Nanotechnology ...

... can be a complicated topic. The Understanding Nanotechnology Website is dedicated to providing clear and concise explanations of nanotechnology applications in areas such as energy, medicine, and consumer goods. Just as I tried to do when co-authoring Nanotechnology For Dummies, on this site I attempt to make the concepts of nanotechnology understandable by anyone. One visitor posted this comment on his blog "It can't get any simpler" which makes me think I'm headed in the right direction.

You can find the information on each nanotechnology application through the links to the left, or browse through the introduction below. If you like what you see, we'd be delighted if you added a link to our site to your own Web page, or mention us on your blog.

Introduction to Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology is the study and use of structures between 1 nanometer and 100 nanometers in size. To give you an idea of just how small that is, it would take eight hundred 100-nanometer particles placed side by side to equal the width of a human hair.

Scientists have been studying and using particles of this size for centuries, but the effectiveness of their work has been limited because they have not been able to see the structure of nanoparticles until recently. The development in the last few decades of microscopes that are capable of displaying particles as small as atoms has allowed scientists to see what they are working with.

This ability to see their materials makes a huge difference... Click here to read the rest of Introduction to Nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology Applications

Researchers are developing customized nanoparticles the size of molecules that can deliver drugs directly to diseased cells in your body. When it's perfected, this method should greatly reduce the damage treatment such as chemotherapy does to a patient's healthy cells. Check out our Nanotech in Medicine page to see how nanotech is being used in medicine.

Nanotech may hold the key to making space-flight more practical. Advancements in nanomaterials make lightweight solar sails and a cable for the space elevator possible. By significantly reducing the amount of rocket fuel required, these advances could lower the cost of reaching orbit and traveling in space. Check out our Nanotech in Space page to see how nanotech is being used in space.

Companies are currently developing batteries using nanomaterials. One such battery will be a good as new after sitting on the shelf for decades. Another battery can be recharged significantly faster than conventional batteries. Check our our Nanotech in Batteries page for details.

Go to our Nanotech Applications page for more summaries or click on the link for any application in our navigation bar to the left.

Earl's Columns: Monthly Musings

I write a monthly column featured on the Nanotech-Now Web site. Here are some of my favorites.

For Rent: One Nano Research Lab…

Say you’re an aspiring young nanotechnologist with an idea for a new product. What are the barriers to moving your project forward? One big barrier is the cost of the equipment to build and test your nano-based prototype. For example an ebeam lithography system has a price tag of a million dollars, not counting the cost of installation, a facility to put it in, and maintance. The reality is that not just every Tom, Dick, or Mary can set up a nano lab. What’s a researcher to do? Rent a lab.

Nanotechnology in Space

Nanotechnology may hold the key to making spaceflight more practical. Advancements in materials to make lightweight solar sails and the cable for the space elevator could significantly cut the cost of reaching orbit and traveling in space, as well as dramatically reducing the amount of rocket fuel used. Also new materials, along with nanosensors and nanorobots could improve the performance of spaceships, spacesuits and equipment used to explore planets and moons, making a big difference on the ‘final frontier.’

Can Nanotech Economically Reduce Carbon Dioxide Emissions?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a naturally occurring gas that the plants in your garden use to produce oxygen. We inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide. However, when excess carbon dioxide is produced, for example in power plant emissions, it can be a major factor in global warming. Electric power plants fired by fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) produce about a third of the man-made carbon dioxide released into the air in the United States. Several methods exist or are under development to try to reduce the problem. The challenge seems to be developing a method that can be inexpensively and easily retrofitted into existing power plants.

See Earl's Columns: Monthly Musings for more.

Nanotechnology Articles

Nanomaterials Galore

It wasn’t until 1991 that Sumio Iijima, a researcher at NEC’s Fundamental Research Lab, not only took photos of nanotubes, but also put two and two together to explain what nanotubes are actually… Click here to read the rest of Nanomaterials Galore, Chapter 4 of Nanotechnology For Dummies, from Wiley Publishing.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to Nanotechnology

Nanotech is, at heart, interdisciplinary. You’ll get only part of the story if you just use chemistry to get at the properties of atoms on the nano level — adding physics and quantum mechanics to the mix gives you a truer picture. Chemists, physicists and medical doctors are working alongside engineers, biologists, and computer scientists to… Click here to read the rest of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Nanotechnology, Chapter 1 of Nanotechnology For Dummies, from Wiley Publishing.