Nanotechnology

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Nanotechnology, shortened to "Nanotech", is the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally nanotechnology deals with structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller, and involves developing materials or devices within that size. Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from novel extensions of conventional device physics, to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, to developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale, even to speculation on whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale.

There has been much debate on the future of implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology has the potential to create many new materials and devices with wide-ranging applications, such as in medicine, electronics, and energy production. On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as with any introduction of new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials , and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios. These concerns have led to a debate among advocacy groups and governments on whether special regulation of nanotechnology is warranted.

For more information about Nanotechnology, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with nanotechnology

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A window that washes itself?

A (nano-) window that washes itself?

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (8) | comments 8

A coating on windows or solar panels that repels grime and dirt? Expanded battery storage capacities for the next electric car? New Tel Aviv University research, just published in Nature Nanotechnology, detail ...


New Digital 'Electronics' Concept May Continue Moore's Law

New Digital 'Electronics' Concept May Continue Moore's Law

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (75) | comments 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- Computers of the future could be operating not on electrons, but on tiny waves traveling through an electron "fluid," if a new proposal is successful. The new circuit design, recently introduced ...


Nanotube defects equal better energy and storage systems

Nanotube defects equal better energy and storage systems

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 19, 2009 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Most people would like to be able to charge their cell phones and other personal electronics quickly and not too often. A recent discovery made by UC San Diego engineers could lead to carbon ...


LST builds first global nanotech regulation database

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Dec 02, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A global database of government documents on nanotechnology is being launched by three law professors at Arizona State University who, with their colleagues in Australia and Belgium, have corralled and organized ...


Nanoparticles may cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier

Nanoparticles may cause DNA damage across a cellular barrier

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (9) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have shown in the laboratory that metal nanoparticles damaged the DNA in cells on the other side of a cellular barrier. The research, by the University of Bristol, is published ...


Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing

Breakthrough in industrial-scale nanotube processing

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (23) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- Rice University scientists today unveiled a method for the industrial-scale processing of pure carbon-nanotube fibers that could lead to revolutionary advances in materials science, power ...


carbon fiber

Ultra-Long Carbon Nanotubes Could Serve as Future Transmission Lines

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 10, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (28) | comments 15

(PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to carbon nanotubes, the majority of research so far has focused on small-scale applications. But now, a team of researchers from Rice University has created carbon nanotubes ...


Engineering Carbon for Impressive Hydrogen Storage

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created May 22, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (16) | comments 14

(PhysOrg.com) -- University of Missouri researchers recently showed how carbon nanostructures can be engineered to become excellent media for hydrogen storage, work that may be important for the advancement of hydrogen-energy ...


'Core-Shell' Silicon Nanowires May Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries

'Core-Shell' Silicon Nanowires May Improve Lithium-Ion Batteries

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Jan 20, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (12) | comments 9

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have found a way to incorporate silicon into the structure of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are used to power a wide variety of portable electronic devices, including ...


Scientists bend nanowires into 2-D and 3-D structures

Scientists bend nanowires into 2-D and 3-D structures

Nanotechnology / Nanophysics

created Oct 21, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (7) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking nanomaterials to a new level of structural complexity, scientists have determined how to introduce kinks into arrow-straight nanowires, transforming them into zigzagging two- and three-dimensional ...


Springs built from nanotubes could provide big power storage potential

Springs built from nanotubes could provide big power storage potential

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Sep 21, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (15) | comments 10

(PhysOrg.com) -- New research by MIT scientists suggests that carbon nanotubes -- tube-shaped molecules of pure carbon -- could be formed into tiny springs capable of storing as much energy, pound for pound, ...


Nanotechnology: A risky frontier?

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Inside a cramped back room at Rushford Hypersonic, a start-up headquartered in southeastern Minnesota, sits a cube-like machine that throws a mean atomic fastball. At the push of a button, the reactor hurls atoms toward a ...


Nanotubes take flight: Sscientists use nanomaterials to grow flying carpets, 'odako' kites

Nanotubes take flight: Scientists use nanomaterials to grow flying carpets, 'odako' kites

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 29, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (12) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- With products that range from carpets to kites, you’d think Rice University chemist Bob Hauge was running a department store. What he's really running is a revolution in the world of carbon ...


'Holey' Nanosheets for Wastewater Dye Removal

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (5) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have discovered that extremely thin sheets of nickel oxide with hexagonally shaped holes can absorb hazardous dyes from wastewater nearly as well as the best traditional methods, but are recyclable. ...


Graphene Shows High Current Capacity and Thermal Conductivity

Graphene Shows High Current Capacity and Thermal Conductivity

Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials

created Jul 29, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (13) | comments 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Recent research into the properties of graphene nanoribbons provides two new reasons for using the material as interconnects in future computer chips. In widths as narrow as 16 nanometers, ...