Nanotechnology - an enormous promise!

If you have heard about nanotechnology at all, you may be aware of its science-fiction-sounding hype. Proponents picture a future in which tiny bots would magically repair tissue to prolong our life span. On the dark side is the disturbing vision of “gray goo,” where self-replicating nano-devices destroy the planet. The reality of the burgeoning field of nanotech, however, is hardly less startling in its transformative potential. Some have proclaimed it “the next industrial revolution.”
“Nanotechnology” broadly applies to control of materials and components only a few billionths of a meter in size. Nanotechnology covers many areas of research dealing with objects that are measured in nanometers. A nanometer (nm) is a billionth of a meter, or a millionth of a millimeter. Already manufacturers sell several hundred products that use nanotech, mainly skin lotions. Next up are advances in biotechnology and electronics—and a merging of the two.
Consider, for instance, molecular building blocks called bis-amino acids, which chemists string together into protein-like structures. Applications include medicines, enzymes for catalyzing reactions, sensors, nano scale valves and computer storage devices. Other researchers are using natural molecular machines to process information: they receive input from other biological molecules and output a tangible result, such as a signal or a therapeutic drug.
Nano science advancements are pushing traditional electronics in new directions as well. With nano technology it is possible to have sensors, solar cells, electronic paper and bendable touch screens. Imagine a morning “paper” with headlines that change as news breaks.
Nanogears (as shown in fig. below) no more than a nanometer wide could be used to construct a matter compiler, which could be fed raw material to arrange atoms and build a macro-scale structure.

As televisions, airplanes and computers revolutionized the world in the last century, scientists claim that nanotechnology will have an even more profound effect on the next century. The nano regime offers enormous promise indeed.
- Hemant Lagvankar