Saturday, October 16, 2010
Nanotechnology: Shaping The World Atom By Atom
f you were to deconstruct a human body into its most basic ingredients,you’d get a little tank each of oxygen,
hydrogen, and nitrogen. There would be piddling piles of carbon, calcium, and salt.You’d squint at pinches of sulfur, phosphorus, iron, and magnesium, and tiny dots of 20 or so other chemical elements. Total street value: not much. With its own version of what scientists call nanoengineering, nature transforms these inexpensive, bundant, and inanimate ingredients into self-generating, self-perpetuating, self-repairing, self-aware creatures
that walk, wiggle, swim, sniff, see, think, and even dream. Total value: immeasurable. Now, a human brand of nanoengineer
hydrogen, and nitrogen. There would be piddling piles of carbon, calcium, and salt.You’d squint at pinches of sulfur, phosphorus, iron, and magnesium, and tiny dots of 20 or so other chemical elements. Total street value: not much. With its own version of what scientists call nanoengineering, nature transforms these inexpensive, bundant, and inanimate ingredients into self-generating, self-perpetuating, self-repairing, self-aware creatures
that walk, wiggle, swim, sniff, see, think, and even dream. Total value: immeasurable. Now, a human brand of nanoengineer
What is a nanometer?
nPlank length ~ 10-35 m
nAtoms and small molecules~ 10-10 - 10-9 m
n
nHubble length ~ 1026 m
n
nNanometer ~ 10-9 m
nBillionth of a meter~1/1 000 000 000
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