Faqs

What products available today have resulted from nanoscience?
Numerous products featuring the unique properties of nanoscale materials are available to consumers and industry today. Most computer hard drives, for instance, contain giant magnetoresistance (GMR) heads that, through nano-thin layers of magnetic materials, allow for a significant increase in storage capacity. Other electronic applications include non-volatile magnetic memory, automotive sensors, landmine detectors and solid-state compasses. 

Some other current uses that are already in the marketplace include:

• Burn and wound dressings
• Water filtration
• Catalysis
• A dental-bonding agent
• Step assists on vans.
• Coatings for easier cleaning glass
• Bumpers and catalytic converters on cars
• Protective and glare-reducing coatings for eyeglasses and cars
• Sunscreens and cosmetics.
• Longer-lasting tennis balls.
• Light-weight, stronger tennis racquets.
• Stain-free clothing and mattresses.
• Ink.

What products will be available in the next few years?
Watch for solar cells in roofing tiles and siding that provide electricity for homes and facilities. The vision of researchers working in this field is a much cleaner environment due to greater use of solar energy (and less burning of fossil fuels) and a higher standard of living for the many parts of the world that do not have access to efficient, reliable energy.
Prototype tires exist today that provide improved skid resistance, reduced abrasion and resulting longer wear, although a date for market introduction has yet to be announced. The nanocomposites being used in tires can be used in other consumer products as well, according to experts, including high performance footwear, exercise equipment, and car parts such as belts, wiper blades and seals.
The pharmaceutical and chemical industries are being impacted greatly by nanotechnology, as well. New commercial applications of nanotechnology that are expected in two to five years in these industries include:

• advanced drug delivery systems, including implantable devices that automatically administer drugs and sensor drug levels and
• medical diagnostic tools, such as cancer tagging mechanisms.

Next 10-20 years?
It’s hard to predict what products will move from the laboratory to the marketplace over such a long period, but today’s predictions center on pervasive computing applications. It is believed that nanotechnology will facilitate the production of ever-smaller computers that store vastly greater amounts of information and process data much more quickly than those available today. Computing elements are expected to be so inexpensive that they can be in fabrics (for smoke detection, for instance) and other materials. Advances in the field of defense are also expected through work in nanoscience
How many researchers are working in nanotechnology today?
The current estimate is about 20,000 worldwide.
What are future workforce needs?
The National Science Foundation has estimated that 2 million workers will be needed to support nanotechnology industries worldwide within 15 years.

Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale.

At the nanoscale, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms and molecules or bulk matter. Nanotechnology R&D is directed toward understanding and creating improved materials, devices, and systems that exploit these new properties.  

Here are some quotes given by experts:

In March 1949, Popular Mechanics described the latest number cruncher: "Where a calculator like the Eniac is equipped with 18,000 vacuum tubes and weighs 30 tons, computers in the future may have only 1,000 tubes and perhaps only weigh one and a half tons."

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"With nanotechnology we'll be able to build surgical tools that are molecular, both in their size and in their precision. For the first time we'll be able to intervene at the scale where the damage actually occurs and to reverse that injury." Dr. Ralph Merkle, Researcher in Nanotechnology at Xerox Park.

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"Man is the best computer we can put aboard a spacecraft - and the only one that can be mass produced with unskilled labor. " Werner von Braun

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"Organic Chemistry: The practice of transmutting vile substances into publications." from The Last Word - The Ultimate Scientific Dictionary. Brought to our attention by Jesus M. Castagnetto Mizuaray, Dept of Chemistry, NYU.

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NANOROBOTICS

Nanorobotics is the technology of creating machines or robots at or close to the scale of a nanometre (10^-9 metres). More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the still largely theoretical nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots. Nanorobots (nanobots or nanoids) are typically devices ranging in size from 0.1-10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. As no artificial non-biological nanorobots have so far been created, they remain a hypothetical concept at this time.

Another definition sometimes used is a robot which allows precision interactions with nanoscale objects, or can manipulate with nanoscale resolution. Following this definition even a large apparatus such as an Atomic force microscope can be considered a nanorobotic instrument when configured to perform nanomanipulation. Also, macroscale robots or microrobots which can move with nanoscale precision can also be considered nanorobots.

The problem under study concentrates its main focus on nanorobot control design for assembly manipulation and the use of evolutionary agents as a suitable way to enable the robustness on the proposed model. Thereby the presented works summarize as well distinct aspects of some techniques required to achieve a successful nano-planning system design and its 3D simulation visualization in real time.