| As the horizons of technology expand, the real world | | | | Nanorobots could also be programmed to perform |
| is shrinking into a Global Village; Nanotechnology is the | | | | delicate surgeries. |
| new area of interest in technology. | | | | For environmental clean-up, airborne nanorobots could |
| Nanotechnology is an umbrella term that covers many | | | | be user programmed to rebuild the thinning ozone |
| areas of research dealing with objects that are | | | | layer. Contaminants could be automatically removed |
| measured in nanometers or billionth of meter. It is a | | | | from water sources, and spill could be cleaned up |
| hybrid science combining engineering and chemistry. | | | | instantly. |
| The goal of nanotechnology is to manipulate atoms | | | | Nanotechnology was first introduced in 1959, in a talk |
| individually and place them in a pattern to produce a | | | | by the Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, |
| desired structure. Nano-sized machines called | | | | entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", |
| assemblers, that can be programmed to manipulate | | | | Feynman proposed using a set of conventional-sized |
| atoms and molecules at will, would be used to build | | | | robot arms to construct a replica of themselves, but |
| consumer goods. Some nanomachines called | | | | one-tenth of the original size, then using that new set |
| replicators, would be programmed to build assemblers. | | | | of arms to manufacture an even smaller set, and so |
| Nanotechnology would enable creation of new | | | | on, until the molecular-scale is reached. if we had many |
| generation of computer components with enormous | | | | million or billions of such molecular-scale products built |
| storage capacity. But the greatest impact of | | | | from individual molecules - a "bottom-up manufacturing" |
| nanotechnology could be the medical industry. Patients | | | | technique, as opposed to the usual technique of cutting |
| would drink fluids containing nanorobots programmed | | | | away material until you have a completed component |
| to attack and reconstruct the molecular structure of | | | | or product -"top-down manufacturing". |
| cancer cells and viruses to makes them harmless. | | | | |