanotech solution to wrinkled skin

Those of us unhappy with our ageing skin may find solace in nanotechnology. Researchers who have discovered that nanoparticles prevent thin polymer films from buckling say their concept could be applied to stop human skin wrinkling too.
Nanoparticles are already marketed in cosmetic skin products; usually because they can penetrate much deeper into skin than conventional creams, delivering vitamins that are supposed to plump and soften the skin, reducing wrinkling.
Nanoparticles in a thin polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) film prevent buckling.
He speculates that wrinkle-free film could be sandwiched between protecting layers, to be used in artificial skins for surgery, or implanted onto a face. Another route involves a topical cream containing materials which act in human skin as the nanoparticles behave in thin films.
Homing nanoparticles pack multiple assault on tumors
Burnham Institute [profile] for Medical Research at UC Santa Barbara [profile] has developed nanoparticles that seek out tumors and bind to their blood vessels, and then attract more nanoparticles to the tumor target. Using this system the team demonstrated that the homing nanoparticle could be used to deliver a "payload" of an imaging compound, and in the process act as a clotting agent, obstructing as much as 20% of the tumor blood vessels.
Using a screening technique developed previously in Ruoslahti's laboratory, the group identified a peptide that homed to the blood vessels, or vasculature, inside breast cancer tumors growing in mice. The peptide was comprised of five amino acids: Cysteine-Arginine-Glutamic acid-Lysine-Alanine, abbreviated CREKA.
The researchers then demonstrated that the CREKA peptide recognizes clotted blood, which is present in the lining of tumor vessels but not in vessels of normal tissues. They used a special mouse strain that lacks fibrinogen, the main protein component of blood clots, to show this: tumors growing in these fibrinogen-deficient mice did not attract the CREKA peptide, whereas the peptide was detected in the tumors of a control group of normal littermates.
Having confirmed clotted blood as the binding site for CREKA, the team constructed nanoparticles from superparamagnetic amino dextran-coated iron oxide (SPIO); such particles are used in the clinic to enhance MRI imaging. They coupled the CREKA peptide to the SPIO particles to give the particles a tumor-homing function and programmed an additional enhanced imaging functionality into their nanoparticle by making it fluorescent.
On another level, food; the simple process of feeding the human population. Today because of technological limits there is a certain amount of food that we can produce per acre. If we were to have intensive greenhouse agriculture, which would be something we could do economically, if we could economically manufacture the appropriate computer controlled enclosures that would provide protection and would provide a very controlled environment for the growth of food we could have much higher production. It looks as though yields of over 10 times what we can currently grow per acre are feasible if you control, for example, the CO2 concentration, the humidity, the temperature, all the various factors that plants depend on to grow rapidly. If we control those, if we make those optimal for the growth of various crops then we can grow more per acre. And furthermore, we can grow it less expensively because molecular manufacturing technology is inherently low cost, and therefore it will let us grow more food more easily.
Sunscreens are utilizing nanoparticles that are extremely effective at absorbing light, especially in the ultra-violet (UV) range. Due to the particle size, they spread more easily, cover better, and save money since you use less. And they are transparent, unlike traditional screens which are white. These sunscreens are so successful that by 2001 they had captured 60% of the Australian sunscreen market.
Nanomaterials, which can be purchased in dry powder form or in liquid dispersions, often are combined with other materials today to improve product functionality.
Nature leads the way: The leaves of certain plants and the wings of insects always stay clean because dirt and water cannot adhere to their structured surface. In the same manner Self-cleaning principle on Nano textile are used such as Water, stains and other substances such as ketchup, honey, oil, red wine or blood simply run off the nano-surface.
Using aluminum Nanoparticles, Argonide has created rocket propellants that burn at double the rate. They also produce copper Nanoparticles that are incorporated into automotive lubricant to reduce engine wear.
To purify the indoor environment. The NanoBreeze Room Air Purifier uses patented photocatalytic nanotechnology to clean and purify indoor air. Technology consists Titanium dioxide (TiO2) crystals, only 40 nanometers in size, form a molecular machine powered by light. TiO2 is a semiconductor charged by ultraviolet photons.
Military equipment including clothing, armour, weapons, and personal communications will, thanks to low cost but powerful sensing and processing, be able to optimize their characteristics, operation and performance to meet changing conditions automatically.
Thai nanotechnologists found out technology of creating nano-fabrics after spending three long years and over Bt200 million. Earlier nanotechnologists tried this technology on sports shirts successfully. After its success in sports shirts, nanotechnologists are trying to introduce its technology in school uniforms. They are also trying to instill waterproofing and bacteria-preventing qualities in new nano-fabric products. It will also be sweat and dirt resistant and are easy to clean. This technology can also be used to improve colour quality of school uniforms.
Diamond has a better strength-to-weight ratio than steel or aluminum. Its strength-to-weight ratio is more than 50 times that of steel or aluminum alloy. So, it's much stronger and much lighter. If we had a shatterproof variant of diamond, we would have a remarkably light and strong material from which to make all of the products in the world around us. In particular, aerospace products -- airplanes or rockets -- would benefit immensely from having lighter, stronger materials. So we will have much lighter, much stronger materials, and this will reduce the cost of air flight, and it will reduce the cost of rockets. It will let us go into space for literally orders of magnitude lower cost.


ADVANTAGES
· By applying Nanotechnology, products can be 5 times as strong, 10 times as efficient, and millions of times compact -or better.
· Products can be designed in days and can be distributed in hours.
· Products can even be Pre-Designed.
· Nearly free consumer products
· PC's billions of times faster then today
· Safe and affordable space travel
· End of famine and starvation
· Superior education for every child on Earth
· Reintroduction of many extinct plants and animals
· Providing Renewable Clean Energy
· Supplying Clean Water Globally
· Improving Health and Longevity
· Making Information Technology Available To All
· Pollution free environment.






FUTURE OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
Within a decade, nanotechnology is expected to be the basis of $1 trillion worth of products in the United States alone and will create anywhere from 8, 00,000 to 2 million new jobs. "Nanotechnology will require you to radically rethink what your core business is, who your competitors are, what skills your workforce needs, how to train your employees, and how to think strategically about.
Even though it may sound far off at times, within the decade Nanotech will have huge effects on many practical industries, including manufacturing, health care, energy, agriculture, communications, transportations & electronics.
The industries that nanotechnology will likely disruptively affect in the near term include the following: (Amounts are in Billions of US Dollars).
$1,700 Healthcare $600 Long Term Care
$550 Electronics $550 Telecom
$480 Packaging $450 U.S. Chemical
$460 Plastics $182 Apparel
$180 Pharmaceutical $165 Tobacco
$100 Semiconductor $92 Hospitality / Restaurant
$90 US Insurance $80 Corrosion Removal
$83 Printing $57 US Steel
CONCLUSION
From a fundamental point of view we don't attempt to predict what will happen. What we can do is describe what is possible within the laws of known physics. Physics is well understood. Within that framework of well understood physical law we can describe some of the capabilities that we could develop, some of the things we could do, and we can describe systems that would be feasible. Quite likely by the time we actually develop such a system, there will be alternative designs that will be better.
Much as the invention of electricity and transistors were enabling technologies, so too is Nanotechnology (more precisely, nanoscale technologies) enabling - it will enable us to do radical new things in virtually every technological and scientific arena. It will also change things in unpredictable and unanticipated ways. Having learned lessons from their experiences with other revolutionary technologies, scientists (technologists and social scientists) are collaborating in examinating the implications of the developments that are beginning to take place, in an effort to both smooth the transitions, and to head off potential negative.

SO "Imagine a world in which microscopic procreating robots are sent into the human body with the mission of detecting cancer cells, disassembling them, and sending them out into the bloodstream as waste products. Then imagine similar robots in the hands of a sinister force that decides to turn an entire continent into gray dust. Science fiction or reality?" .