Nanotechnology

Hey Readers..this is first time I tried to write something on a “blog“..as I always thought writing something related to science is not my cup of tea..:) Still I dared to write this blog on “Nanotechnology” which is expected to be a boom in tech era...hope you’d  like it ;)

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on the nanoscale. A nanometer is a very small measure of length- it is one billionth of a meter, a length so small that only three or four atoms lined up in a row would be a nanometer. So, nanotechnology involves designing and building materials and devices where the basic structure of the material or device is specified on the scale of one or a few nanometers. Ultimately, nanotechnology will mean materials and devices in which every atom is assigned a place, and having every atom in the right place will be essential for the functioning of the device. Another way of thinking about the ultimate form of nanotechnology is that it will be based upon molecular machinery - machines made by having every atom in a designed place and performing a designed function. These molecular machines will be capable of making other molecular machines and other products in which the atomic structure is precisely arranged to make the desired product. These molecular machines that will be able to assemble atoms into complex structures have been termed "assemblers." Such assemblers will be able to build just about anything that exists or can be designed, anything that is compatible with the basic laws of physics. This includes being able to make copies of themselves, so eventually we have an entire manufacturing economy based upon molecular manufacturing, where the capital base of the economy could double in minutes instead of years, thus creating immense wealth. The kinds of products that could be built will range from microscopic, very powerful computers to super strong materials ten times as strong as steel, but much lighter, to food or other biological tissue.

All these products would be very inexpensive because the molecular machines that built them will basically take atoms from garbage or dirt, and energy from sunshine, and rearrange those atoms into useful products, just like trees and crops take dirt, water and sunshine and rearrange the atoms into wood and food. Right now the only molecular machines that exist are those inside living cells. Right now mother nature and evolution are the only true nanotechnologists. In effect it is nature itself that we would like to mimic. This is how biology and genetics can become relative to nanotechnology. As a matter of fact there are many disciplines (like defence,biotechnology,Engineering sciences etc.) that are constructive to the goal of nanotech, which is why there is no nano degree at this point in time.

Nanotechnology could be used within our own minds. Nanocomputers could be placed in our bodies to augment our own brains. Nano-theorists have estimated that the entire contents of the Library of Congress could be stored in a nanocomputer the size of a human cell, and that another nanocomputer the size of a human cell could have the same raw computing power as the whole human brain. In the beginning such computers could interface with the person through computer screens that were part of their skin, or by projecting images on their eyelids. Eventually they might interface directly with the brain so you could communicate with these computers merely by thought. It would then be practical for any person to carry with them or to easily access all of human knowledge, and to think with the computing power of millions of present day human brains. Also for good or ill it would be possible to attain whatever mood you wanted instantly. Since we will understand the action of all the brain chemicals that effect mood, and all of the drugs that some people use to change moods, we will be able to command our nanomachines inside our bodies to produce whatever brain chemicals or drugs we want, whenever we want them. So it should be possible to switch to altered states of consciousness and then back again at will.