Unbelievable Yet Believable – Nanotechnology
By – Verbena Sharma
Nanotechnology is an area of investigation and growth that focuses on making ‘things’ on the scale of atoms and molecules, such as materials and devices. The average diameter of a human hair is 80,000 nanometres.
The ordinary laws of physics and chemistry no longer applicable at such scales. One billionth of a metre is a nanometre, which is ten times the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
Carbon “nanotubes” are 100 times stronger than steel, but just six times as heavy. The color, strength, conductivity, and reactivity of materials, for example, can differ dramatically between the nanoscale and the macroscale.
Nanotechnology’s potential consequences are now being discussed by scientists. Nanotechnology has the skill to produce a wide variety of new materials and devices with applications in nanomedicine, nanoelectronics, biomaterials, energy production, and consumer goods.
Today’s “nanotech” products are mostly improved (evolutionary nanotechnology) products covering some type of nano-enabled material (such as carbon nanotubes, nanocomposite structures, or nanoparticles of a specific substance) or nanotech method (e.g. nanopatterning or quantum dots for medical imaging).
Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the research and application of very small substances, and they can be used in chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering, among other areas. It is claimed that it would be able to dramatically increase manufacture productivity at lower costs. Nanotechnology has been admired as having the ability to improve energy production, help clean up the atmosphere, and solve major health issues
Brazil, Chile, China, India, the Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, and Thailand have advanced government-funded nanotechnology programmes and research institutes, demonstrating their pledge to the technology.
These countries have been identified as ‘front-runners’ (China, South Korea, India) and ‘middle ground’ players by researchers at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Brazil, Chile). Also, Argentina and Mexico are ‘up and comers,’ with research groups researching nanotechnology but no dedicated funding from their governments.
However, nanotechnology could one day lead to more affordable and effective drug delivery systems. Nanoscale materials, for example, can be used to create encapsulation systems that secure and secrete drugs in a slow and regulated manner.
The ability to see and manipulate individual atoms and molecules is at the heart of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscale-structured filters have the promise of better water cleansing systems that are less expensive to produce, last longer, and can be washed. Other similar technologies may absorb or neutralize toxic materials like arsenic, which poison the water supply in a number of countries, including India and Bangladesh. The food we eat, the dress we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies are all made up of atoms as we all know.
Today’s scientists and engineers are making a wide range of nanoscale materials to take advantage of their superior properties, such as higher strength, lighter weight, improved light spectrum regulation, and greater chemical reactivity, compared to their larger-scale counterparts.
health issues
Brazil, Chile, China, India, the Philippines, South Korea, South Africa, and Thailand have advanced government-funded nanotechnology programmes and research institutes, demonstrating their pledge to the technology.
These countries have been identified as ‘front-runners’ (China, South Korea, India) and ‘middle ground’ players by researchers at the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (Thailand, Philippines, South Africa, Brazil, Chile). Also, Argentina and Mexico are ‘up and comers,’ with research groups researching nanotechnology but no dedicated funding from their governments.
However, nanotechnology could one day lead to more affordable and effective drug delivery systems. Nanoscale materials, for example, can be used to create encapsulation systems that secure and secrete drugs in a slow and regulated manner.
The ability to see and manipulate individual atoms and molecules is at the heart of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscale-structured filters have the promise of better water cleansing systems that are less expensive to produce, last longer, and can be washed. Other similar technologies may absorb or neutralize toxic materials like arsenic, which poison the water supply in a number of countries, including India and Bangladesh. The food we eat, the dress we wear, the buildings and houses we live in, and our own bodies are all made up of atoms as we all know.
Today’s scientists and engineers are making a wide range of nanoscale materials to take advantage of their superior properties, such as higher strength, lighter weight, improved light spectrum regulation, and greater chemical reactivity, compared to their larger-scale counterparts.
Hundreds of years ago, different-sized gold and silver particles formed colours in the stained glass windows of mediaeval churches. Nanoscale materials have been used for decades, despite the fact that modern nanoscience and nanotechnology are comparatively recent. The artists didn’t realize it at the time, but the method they used to make these exquisite pieces of art resulted in changes in the material’s composition.