Nanotechnology

Technology at the tiniest level
The word “nanotechnology” refers to the targeted creation and manipulation of structures at the molecular and atomic level. Generally speaking, structures and systems within the realm of “nanotechnology” have a maximum size of 100 nanometers. In the world of science, the prefix “nano” means one billionth of a unit; a “nanometer” is thus one billionth of a meter, which is the breadth of about five to ten individual atoms next to one another. The prefix “nano” actually comes from the Greek word “nanos,” meaning “dwarf” or “very tiny,” which is indeed appropriate: A human hair is about ten thousand times thicker than one nanometer. The incredibly tiny level of nanotechnology can perhaps be better understood with the following comparison: The relationship in size between a nano particle and a soccer ball is about the same as the relationship between a soccer ball and planet earth.

Nature as role model
Nanotechnology is much more than just an extension of current technology. Nanotechnology is a completely new way to create structures and products at a molecular level, with opportunities that go far beyond anything we know today. In fact, the “role model” for this new technology comes from nature itself: In all living cells, “nano machines” have been at work for billions of years “building” plants, animals and human beings from a stockpile of certain chemicals. Thanks to the research advances of recent years – to the access they have provided to the building blocks of matter and to our rapidly increasing understanding of the self-organization of these building blocks – nanotechnology has begun to transform industries, with startling implications for business and society that we are only beginning to see.