What is Nanotechnology?
Technology must always move, but with care and consciousness, grounded in the present, realistic, humble and practical, even with an optimistic eye toward the future. We call it riskless technologies. Unlike other industries that literally carve their way through nature as they work, nanotechnology delivers big results by engineering tiny parts. We seem to barely move at all.
Physics, chemistry and engineering working together on materials at their nano scale–that’s nanotechnology. The word “nano” refers to a unit prefix of one billionth, and nanoscale is at 1-100 nanometers, used in science to define length and time.
Nanotechnology is the conduction of engineering, science and technology on a minute scale measured in the nanometer range. To put that into perspective, a nanometer is one thousand-millionth of a meter. Working at such a small scale has enabled us to see and control individual atoms within a molecule. This technology is used to enhance materials characteristics such as increased strength, lighter mass, improved control of the light-spectrum, improved control of absorbency and chemical reactivity.
Nano particles are synthesized separately to the desired size and shape, giving them extraordinary ability and features. Nano level is molecular and atomic, where we see so much more of the behaviour of materials, thus leading to discoveries that in turn lead to developments and benefits superior to what can be achieved with conventional science.
Nobel Prize-winning Richard Feynman, the world-renowned physicist who introduced the concept of nanotechnology, sums up this revolutionary field in one sentence: “There’s plenty of room at the bottom.”