Nanotechnology

Imagine a world were we would have total control over the
structure of matter…..arranging it in any form conceivable, a
world without energy limitations, without hunger and where
defects and malfunctions in our own body could be easily
corrected.

Technical definition

Nanotechnology (sometimes shortened
to "nanotech") is the study of
manipulating matter on an atomic and
molecular scale.
Generally, nanotechnology deals with
developing materials, devices, or other
structures possessing at least one
dimension sized from 1 to 100
nanometers.

Nanotechnology is manufacturing with
atoms.
-William Powell

Nanotechnology will let us build computers
that are incredibly powerful. We'll have more
power in the volume of a sugar cube than
exists in the entire world today.
-Ralph Merkle

As we all know..every thing is made up of
atoms..nanotechnology creates things by
manipulating the structure of the atom!

Throughout history, variations in the arrangement of
atoms have distinguished the cheap from the cherished….

The diseased from the healthy.

Arranged one way, atoms make up soil, air, and water
arranged another, they make up ripe strawberries.
Arranged one way, they make up homes and fresh air;
arranged another, they make up ash and smoke.
Eric Drexler
— Engines of Creation, p. 3, 1983

Although nanotechnology is a relatively
recent development in scientific research, the
development of its central concepts
happened over a longer period of time. The
emergence of nanotechnology in the 1980s
was caused by the convergence of
experimental advances such as the invention
of the scanning tunneling microscope in 1981
and the discovery of fullerenes in 1985

These applications that I am about to
state are just the small tip of a vast
iceberg

Today I am going to cover the following applications of
nanotechnology

1. Nanotechnology in medicines
2. Nanotechnology in Textiles
3. Nanotechnology in Space

One application of nanotechnology in medicine
currently being developed involves employing
nanoparticles to deliver drugs, heat, light or other
substances to specific types of cells (such as cancer
cells). Particles are engineered so that they are
attracted to diseased cells, which allows direct
treatment of those cells. This technique reduces
damage to healthy cells in the body and allows for
earlier detection of disease.

As we all know chemotherapy used for treating cancer has
numerous disadvantages!
But what if we could design something that could get under the skin
and kill the tumor cells?
Many researchers attach ethylene glycol molecules to nanoparticles
that deliver therapeutic drugs to cancer tumors. The ethylene glycol
molecules stop white blood cells from recognizing the nanoparticles
as foreign materials, allowing them to circulate in the blood stream
long enough to attach to cancer tumors. However researchers at the
University of California, San Diego believe that they can increase the
time nanoparticles can circulate in the blood stream.

If you hate getting shots, you'll be glad to hear
that oral administration of drugs that currently
are delivered by injection may be possible in
many cases. The drug is encapsulated in a
nanoparticles which helps it pass through the
stomach to deliver the drug into the
bloodstream. There are efforts underway to
develop oral administration of several different
drugs using a variety of nanoparticles.

Nanoparticles, when activated by x-
rays, that generate electrons that cause the
destruction of cancer cells to which they
have attached themselves. This is intended to
be used in place radiation therapy with much
less damage to healthy tissue.

Waterproof clothes

Have you ever been to a party all excited and dolled up just
to encounter an embarrassing accident with the waiter
that soiled your entire evening?
Well..you need not worry..because nanotechnology is at
here at your rescue!
Scientists have invented a water-proof cloth that does not
allow even an atom of water to stay on the cloth!
So that water that was supposed to ruin your evening
glides smoothly off your dress…leaving you flawless!

Do you dread those hours spent in ironing or those visits
to the laundry man?
Introducing the wrinkle free cloth!

To impart wrinkle resistance to fabric, resin is commonly used in
conventional methods. However, there
are limitations to applying resin, including a decrease in the tensile strength
of fiber, abrasion
resistance, water absorbency and dye ability, as well as breathability.
Besides wrinkle-free clothing wearers are at risk for a skin condition called
contact dermatitis, which can cause itchy skin, rashes and blisters, and it
poses serious health implications for people who work with the chemical in
factories. To overcome the limitations of
using resin, some researchers employed nano-titanium dioxide [31, 32] and
nano-silica [33] to improve
the wrinkle resistance of cotton and silk respectively.

Nanotechnology may hold the key to making space flight
more practical. Advancements in nonmaterial make
lightweight solar sails and a cable for the space elevator
possible. By significantly reducing the amount of rocket fuel
required, these advances could lower the cost of reaching
orbit and traveling in space. In addition, new materials
combined with nanosensors and nanorobots could improve
the performance of spaceships, spacesuits, and the
equipment used to explore planets and moons, making
nanotechnology an important part of the ‘final frontier.’

Gone are the days of huge
spaceships that cost a
fortune!

Carbon nanotubes are the perfect choice for such an elevator’s
cable, since nanotechnology is able to create carbon-based
material that is light in weight yet strong enough to withstand
the forces it would face in space.
A space elevator would make all kinds of pioneering efforts
possible by dramatically reducing the cost of sending things into
orbit.
This becomes painfully obvious when one considers that 95% of
a space shuttle’s takeoff weight is entirely devoted to fuel
storage.

Other applications of nanotechnology
are-
1. Pharmacy
2. Electrical
3. Food industry
4. Agriculture
5. Environment preservation
6. Cosmetics
7. Optics
8. Sports
9. Robotics
And the list could go on…..!

Nanotechnology

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