Thinking Small
Nanoscience is the study of matter very, very small at dimensions between 1 and 100 nanometers. Nanotechnology is when matter at the nanoscale is manipulated; altering these tiny materials often creates big changes at the larger scale.[1] Nanotechnology is used across multiple science fields such as biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering. It all started with Richard Feynman’s 1959 speech entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” which outlined the ideas and concepts of nanoscience and nanotechnology, but the term nanotechnology wasn’t coined until over a decade later. Scientists had to wait until 1981 for a microscope that would allow them to work at the nanoscale. This is when modern nanotechnology began.[2]
A nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
If a billion is hard to visualize, you're not alone. To give you an idea of what a billion looks like, there are approximately one billion blades of grass on a football field.[3]
Here’s a little perspective on just how small a nanometer is: a sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick, a strand of human DNA is 2.5 nanometers in diameter, and a single gold atom is about 1/3rd of a nanometer in diameter. On a similar scale, if the diameter of a glass marble was one nanometer, the diameter of the Earth would be about a meter.[4]
Nanotechnology is currently used in many products from technology like smartphones to band-aids, toothpaste, and sunscreen to stain-resistant clothing.[8] Because nanotechnology allows scientists to alter the way that materials act, it has found use in many commercial products as well as the healthcare field. For instance, nanoceramics are used in some dental implants and to fill holes in diseased bones because their properties can be “tuned” to attract bone cells from the surrounding tissue to make new bone. Nanocoatings are often used in eyeglasses to make them harder to scratch.[9]
The future for nanotechnology is wide open. Current clinical trials are being held for the use of nanoparticles to deliver anti-cancer drugs directly to the tumors to minimize damage to the rest of the body. Nanotechnology is being used to make our homes, cars, and businesses more energy-efficient through new batteries, solar panels, and fuel cells.[10] It is also helping scientists find ways to purify drinking water and to clean up environmental waste, which is explored further on this site.
Nanoscale materials are found everywhere. Most of biology functions at the nanoscale; for instance, hemoglobin—the protein that carries oxygen through your body—is just 5.5 nanometers in diameter.[5] Besides that, matter takes on different properties when observed on the nanoscale. The same aluminum foil you use in the kitchen, when broken into its nanoparticles, becomes an alternative to lightweight rocket fuel.[6]
While modern nanotechnology has only been around for the past few decades, medieval stained glass windows are an example of nanotechnology used long before people knew why the color was being altered.[7]