Transcript Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology
The Future of Technology
What is it?
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Nanotechnology is defined as the technology
based on the manipulation of individual atoms
and molecules to build structures to complex,
atomic specifications.
Why does it matter?
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Simply put, nanotechnology is the best solution
to thousands of technical problems facing the
sciences.
Nanotechnology will also allow humanity to
more efficiently use the remaining resources
within the planet.
Feynman
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Richard P. Feynman is a Nobel laureate in physics
and has earned much recognition from the scientific
community.
Feynman once said in one of his famous lectures,
"There is plenty of room at the bottom."
Feynman must have had a moment of precognition,
for he proposed a technology that has been all but
science-fiction up until recent years.
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The fundamental level of nanotechnology stems from
the development of the atomic force microscope.
Atomic force microscopy involves the instrument
actually touching the object under observation and
measure the repulsive forces exerted on the instrument
by the object under observation. This microscope was
one of the first devices to allow scientists to view
materials at the atomic level. Using a modified AFM,
scientists can grab hold of atoms or molecules and
move them wherever they deem fit.
An AFM and an application
The Future
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These examples of current uses
and methods in nanotechnology
does the subject little justice for
nanotechnology’s true use in that
its creation will revolutionize
everything in the world and
beyond. The goal of most current
nanotechnologists is the quest for
the universal assembler. A
universal assembler is a
nanotechnological machine with
the ability to construct and
deconstruct materials at the atomic
level.
The present
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One new project in nanotechnology involves the use of a genetically
engineered bacteria. This bacteria was modified to grow in a controlled
manner and produce a protein that captures metals and forms a nanoscale
array. These arrays can become extremely useful to computer memories,
sensors, or logic gates.
The lotus plant may not, at first glance, be of interest to the
nanotechnologist. But researchers at a German chemical company are
developing a spray-on coating that mimics the way lotus leaves repel water
droplets and particles of dirt.
A team of scientists has used micromoulding in capillaries and softembossing to stamp out nanowires and nanodots from conducting and
semiconducting polymers. The researchers at deposited the structures onto
glass and silicon wafers.
The future is unpredictable, but one
thing is for sure. Nanotechnology is
the next great scientific revolution
and research into the field will cause
endless benefits for humanity.