Distinguished Professor Akhlesh Lakhtakia, of the Engineering Science and Mechanics Department in the College of Engineering at Pennsylvania State University (University Park), is a leading expert on nanotechnology. He recently said, “They [biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology] help one another, they feed one another, and the prospects they raise are either extremely pleasant to contemplate—anything is possible!—or too terrifying to contemplate…. It is vital that the public consider the social implications of the enormous power that could be realized.”

Lakhtakia recently explained the basics of nanotechnology to an audience of Penn State students, faculty, and community members. He said, “How small is nano? Divide an inch into 25 pieces. Then divide each piece into one million pieces. Each of those pieces is one nanometer.”

He went on to define nanotechnology as any technology that deals with characteristics on the nanometer scale, where one nanometer is the length of one-billionth of one meter. Usually, any object with a width in the nanometer scale (or nanoscale) range of between 0.1 to 100 nanometers (nm) is considered nanotechnology. Such tiny objects include quantum dots/nanodots, carbon nanotubes, thin films, and fine particles.

Working with other nanotech experts—Debashish Munshi and Priya Kurian of the University of Waikato (New Zealand) and Robert Bartlett of the University of Vermont (Burlington)—Lakhtakia found that most people do not pay much attention when the word nanotechnology is spoken on TV or written in the newspapers. As stated in a United Press International (UPI) article on January 22, 2007, “One of the most dramatic of today’s emerging technologies is nanotechnology, yet a U.S.-led study suggests most people are nanotechnology ignorant.”

Nanotechnology is an emerging field of applied science and technology that uses many different technologies—such as chemistry, applied physics, biology, and colloidal science. Its mission is to manipulate and control the structure of matter from the level of molecules (a group of atoms) to small numbers of individual atoms. This level of controlled activity is called nanometer-scale; that is, control at the level from 0.1 to 100 nanometers. For instance, one hydrogen (H) atom—the smallest atom with only one proton and one electron—has a diameter of approximately 0.1 nanometer. One human hair, as an everyday example, has an average width of 50,000 nanometers.

Scientists believe that no physical object can be manufactured smaller than at the nanoscale level. Such a concept makes nanotechnology very important to the future of humankind because many physical and biological processes operate at this nanoscale level.

However, as of January 2007, the application of nanotechnology to real world products has been limited mostly to nanoparticles in colloidal form (a mixture of nanoparticles suspended in another substance) such as cosmetics, protective coatings, and similar lotions and liquids.

The positive possibilities of nanotechnology is unlimited, from providing clean air and water, improving the health and increasing the lifespan of humans, and manufacturing lightweight industrial materials that are stronger than steel; to storing huge amounts of digital information in tiny volumes, making tiny medical machines that travel inside the human body, and increasing agricultural productivity. On the other hand, there are negative implications to nanotechnology in such areas as health, environment, defense, and the safety of society in general.

To better understand emerging technologies such as nanotechnology, to logically evaluate the pluses and minuses of nanotechnology, and to avoid misconceptions by the public and the media, all people must be better informed. Lakhtokia suggests that: “Schools must find a way to interweave science, engineering, liberal arts, literature and history so that emerging fields like nanotechnology, biotechnology and cognitive science can be understood and evaluated by the general public.”

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia.com further explains nanotechnology at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology.

For more information about nanotechnology research at the Materials Research Institute (http://www.mri.psu.edu/) of Pennsylvania State University, go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/articles/gonano_site_announcement/.

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