Nanotechnology

This is a rarely-heard-of topic here in Guyana but one that science and technology students and practitioners need to have some awareness of since we will soon be using products of nanotechnology (if we are not already) or even using the technology directly. I made reference to it back in 2009.

What is nanotechnology? This technology is about manipulating matter at the nanometer scale (less than a thousandth of a millimetre). Often it involves manipulating individual atoms or molecules. For more see here. It has huge areas of application, for example the performance of rechargable batteries and solar cells can be greatly improved and materials made 10 or 100 times stronger.

A recent video by Dr Drexler at Oxford discusses the impact of this technology

"In a talk entitled “Exploring a Timeless Landscape: Physical Law and the Future of Nanotechnology”, pioneering nanotechnology researcher Dr. Drexler invited the audience to consider the intriguing possibility of nano-level manufacture of macro-level products. Such a process, if achieved, would be the next great revolution in the material basis of civilization, offering high-performance components, materials or systems and accelerated productivity."

The talk is about an hour and covers various aspects of the historical development of technology before moving on to nanotechnology. Very good.