Exciting Possibilities with Nanotechnology

Just when you thought we have reached the summit of man’s engineering wisdom, we realize that we are just scratching the surface.  There’s so much more promise lurking in technologies that harness the power of the atom.  No, we’re not talking about nuclear fusion, though that’s another leap alright from the current fission technologies that have given rise to the atom bomb and nuclear power plants lighting our homes.  This time, it’s about the technologies that allow manufacturers to handle parts at the molecular level.  It’s called nanotechnology, or nanotech for short.

Savoring the possibilities…

For sure the technology is here and it’s beyond just science fiction. There have been research funding from large companies like IBM who have a great stake on nanotechnology as their future businesses. And it is just a matter of time before the first commercial nano products becomes available.  We’re looking around the end of the next decade.

•    Revolutionary nano materials. Nanotechnology is basically about rearranging molecular structures to assume new materials with the quality we need. You can expect significantly lighter and sturdier materials that can benefit air and space travel, not to mention road travel. Materials lighter than Kevlar and carbon fibers we now use but at remarkably lower cost when used in commercial aviation and other modes of transport will usher cheaper travel fares as it will take lesser amount of fuel to propel them.  In addition, fuel sources can be developed using the same nanotechnology that can provide longer battery lives and cheaper fuel alternates.

•    Nanocomputers will have microprocessor chips more powerful but are 3-4 times smaller than the most powerful chips we have today. Lithography that has made possible the miniaturization of computers we now enjoy in our mobile phones and netbooks has reached its peak and can no longer yield smaller computing footprints. If computer chip makers are to continue with the trend of increased computing power every year and smaller footprints every 8-12 months, a new manufacturing technology that goes smaller than what Lithography can deliver is needed.

•    Nanotechnology opens a new vista for computing and memory storage technologies under radical production techniques that are currently underway. Rather than manipulating silicon with hair-thin circuits on wafer thin boards stacked inside your microprocessor chips, the microprocessor will start to operate on a molecular level to process even greater computer instructions.

•    Medication heals at the cellular or molecular level. Medicines don’t heal; it’s the cells that have regained health that heal to bring you back to your healthy self. Nanotechnology promises to revolutionize the way surgery is done by going deeper into the cellular level to correct the root causes of ailments. You won’t necessarily reduce the size of a ship with doctors in it to travel through the bloodstream as in the movies.  But both medication and surgery at the cellular level are expected to yield quantum leaps in medical science.

•    The military application of nanotech is not about to be overlooked both by governments and weapons manufacturers. We now have smart bombs and other smart weaponry, but in the near future, expect truly smart weapons right in your hands that can evade surveillance or be tracked to their intended targets. Chemical weapons that can think to reach targets with better containment won’t be far once the technology is there to manipulate at the molecular level.  GP