Nanotechnology The Science Of The Small

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been in its developing stages for over half a century and is still in its infancy. There are many definitions for nanotechnology. Briefly, it is the science of the itsy-bitsy. Its research fits within calculated dimensions, yet there is no singular perception of its exact place or position in today's scientific realm. In all fields, man expects the opinions of experts and the uneducated to reflect the base of their knowledge. Because research and development (R&D) is level-headed in its pioneering stages within the confines of this field, even experts voice diverse spectrums of thought. There are scientific manuscripts reflecting everything from science fiction scare to unparalleled eager anticipation of miraculous societal improvements. Technology means change. Change can start rebellion. With so much still unknown about the nano-world, “certainty” within itself is impossible. The expect is, “What does the future hold? ” In the book titled The Next Titanic Thing is Really Small, authors Jack Uldrich and Deb Newberry yell their thoughts. They profess that “From the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the materials and products we manufacture, to the buildings we live and work in, to the cars and planes we use, to the composition of our very own bodies, everything around us consists of atoms and will be impacted by nanotechnology” (Uldrich, and Newberry 2003).

Origin

Nano-mania is upon us. What exactly is it? The word nano is Greek for dwarf. A general definition for nanotechnology is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale. Nanotechnology gained popularity in the 1980s. When it was realized that machinery built at the molecular level could contain a motor, steering mechanism, and even an entire computer only a few nanometers in width, a whole new world of technology opened up. A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter (the width of 3 or 4 atoms). A single strand of hair is approximately 25,000 nm wide and 75,000 nm in diameter. A fingernail grows at the rate of one nm per second. One inch equals 25,400,000 nm. There are one million nm in the period at the end of this sentence. One nm is to an inch as one inch is to 16,000 miles. A nanometer is to a meter as a marble is to the earth. If the letters of the alphabet were appearing at a height of 10 nm on the head of a straight pin, all 30,000 pages of the Encyclopedia Britannica would fit there. The cells that make up the human body are composed of nano-scale components. DNA, located in the nucleus of a cell, is about two nm wide. A red blood cell is 7000 nm in diameter and 2000 nm in height.

IBM scientists Don Eigler and Erhard Schweizer ushered in the official beginning of the nanotechnology era on November 9, 1989.These two men purposely manipulated individual atoms to build a structured IBM logo using only thirty-five xenon atoms. The logo could fit 350 million times into the dot above an (i). Eigler and Schweizer broke the final barrier between man and the atom.

In 2000, during the Clinton administration, the U. S. National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) opened to coordinate nano-scale science, engineering, and technical efforts. NNI works to educate the public and provides funds for nanotech labs and research projects at academic institutions, small businesses, and corporations. The NNI evaluates nanotech research. The President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology oversees their findings. The National Nanotechnology Initiative defines nanotechnology as research on modern properties smaller than 100 nm. As if micro-technology was not small enough, now we have nanotechnology. Nanotechnology takes set at a scale from one to three orders smaller in magnitude than micro-technology and is a branch of quantum physics. A scientist's definition of nanotechnology in non-technical language is building tiny little things from the bottom-up with atomic precision.

On December 29, 1959, Richard Feynman gave a lecture at the American Physical Society at Cal-Tech titled, “There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” Feynman described the concepts of nanotechnology before this science even had a name. He said, ” I want to make a billion tiny factories, models of each other, which are manufacturing simultaneously…..The principles of physics, as far as I can see, do not speak against the possibility of maneuvering things atom by atom. It is not an attempt to violate any laws; it is something in principle, that can be done; but in practice, it has not been done because we are too big.” (Merkle, 2010) Feynman won the Nobel Prize for his work in quantum electrodynamics and received credit for ushering nanotechnology to the forefront of R&D.

Based on Feynman's vision, nanotechnology is broken down into two main categories: nano-scale technology and molecular manufacturing, which is the same as molecular nanotechnology (MNT). Molecular manufacturing is the attempt to accomplish mechanical chemical manufacturing systems that join molecules together, like joining enzymes and catalysts together, under computer control. Robotics incorporates the expend of MNT.

Eric Drexler began research in the late 1970's that led to the discovery of molecular manufacturing. In 1986, he primitive the term “nanotechnology” in his book Engines of Creation. Historians point out that Tokyo Science University Professor Norio Taniguchi had previously conventional the word “nanotechnology in Japan in 1974 in a paper describing precision micromachining.

Concept
The goal of nanotechnologists is better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer and smarter products for the home and office, in the fields of communication, medicine, transportation, agriculture, military arms, investigations and industry overall. “Imagine a medical scheme that travels through the human body to seek out and destroy microscopic clusters of cancerous cells before they can spread. Consider a box no larger than a sugar cube that contains the entire contents of the Library of Congress. Or materials much lighter than steel that are ten times as strong.” – U.S. National Science Foundation.

There is a general misconception about nanotechnology that all products produced by nanotechnology must be miniscule. It is proper that for research to be considered true nanotechnology the materials being researched must be 100 nm or smaller. However, through a process known as convergent assembly, nano-scale products can be attached together forming a large result. In addition, the production of enormous materials like sheet metal, bricks and plate glass treated with nanotechnology applications for weight reduction, durability, and more can result in the construction of a nanotech skyscraper.

Principles of Physics

Talking about nanotechnology at a grade school level, a teacher might explain that a flea can jump many times its height where an elephant cannot jump at all. Smaller things can move faster, they weigh less and are often more powerful. These principles are “scaling laws.” Harnessing quantum effects and physic's quirks of tiny objects is the basis for nano-scale technology. Quirks are the results that happen to nano-particles of a material as compared to big chunks of that same material. Nano-particles often react differently under the same set of circumstances. Actual physical, mechanical, electrical, and optical properties change at the atomic level as compared to macroscopic systems. Macroscopic means visible to the human eye. The quirks created by dimensional change make nanotechnology interesting.

One of the greatest benefits of working with nano-scale materials is that more of their atoms touch the surface. Consider table salt, spread one pound across a surface and it covers twenty-five square feet. Reduce that same one pound of salt to the nano-scale and spread it out, it covers five and one half acres. If you are having trouble seeing this take two green canned peas, lay one on the table whole and smash the other beside it. Which covers more area? Coffee drinkers understand that if you boil the whole beans as opposed to grinding them before adding the boiling water much less of their substance is exposed to the water.

Potential for Energy

The decrease in surface area to volume ratio alters the thermal and catalytic properties of materials. Nano-ionics is the diffusion and reaction that occurs with fast ion transport at nano-scale to nanostructure materials, and nano-devices. Opaque substances such as copper become transparent. Stable materials such as aluminum may turn combustible, as in heating aluminum in a microwave. Insoluble materials such as gold may become soluble. A chemically inert material at normal scale may become a potent chemical catalyst at the nano-scale. Where molecular electronics uses single molecules or small clusters of molecules to construct wire and switches, quantum dots restrict electron dart by tethering it in region and shifting back and forth. The shift creates signaling and computation. As nano-scaling steadily decreases the size of the project components, current designs stop working and must be researched and rescaled to restart the shift.

Hydrogen is not a primary energy source. It is a storage medium. Research with hydrogen at the nano-scale level could provide an energy alternative. Unconventional sources of natural gas include tight sand strings, shale gas, and coal bed methane. Nanotechnology is a technique used to access, liquefy, compress, and transport these unconventional sources and to improve these processes on conventional sources. Further nanotechnology research points to safe methods of nuclear energy waste disposal.

In the field of solar energy, nano-science is being obsolete to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells which will beget cost effective energy conversion systems. Nano-patterning can artificially change the optical properties of materials, trapping light in solar cells. Nanotechnology also provides the opportunity to develop appliances and machinery made with lightweight materials, which would require the usage of smaller amounts of energy.

Photonics is the use of light for high speed signaling. Photonics overlaps into nano-scale technology. Sensors report chemical, sound, light, and mechanical forces and nano-scaling sensors have increased their sensitivity. Nanotechnology encompasses the imaging, measuring, modeling, and maneuvering of matter. These processes create some spirited possibilities in the field of energy. Nano-scale energy applications apply to hydrogen, geothermal, fission, solar and unconventional natural gas energy. Nanotech research in thermoelectric servers is turning waste heat into power.

Applied Methodologies Inc. has been working on this project since 2009 and currently has a server which delivers 10 volts and five AMPS. Most previous research has resulted in the transfer of electricity, but not heat. In March 2010, Boston College physicist Zhifeng Ren announced a major breakthrough with the increasing bismuth telluride using a new nanotech application. Investors and E-Grants sponsor several thermoelectric nano-scale projects now underway targeting high heat environments such as automotive, aerospace, power generation and heavy manufacturing. Being able to turn waste heat from such sources into power would be a milestone. Currently, the U. S. loses almost 50% of the energy it consumes to end heat. Thermoelectric generation systems designed to run on waste heat fall under “Green” programming. Mike Roco, Senior Advisor for nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation advises that, “For every 10% decrease in energy consumption worldwide, $100 billion is saved and 200 million tons of carbon dioxide is not pumped into the air.”

Research

Nanotechnology research is not limited to America. Japan sees nanotechnology as a national priority as does South Korea, China, Taiwan, Israel, Australia, Russia, Germany, Britain, France and many other countries.

The militaryhas always been a major leader in scientific research, responsible for many significant technologies including: DDT, radar, Velcro, Tang breakfast drink, bar codes and the Internet. They are a major player in nanotechnology research. Nanotechnology touches many fields including: biology, medicine, computing, manufacturing, physics, optics, electronics, magnetic storage, catalysts, semiconductor research, and more. The first federal funding for nanotechnology came during Clinton's Presidency. There have been billions of dollars invested in nanotechnology in the last ten years. Two of the first major developments in nanotechnology were cluster science and the invention of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) in 1981.

These led to the 1985 discovery of the fullerene, one of the first nano-particles ever created. Originally, the fullerene's beefy name was buckminsterfullerene. Today it is the “bucky ball.” A bucky ball is a spherical molecule made of sixty carbon atoms measuring about one nm in diameter. These carbon atoms connect forming twelve pentagons and twenty hexagons on the molecules surface. This technology has improved telecommunications. Instead of long distance phone calls and internet data traveling through fiber-optic networks with electrical switches and routers, an all-optical network with bucky-ball switches and routers will continue to improve rush and efficiency far beyond that of today. To understand fiber optic cable with electrical switches, recount a superhighway filled with cars all traveling at top speeds coming to a river and transporting across on a slow ferry. The highway represents the cable. The cars are the data and the broken-down electrical switch is the slow moving ferry. The bucky ball switch eliminates the stop and transmits further between re-amps.

In 1991, the “carbon nano-tube” was developed. These nano-tubes are one hundred fifty times stronger than steel at one sixth of the weight, having unusual heat and conductivity characteristics. The carbon nano-tube consists of a lattice of carbon atoms forming a cylinder. At the same time, research on the synthesis and properties of semiconductor nano-crystals (quantum dots) was underway. This research identified metal and metal oxide nano-particles. Because of properties resulting from the arrangements of electrons, a quantum dot or nano-crystal produces light when charged with energy. The specific wavelength of light emitted depends on the quantum dot's size and composition. During the last twenty years, nano-particles and nano-materials such as nano-wire, nano-clay, nano-powders, and nano-coatings were developed.

Today, nano-tubes enhance display techniques in flat screen computer monitors, cell phones, medical monitors, etc. Using nano-tubes, nano-crystals, nano-particles and other nano-materials reduces both weight and energy consumption. Nano-catalysts represent a multibillion-dollar industry. They hold an considerable region in oil refining, nylon manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, automobile emission reduction, and fertilizers. They are what make margarine spreadable. Nano-catalysts saved DuPont $26 million in 2001 by adjusting just one of their processes.

Bottom-Up Technology

The bottom-up technique is building or growing a structure atom by atom or molecule by molecule. Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in the universe. An atom has a diameter of approximately 0.1 nm. The nucleus of an atom is approximately 0.00001 nm. The difference between coal and diamonds is the scheme of the atoms. Rearrange the atoms in dirt, water, and air and a potato appears. Thinking along those lines makes it easy to understand that it's possible to reduce a few grains of sand to nano-scale level, add some type of bonding agent, nano-tube transistors, nano-wires, and organic molecules and one has the recipe for replacing the silicon chip with a nano mini computer chip.

Top-Down Technology

The top-down approach attempts to create smaller devices by using larger ones to direct their assembly. The process takes a bulk material and reduces it down to nano-scale. Lithography is a top-down fabrication. It is a printmaking technology. Various types of nanolithography exist such as: optical, x-ray, dip pen (using atomic force microscope tips to deposit a chemical upon a surface in a desired pattern), electron beam, deep ultraviolet, focused ion beam machining, nano-imprint, atomic layer disposition, molecular vapor disposition and di-block copolymers. Photolithography is a technique using ultraviolet (UV) light and millions of transistors to do etchings. When used on a silicon wafer (chip), the resulting interconnected assembly of components creates an integrated circuit. Silicon chips present an example of the top-down method.

For almost half a century, silicon has been the main material supporting the information era. It was abundant, effective, easily mass produced, and affordable. When successfully formulated with gallium arsenide, the result was better handling of wireless communications and light transmission, allowing for new functions and higher speed of the “superchips” with enhanced memory storage. The addition of Indium phosphide, for long distance transmissions and optical networking, brought the invention of the “smart phone.”

There is a vast difference between items created by miniaturization of a standard object and those created using nano-materials or based on assembly at a molecular level. Items that are identical to their predecessor, only shrunken, are not representative of true nanotechnology. Just because the label says nano, does not make it true nanotechnology. Apple computer created their 2005 iPod Nano and some pocket sized MP3 players containing the word nano in their advertisement. These products contain chips manufactured with nano-scale precision, but are miniaturizations taken to the molecular level and not true nanotech fabrication.

Molecular Dynamics

When a traveling atom moves into conclude proximity to a molecule and attaches itself that action is a process of chemistry. The Center for Responsible Nanotechnology predicts that eventually nanotechnology will result in the control of matter at the nano-scale level using mechano-chemistry (computer-controlled chemistry.) Researchers have already successfully calculated configurations and formed molecular barriers.

Positional Uncertainty

Positional uncertainty analyzes the combined effects of quantum mechanics and thermal noise. For the most part, it is a simple function of temperature and stiffness. This analysis has resulted in nano-scale rods, springs and gas-filled pistons.

Transitions

Avoiding errors and wound is a matter of temperature and time. An example is strong covalent bonds that do not usually break at room temperature in the sunless. Radiation control is a transition function.

Energy Dissipation

Energy dissipation is a product of thermalization. Calculating proper dissipation and speed, controls drag. Physical vapor synthesis (PVS) heats materials to temperatures so high that they vaporize when cooled by different processes forming modern nano-particles. Laser thermal processing can vary temperatures at five billion degrees per second. Supercritical fluid technology developed in the 1990's at Los Alamos National Laboratories occurred when carbon dioxide was elevated in pressure and temperature above its critical point.

Mechanical Synthesis

Mechanical synthesis is the same as mechanosynthesis. This process keeps reactive molecules isolated. It includes mechanochemical vacuum phasing of stiff reactive molecules.

Structural Components

Structural components are products of parts obtain. The substitution of atoms provides shape and size control. Diamondoid rods provide both stiffening qualities and well-defined surface areas. When the first disk drive delivery occurred in 1956, it required a truck and was the size of a refrigerator. In 2001, a disk drive was 2.5 inches long and could store one million times more information than the fresh.

Tools

It is all in the tools. The greatest challenge in nanotechnology is the agile maneuvering of individual atoms. Devising nano-scale tools and equipment is a necessity. Trying to maneuver individual atoms with micro-technology tools is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle wearing boxing gloves. You could pile the pieces into heaps but would be very unsuccessful at snapping them together correctly.

The first important nano-tool was the 1961 invention of the scanning confocal microscope (SCM) created by Marvin Minsky. Then came the 1970's scanning acoustic microscope (SAM) built by Calvin Quate and co-workers. The next considerable tool was the 1981 invention of the scanning tunneling microscope developed by Gerd Benning and Heinrich Rohrer at (Zurich IBM). In 1986, the atomic force microscope (AFT) was created at IBM by Calvin Quate, Christoph Gerber, and Gerd Benning.

The recent development of the nano-manipulator, developed by scientists at the University of North Carolina, allows the 3-D viewing of atoms and molecules as well as their bright, pushing, prodding, pulling, and probing.

Applications

Unbiased like the stone, bronze, iron, and silicon ages, the nanotech age will revolutionize the world we live in. Nanofabrication, which is the same as nano-engineering, is the creation of a product by precisely maneuvering atoms with fabricated tools. “One way to sum up nanotechnology is that it will gain matter into software. Nanotechnology is, of course, hardware, but it has many more features in favorite with today's software than today's hardware. Fifty years ago, software was an arcane art practiced by an elite priesthood in rare, expensive, and impressive settings. Today, everyone uses it, be it on a computer, cell phone, or ATM. Given the Moore's Law expansion of processing power, what software can do is limited only by the imagination.” – J. Storrs Hall, PhD Chief Scientist of Nanorex, Inc., and Fellow of the Molecular Engineering Research Institute.

Mobile Interfacing

Atomic-scale moving parts are not still surfaced by nature and provide low energy barriers which allow the transfer of thermal noise. They imply zero static at ordinary temperatures. Mobile interfacing at the atomic level makes good gear teeth and ratchets. However, dynamic friction is an issue in adhesive interfaces.

Intermediate Subsystems

Intermediate subsystems include: measurement devices, harmonic and toroidal drives, fluids, seals, pumps, fractal cooling, and electrostatic power density. Middleware is an example of intermediate subsystems. Middleware is the software layer that lies between the operation system and the application on each situation of the system.

Nano-mechanical Computations

Nano-mechanical computation includes: mechanical logic gates, registers, logic arrays, reversible logic, calculators, and long-range data transmission. New possibilities, at the nanometer scale, offer electromechanical transducers with low power consumption, high sensitivity, integrated large-scale array architecture, and coupling to mesoscopic phenomena. The definition of mesoscopic is a sub-discipline of condensed matter physics, which deals with materials that have a relatively intermediate scale, such as molecular or micro.

Molecular Assembly

Molecular assembly includes sorting and processing. These processes include: rotor molecule import, input stream purity, conveyors, binding sites, molecular mill power generation, conditional encounter mechanisms, and room temperature robotic assembly.

Molecular Manufacturing Systems

Drexler believed that molecular manufacturing should be capable of building large products which are atomically genuine, diamond-strong, and include powerful computers (10 million MIPS per milliwatt), and motors producing a megawatt per cubic millimeter. MIPS stands for million instructions per second, a measure of a computer's central processing unit's performance. Molecular manufacturing today can send electricity down molecular wires, attach propellers to molecular motors, analyze their performance, and make working tweezers from DNA molecules.

Macromolecular Engineering

The reduction of macromolecular engineering to nano-scale compliments: struts, bearings, clamps, actuators, motors, imaging, and more. Bi-polymer research is currently in development stages. Random access memory (RAM) allows a computer, cell phone, or other devise to access data from its storage system with dynamic random memory (DRAM). The main problem is that it requires a constant electric current consuming a lot of energy. An alternative is magnetic ram (MRAM) which uses magnetic polarity. Nanotechnology holds the key to the future of data storage. IBM's Millipede devise records enormous amounts of nano-scale data onto a polymer plate. It is energy efficient and inexpensive to produce. The Millipede compares to a Braille reader decoding molecular sized bumps.

Micro Electrical Mechanical Systems (MEMS)

MEMS use processes similar to the actual processing of semiconductors to make gears, pumps, and cantilevers that are not truly the result of nanotechnology. This is a micro-scale manufacturing process. MEMS include: microfluidic chips, sensors, switches, motors, and labs-on-a-chip (LOC).

Products

Mihail (Mike) Roco of the U.S. National Nanotechnology Initiative predicted four generations of nano-development with the years 2000-2004 representing the passive development of products performing single tasks. 2005-2009 was to stand for the active development of products performing multi-tasks. From 2010 to 2014, there is to be nano-systems with thousands of interacting components. And finally, 2015-2020 is to bring molecular integrated nano-systems functioning like a mammalian cell with hierarchical systems within systems. In 1992, there were no recorded nanotechnology patents. In 1999 there were 45 recorded. In 2001, the number had grown to 180. Today there are over 1000 nanotech patents of record.

Most of today's nanotechnology research aims toward the improvement of existing materials and the creation of new biomaterials. Companies offering nanotechnology products include: Tommy Hilfiger,Apple, L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, Motorola, Samsung, Chevy Impala, Toyota, Daimler-Chrysler, Volkswagen, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Proctor and Gamble, British Aerospace, Asahi Glass, Boeing, Eli Lily, Merck, Glaxo Smith Kline, DuPont, Dow, GE, Honeywell, Texas Instrument, Corning, Goodrich, Xerox, and more. Already on the market are sunscreens containing titanium dioxide. Nippon a Japanese company uses titanium dioxide as a catalyst to provide water-repellent and anti-fogging agencies to window and windshields and also bathroom and locker room mirrors, and eyeglasses around the globe. Titanium dioxide is a photo-catalyst, which reacts with light. Surgeons use it to burn dangerous bacteria. It is an infection killing cleanser. It reacts with direct sunlight to demolish down dirt smudges from materials. Japan's Toto, Ltd. uses it to coat building tiles, which never need washing or painting. Researches in Hong Kong and Japan are adding it to concrete. Tests show it is removing 90% of the nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel fuel when added alleviating a major component in acid rain and smog. The consumption of nano-titanium dioxide can cause DNA and chromosome damage, cancer, heart disease, neurological disease and premature aging. Topical use has proven safe to this point.

There are cosmetics such as Bionova sports creams, which protect skin from a range of irritants such as scalding sun and grass allergies. Nano-particles added to skin cream determine the depth of penetration and successfully consume embedded dirt and oil or adds moisturizers or nutrients to both skin and hair. Novavax a company situated in Columbia, Maryland has developed a skin-absorbent estrogen lotion, which helps the control of hot flashes. This therapy could replace Premarin, which is the third-most-prescribed menopause drug in America at a $1 billion yearly sales level. Premarin originates from pregnant horse urine and therefore antagonizes animal rights activists.

Another new product is Nanoseal facial cream containing one billion gold powder grains. One application lasts 72 hours producing whitening and anti-wrinkling effects. Nano-film for windshields, mirrors and plate glass repels dirt, scratches, rain, snow, ice, and bugs. On store, shelves are nano dynamic golf balls and drivers, tennis balls and racquets, bowling balls, soccer balls, baseball bats, bicycle components, and fishing lures. There are anti-bacterial shoe insoles and socks, foot warmers for boots, nano ski wax and car wax that fill in tiny cracks not visible to the human eye thus repelling moisture, and clothing, bedding, and vinyl flooring that repel water, wrinkles, static cling, rips, and stains.

Play stations, x-boxes, and game cubes are all the result of nanotechnology, as are palm pilots, flash drives, digital cameras, cell phones, LCDs, LEDs, MP3s, thin film batteries, military grade disinfectants like Ecotru which kills SARS Virus on contact without any depraved side effects to skin, eyes, or lungs and is harmless if swallowed. A substance called BASF builds muscle into concrete, brick, limestone, and plaster.

In the medical field there is Nano-silver wound dressing for burn victims, Flex Power Joint & Muscle Damage Cream which uses 90 nm of liposome's, 3-M Dental adhesive with silica nano-fillers, bandages embedded with silver nano-particles for wound healing, drug delivery patches, and “bucky ball” therapy which delivers pharmaceuticals and cancer treatments such as radioactive bio-capsules directly to targeted sites. There is a caution against using any washable product containing silver nano-particles such as socks, which are bacteriostatic and geared to reduce foot odor. Once in the washing machine the silver bacteriostatic nano-particles may be destroying beneficial bacteria important to the breakdown of organic matter in waste treatment centers and agricultural environments. Studies are also underway on the effects of nano-particles, settling in the lungs, brain, and other organs and the effects they are having on human health. Health threats include inflammation, increased stress and the premature aging of skin. When workers at a factory producing extra durable nano-particle paint became ill, the culprit was nano-particles embedded in their lungs. Threats do exist, Anthony Seaton of the Institute of Occupational Medicine in Edinburgh, Scotland said, “We know that some carbon nano-tubes probably have the potential to cause mesothelioma (lung cancer).

Along with these threats comes great health saving potential. Nano-scale Materials, a company in Manhattan, Kansas has provided a cure for Anthrax. They offer a cream that protects against Anthrax and a spray that renders the Anthrax molecule harmless on contact. A painless treatment for diabetes is modern nano-tube patches, which draw blood, separate patches, which administer glucose, and separate patches, which administer insulin. Research is underway to make one patch perform all three tasks. Élan Pharmaceuticals in Ireland has developed nano-crystals and added them to over-the-counter painkillers to speed delivery and release time is now 1/6 of the time the old delivery device took.

There is needle free acupuncture, microarray chips for DNA analysis, bone bonding seals for artificial joints, and improved dental tooth fillings,. Flamel Technologies producer of the micro pump and the MidUSA platform is in the process of developing a controlled release formulation mixing a peptide and a protein for the treatment of metabolic disease. Flamel Technologies generated $17 billion in 2009 on nanotech molecules already on the market. In 2009, Professor Errki Ruoslahti of the University of California at Santa Barbara's Burnham Institute received $2.8 billion from the U. S. Department of Defense for the treatment of breast cancer with nanotechnology. This funding and research project is the Hybrid Nanotechnology for Detection and Synergistic Therapies for Breast Cancer Award and runs through October 2014. Nutralease an Israeli company is developing nano-particles that deliver nutraceuticals (organic health-care ingredients). They use phytosterol derived from soy oil as a cholesterol reducer and lycopene derived from red tomato pigment to treat breast and prostate cancer. Currently treatments and cures are awaiting FDA approval for AIDS, diabetes, several sexually transmitted diseases, and several types of cancer.

Currently using nanotech catalysts in the refining of oil is improving the process. Nano-catalysts are converting coal into liquid fuel. Nanotech batteries are smaller, less expensive, and more powerful. Lithium-ion batteries are now available which absorb charge longer and take less time to recharge. New light bulbs made with quantum dots do energy as opposed to conventional light bulbs that expend 90% of their usage in heat generation. Experimental solar cells printed in sheets on ink-jet printers, cerium oxide fuel catalysts, gecko tape made from carbon allotropes, nano-tea made by nano-pulverization, a multi-layer grading nano-ball-milling technique, manmade diamonds, improved semi-conductors, fuel cells, catalytic converters and healthier canola oil are available. There is also improved rubber, drill bits, lubricants, car components and flat-panel displays and this is just a sampling. There is so much more already out there. Over 800 manufacturer-identified nanotech products are currently available. Air filters embedded with nano-crystals are reducing the emissions of carbon dioxide and mercury. Water filters made from carbon nano-tubes and nano-fibers are purifying water of viruses and microbes. Nano-particles exist that when pumped into heinous water neutralizes harmful chemicals like cyanide. Nanogate, a German company is using nano-particles in toilets and sinks making them stain and scratch resistant. Nanocor a subsidiary of Amcol produces nano-clays and nano-composites for use in plastic products. This modern technique in packaging materials provides barriers against moisture, chemical vapors, gases, and solvents. Nano-clays make plastics 99.9% impermeable. Nanocor has also produced a plastic with nano-composites for sewage, irrigation, and water pipes, which releases herbicides to prevent root damage. Argonide Corp. out of Stanford, Florida has perfected a nanotech water filter that provides 99.99999 percent pure water. Dry cleaning using carbon dioxide is a new process. Carbon dioxide flows easily underneath particles and dislodges them more effectively than wet chemicals can.

Every branch of the military is involved with nanotechnology. One of the largest novel programs is the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology (ISN). The Army is under contract with MIT to design military and firefighting uniforms to reduce casualties. These uniforms are lightweight, bulletproof, fireproof, the material is treated with a product designed to treat injuries, they have an automatic communications system built in, they contains sensors to detect chemical and biological agents, they contain exomuscles to augment strength. Boots with nano-scopic molecules housed in the base that inflate and deflate by electrical current allowing the soldier to jump from six to twenty feet in the air are still in the research stage. Other programs include water filtration systems for soldiers in the field, nano-structured steel for military usage, detoxifying agents, lab-on-a-chip (LOC) for on-the-spot detection of unknown substances, and improved firearms and munitions.

The Air Force has created a nano-lubricant that can arrive an extraordinarily high temperature without breaking down and becoming gooey. They are also adding gold nano-particles to motor oil to extend engine wear. The Navy has developed a corrosion resistant nano-particle used on ship hulls that reduces barnacle and tubeworm adhesion. The majority of world trade is sea trade, right at 98%, about five billion metric tons annually. This new development will save close to $100 billion a year in repairs. A company named Technanogy has produced a fuel additive acquire for space shuttles, which has gained a thirtyfold increase in combustion rate. As with most technology developed for or by the U. S. government it will score its way into public use in the near future.

NASA created the lap top computer and Teflon and is using nanotechnology to invent lighter, stronger, more durable and self-repairing materials for spacecrafts, land rovers, equipment, instrumentation, sensors and probes.

Risk Assessment

The control of the yet unknown seems impossible but a process needs devising and achieve in place for both consumer and producer protection. One major insurance company has refused to provide coverage for nanotechnology based on the lack of adequate risk of safety information. Liability is a major risk focus for the producers of nanotechnology products. The enforcement of liability falls under the “Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980.” Liability control often results in litigation, which is a costly and time-consuming method of protection.

Implications

Many researchers view nanotechnology as the key to world improvement and others approach it with fearful hesitation. Implications in the field of molecular nanotechnology (MNT) go beyond National security and into areas of commercial rights, human rights, global environment conditions, cultural society, and even into black market profit. It is unrecorded who made the statement, “We're just one oops away from eating the biosphere.” To understand this you must understand that object oriented programming is (OOPs). Bjarne Stroustrup combined the computer language (C) with OOPs in 1989 at Bell Laboratories to create C++, which has evolved into a language that takes much less time for compilation and is more user friendly than most.

Molecular manufacturing viewed by Nobel Prize winning chemist Richard Smalley has the potential to destroy the world with monsters like self-replicating nano-bots. The inequity between nanofabrication (fabricated construction) and self-replication is simple. In addition, self-assembly must not be confused with self-replication. Self-assembly is the process of atoms and molecules adhering in a self-regulated fashion, binding to each other with no wait on from man. A tree is a prime example of self-assembly. Bacteria self-replicates (reproduces itself) and spends only a small fraction of its energy on the reproduction process. Nanotechnology is a nanofabrication (construction) process. Both nanofabrication and self-assembly are true nanotechnology processes. Although researchers dream of creating self-replicators none are in existence today. Other fears expressed include economic disruptions to existing industries because of advanced products and a method of providing unstable advantages in the arms accelerate.

It is a known fact that there have been and are now those driven by forces outside of the common good. These forces need controlling guidelines and agencies. Consumer protection agencies, which already exist, include the environmental protection agency (EPA), the U. S. Geological Recognize (USGS), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, and the Consumer Products Safety Commission.

The United Nations (UN) has created the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Labor Organization to play a part in overseeing research efforts. There are also nongovernmental organizations such as the International Organization for Standardization now involved. The UK's Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution has issued a statement and it should believe true worldwide, “The challenge is to find the means through which civil society can engage with the social, political, and ethical dimensions of science-based technologies, and democratize their license to operate. What is needed is a challenge of titillating beyond the governance of risk to the governance of innovation.”

In the U. S. President, George W. Bush signed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act on December 3, 2003. It provided $3.7 billion for research and is now the law governing domestic nanotech research. This act requires the National Nanotechnology Coordination Office to provide public input and outreach by convening regular and ongoing public discussions, citizen's panels, consensus conferences, and educational events.

Environmental Concerns

Nano-scale particles can procure into places in the environment and in the human body that are inaccessible to larger particles causing unusual and unexpected consequences. Anyone having ever made a mess with dry cartridge toner can relate to this. When it comes to investigating nano-particle toxicity, a major problem is that the scientists creating the new materials are usually not the same scientists researching the new material's safety standards. When interviewed about this issue the creating scientists said that most of the information they received on toxicity came from television news and newspapers and for the most part was unsupported by evidence. Noteworthy however is being done to correct this scrape. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) whose membership consists of most of the industrialized nations is testing 14 generic nano-materials for health and environmental effects and has established a database for sharing findings. In the U. S., the “Toxic Substance Control Act” puts the risk of endangerment on the government. Regulatory laws based on the weight of available evidence prevail. Zero risk is not required because it is often impossible to prove. In Europe, the burden of proof falls on the manufacturer.

Public Education

The three topics that the public are most concerned about are job losses do to nanotechnology advances, privacy invasion, and national security. Most nano-scientists want the public's perception of nanotechnology to be eagerness and excitement. They want nanotechnology viewed as expedient socially transforming developments of the past such as running water, electricity, and antibiotics. They do not want the public to fear nanotechnology as they fear self-replicating bacteria. These scientists make a complete separation between nanotechnology and molecular manufacturing.

A campaign designed to stimulate public trust pointed out that nanotechnology is a new term and a new branch of science, but prior to Binney and Smith introducing Crayola crayons in 1903, they used the nano-particle carbon black as a pigment in industrial crayons and in rubber tires. Is there a safer portrayal than crayons and bicycle tires? That ranks in societal acceptance levels with Grandma's homemade fresh apple pie. Unlike the pie with ingredients measured and properly put in place under the watchful gaze of an excellent cook, carbon black's creation did not come about by the precision placement of individual atoms. Instrumentation did not exist in the 1890s or early 1900s to enable such a process. Carbon dark is the electro-static creation of what was probably the accidental shoving and piling of carbon waste. These limited waste particles joined and attached creating a visible material, which someone had the good sense to realize, formed the beginning of a dye for industrial purposes. Carbon black dust is grand easier to utilize than to dispose of. This may have been the first top-down nano-technological discovery.

Universities are holding citizen schools, conferences, telephone surveys, focus groups, and PBS television specials, science camps for children and adults, and science museum programs. There are also Nano-day events set up in public areas such as cafes, libraries, public schools, senior citizen centers, and local super centers. The International BioGENEius Challenge for high school students is a beneficial program. The National Science Federation predicts that two million new jobs will exist worldwide by 2015 in the field of nanotechnology.

Career

Whether you are the CEO of a multibillion-dollar semiconductor company, a heart surgeon, an automobile repair shop manager, a drug company representative, a psychiatrist, the division manager of a multimillion-dollar paint company, or even a house painter, nanotechnology is going to impact you.” Jack Uldrich, The Next Big Thing is Really Small

Preparation for a career in nanotechnology can begin in high school with subjects such as chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and computer science. The University of California has nanotechnology centers on campuses at Berkley, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara. In Massachusetts Harvard offers “The Center for Nano-scale Systems” and MIT offers studies in nanotechnology. Recent York State has invested more than $1 billion in nanotechnology research at Cornell University, Columbia University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Indiana's Purdue University offers the Birck Nanotechnology Center, a 2,323 square meter nano-fabricated “well-organized room” where friction at the atomic level is studied among other things. Rice University at Texas offers the Richard E Smalley Institute for Nano-scale Science and Technology and the Center for Biological and Environmental Nanotechnology. Texas also offers careers in nanotechnology at the Zyvex Company with sites in Dallas, Austin and Houston. Plot Universities in Recent Mexico, Pennsylvania, Florida and Illinois also offer studies in nanotechnology.

Career opportunities are available for application engineers, patent agents, research scientists, research and development chemists, biologists, pharmacologists, encapsulation experts, micro-fabricators, biomedical researchers, business executives, journalists, lawyers, experts in international law, electrical engineers, bioengineers, material scientists, nutritionists, research doctors, computer technicians and scientists, telecommunication specialists, and more.

Major companies now hiring nanotechnologists include IBM, Hewlett-Packard, INTEL, DuPont, GE, Dow Chemical, Merck, ExxonMobil, Chevron Texaco and GM.

Nano-physicists study matter, energy, and their interaction. Their average salary is $87,500 per year. Chemists look composition, structure, the properties of matter and are needed in the pharmaceutical and energy industries. Their average salary is $57,000 yearly. Biologists study living organisms. Molecular biologists earn about $51,000 per year. Material scientists study the properties of natural and manmade materials. They earn an average of $70,500 per year. Pharmacologists study the interaction of drugs and chemical substances in living organisms. Those with a Ph.D. in pharmacology earn an average of $72,000 yearly.

Computer scientists work in hardware and software, theory, programming, graphic create, network systems, analysis, drive designing and microchip development and earn an average of $88,000 per year. Bachelor degree engineers include mechanical engineers handling machinery and energy, electrical engineers, chemical engineers handling conversion of raw materials into useful forms, optical engineers combining physics and engineering to study phenomena related to light, earn from $67,000 to $81,000 on the average.

Science writers earn about $45,000 yearly. Technicians and assistants earn $35,000 to $55,000 yearly. Micro-fabrication technicians work mainly with microchips. Electrical engineering technicians help design and test equipment. Medical technicians analyze blood and other samples. Diseases already under research by nano-sensors include Lou Gehrig's disease, cystic fibrosis, Alzheimer's, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, E. coli, and Salmonella. Medical researchers who work with patients must be licensed physicians, or nurses with Master's degrees.

The Future

Fields undergoing change by nano-technology include medicine, food, clothing, defense, national security, environmental cleanup, energy generation, electronics, computing, and construction. In the medical field, we will have a molecule with a quantum dot that once injected into the blood stream will attach to a tumor. The quantum dot will glow when illuminated by energy allowing the photographing and scanning of the tumor. This process will lead to early detection. Different molecules will attach to different malignancies. Different colored quantum dots will detect different problems. There will be targeted drug delivery. This will provide on demand destruction of cholesterol molecules. Handheld nano-sensors will provide early detection of illness based on a strand of hair or other DNA sample.

Nano-shells coated with gold injected into the bloodstream will bind to cancerous cells. They will activate from outside the body by a laser emitting heat, which will kill the malignancy. DNA and RNA injected into cells will replace damaged genes. Scaffolding will house the regeneration of entire internal organs. Researchers are currently working on growing human bladders, kidneys, and lungs. NASA is working on heart reproductions. The impact that this will have on healthcare if successful is astronomical. Nano-scale implants will reverse loss of sight and hearing. Drugs administered at the nano-scale level are not as easily rejected and more digestible making them less likely to cause nausea, dizziness and other side effects. Nano-muscles, which change shape and create motion when electrically charged, will replace small motors in appliances and other gadgets. Electronic paper will connect to a wireless adaptor, access the Internet and change the image shown on the paper. This will allow a person to read the sports page from the Boston Globe, the marketing section of the Wall Street Journal, national politics from the Washington Post, foreign affairs from the London Times, and more by downloading all the articles that they wish to read directly to the electronic paper. This self-programmed paper will travel with you to the coffee shop.

Blimps made of nano-materials and carrying up to 160 tons of cargo will be outmoded for delivery by Federal Express, UPS, and the U. S. Postal Service. Hospital gowns and other clothing designed to kill the common cold virus and to change color as it reads the wearers vital signs are on the horizon. Bridges built for expansion and contraction with temperature changes without cracking or deteriorating are in the future. Three-dimensional nano-materials will soon encapsulate radioactive ions from nuclear waste.

C.Sixty out of Houston, Texas or a similar company will perfect “molecular pin-cushions.” These are carbon based and when injected into a singular Aids virus will disrupt its ability to reproduce. “Radiant bombs” injected into the human body will demolish leukemia, lymphoma, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer cells. This nanotechnology is also very close. Angstrom Medica or a similar company will originate a nano-crystal treatment that when mixed with the bodies own cells will stimulate bone growth for the treatment of osteoporosis and similar bone disorders.

Researches are diligently working on computer piloted cars. Computer driven aircraft will eventually take off and land whenever they are ready. They will not need to line up on the tarmac and wait to be told that it's great, but like a flock of ten thousand birds just scatter on a second's notice without bumping each other. One group foresees a space elevator from the equator that will take goods and people into plot. Another group is working on the development of direct implants onto the retina replacing television and computer screens. Synthesizers and replicators are a constant dream of nano scientists. GPS researchers are exploring technology that will have the milk carton in the refrigerator telling the home computer, “You need milk.” The dinner container in the microwave will time and set itself. It will become a simple matter of what future designers possess to be important.

Researchers are attempting to execute artificial red blood cells and are trying to encapsulate the molecule dystrophin to affect a cure for the 250,000 people in the U. S. suffering from muscular dystrophy. Cures for obesity, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, schizophrenia, food allergies, and drug and nicotine addiction by dendrimers injections into human cells are very near. Telomere research is at the forefront of futuristic activities. When age cells loose their ability to divide, the telomeres, which are the physical ends of chromosomes, shrink. Telomerase rebuilds telomeres. Research is underway to reproduce telomerase for introduction into the human body. If this is accomplished the aging process may be perceived as a disease instead of an inevitable occurrence.

What effects will nanotechnology have on the existing industry? Every industry will feel the effects. Each advance will close a door on yesterday's needs. Take Eddie Bauer's khakis embedded with stain resistant nano-particles. They will lessen the need for dry cleaners. This technology could render the need for stain remover sprays and additives obsolete. When cholesterol is no longer an issue, many heart surgeons' jobs become unnecessary. Clayton Christenson, author of The Innovator's Dilemma feels that “Whoever can commercially produce molecular circuits at a scalable level will have created a disruptive technology, one that can render billion dollar industries used. When a disruptive technology comes along, everyone—including business leaders—goes back to ground zero.” The invention of fiberglass replaced the wooden boat making industry waves after WWII and nanotechnology will bring equal change in many industries in the very come future.

There are more than one million diesel vehicles on California roads emitting 28,000 tons of toxic particles into the air yearly. Engelhard Corporation in New Jersey is developing a diesel oxidation catalyst using nano-scale layers of platinum, palladium and other metals to remove these toxins. This is just around the corner. NTera of Dublin Ireland is developing a nano-structured thin film electronic billboard. Macy's among others will be able to pocket millions of dollars in savings yearly by changing their billboards from their computers instead of needing a manned crew. This will not only change the financial picture of advertisement but the visual end results as well.

The $480 billion global plastics industry, the $82 billion diet and diet supplement industry, the $286 billion cardiovascular disease control industry, the $165 billion tobacco industry, the $57 billion U. S. steel industry, the $139 billion semiconductor industry, and the $27 billion U. S. Glass industry will feel the effects. As will the $20 billion U. S. cosmetics industry, the $180 billion pharmaceutical industry, the $550 billion global electronics industry, the $1.7 trillion heath care industry, and the $90 billion U. S. insurance industry, the $600 billion nursing home industry, $550 billion telecommunications industry, the $60 billion newspaper industry, the $59 billion periodical industry, and the $23 billion book industry. In addition, the $108 billion U. S. printing industry, the $85 billion advertising industry, and the $181 billion apparel industry will feel the change. October 15, 2001 Bethlehem Steel filed bankruptcy. They were one of the original thirty companies listed on the Dow Jones Industrial Average. They were the largest producer of steel for U. S. warships in WWII. In 1989, Bethlehem Steel presented as one of the best-managed companies in America. They invested billions of dollars in technology. Now its facility is under consideration for expend to house the National Museum of Industrial History. Bethlehem could not compete with companies producing satisfactory steel less expensively. No industry is safe from the powerful forces of technology.

Theoretics

Moral issues at the forefront of futuristic nanotechnology include queries such as: (1) if nanotechnology creates a system for improving the human brain, who gets to use it? Should everyone or a select group that can afford to recall it at an inflated imprint? (2) If nanotechnology becomes a tool for improving the taste, nutrition, or shelf life of food, will the label identify that? Will a few huge corporations monopolize it? (3) If nanotechnologists can create new life forms, will it be legal?

Conclusion

In 1901, maximum life expectancy was the age of 47. There were 8,000 cars and 144 miles of paved roads. Ninety-five percent of births occurred at home. Pneumonia and influenza were the leading causes of death and only six percent of Americans graduated from high school. One century later in 2001, Business Week named nanotechnology as one of their top ten technologies to watch. Since then, it has been on the camouflage of Red Herring, Forbes, Science and Technical Review, the Scientific American Magazine, and more. From Kitty Hawk (1923) to the Apollo moon landing (1969) was 46 years. In another 46 years, with the acceleration rate of change that now exists, where will we be? The first computer built in 1947 called ENIAC cost $4.7 million. In the last twenty years, the cost of storing one megabyte of data has fallen from almost $12 to under one cent. In 1930, a three-minute call from Fresh York City to London cost $244 and required a special site for making the call. In 1990, the same call cost $3.32 when made from home or office. In 2010, that call costs less than $1 from a cell phone. It has been so with all technology except in the pharmaceutical and fuel industries. It hasn't been that the technology didn't exist to improve fuel mileage or that drug therapy wasn't available to cure various forms of disease including bone cancer. The technology has existed. It has been the boom of an individual inventor coming up against a huge industry. Nanotechnology is a global industry filled with major players and the public will enjoy cost efficient products as technology allows. Competition will force the market and there will be devastating changes. In 2001, Daniel Resasco, a chemical engineer at the University of Oklahoma, perfected a way to reduce the cost of single-walled carbon nano-tubes from $750 per gram to less than $6.00 per gram. Change is inevitable.

In the Olympics, NASCAR, the Tour de France, the America's Cup and other events, where less than one-hundredth of a second can separate gold from bronze, nanotechnology is vital. The world should welcome this new technology while keeping everything in perspective. In 1913, Lee De Forest pronounced that RCA would be able to transmit the human voice across the Atlantic in unprejudiced a few years. Lee, known as the “Father of radio,” faced charges of fraud for his claim. Claims are the result of a changing industry. Some will beget results in a few years and litigation will follow others.

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