nanonews

Yashraj Khaitan asked:


AEROAGE

En route on the mach 4.7 supersonic jet, I flipped open my iTV , which connected me to the most advanced space network, spacecast. The usual news was being broadcast; “NASCOM, the space people have started mining a new mineral on the moon which is almost identical to Uranium; the Americans have come out with yet another version of the unmanned X-67 which maneuvers itself at mach 25 (courtesy nuclear fusion engines!); the international space station at Mars has discovered a revolutionary microorganism that can be used to fight multiple cancer, a predominant disease on Earth”. Yes, this is the age I’m living in, and when I look back in time at the history of aviation, it leaves me flabbergasted. The history of AVIATION commenced in the 20th century, and a few lucky people who were witness to the first tentative flight of the Wright Brothers, managed to live through these 150 years (through medical advancement of course!) to witness the hypersonic X-67s as well. As Robert Wall once rightly said (towards the end of the 20th century), “So rapid has been the development of aeronautical science that no one can say with safety that an end has been reached or that there is any limit to the ability of man to develop flight at the same pace in the next century.”1

Today, in 2057, man has traveled a long way in the field of civil and space aviation. Advancements that were merely probable 5 decades ago are possible and practical today. All these developments are a consequence of decades of stupendous achievements in space exploration. Half a century ago, landing human astronauts on Mars was within the bounds of possibility. However, today, successful implementation of hypersonic space travel and use of geodesic domes have not only enabled man to experience the surface of Mars, but have also helped him estabilish cyborg colonies there. In addition to the Moon, even Mars is available now, for scientific exploration! The international space station on Mars, in addition to helping scientists in their research work, has facilitated in mitigating the power crisis, which at present is history! After the establishment of The International Lunar Base Station in 2037, man has passed several milestones in setting up a long term colony on the moon. Today, the hotels on the moon go full with increasing number of world, or rather space, citizens going on lunar holidays! A fleet of spaceships taking space tourists high above the atmosphere is now a routine affair. These spaceships are improved versions of Spaceshiptwo, which took Santosh George of India along with other space tourists to as high as 55000 feet, enabling them to experience the excitement of weightlessness and the thunderous deceleration of aerodynamic drag on reentry, in 20072. In addition, disputes between industries, over the acquisition of lunar land for mining have become fairly common.

At the start of the 21st century, the failure of NASA’s Mars lander caused despondency over the failure of its apparently reliable technology and put a question mark over other similar systems3. However, perennial human effort and incessant advancement in hypersonic space travel have led to the innovation of extraordinarily efficient probes which are now meeting the challenge of unearthing secrets about the solar system’s remotest planets. For example: a recent probe that has been sent to Pluto weighs only 570 pounds and stands almost 10 feet tall and 27 feet wide. It is composed of 19 solar panels, an extremely light nano-fission engine, and is controlled by an onboard computer. The probe functions by harnessing the light energy of the Sun. At present the fission engines are taking it close to the Sun. Once it is sufficiently close, the fission engines would shut down and light energy from the Sun would push the probe towards Pluto with a tremendous amount of force. The probe would then constantly accelerate and reach hypersonic speeds enabling scientists to have a glimpse of the details of Pluto within their lifetimes!

The innovation of the controlled nuclear fusion engine, after the ion and fission engines, in 2031, was by far the most significant advancement in space travel. It enabled spacecraft to reach astonishing speeds. Many decades ago, scientists deciphered that scarce and expensive raw materials exist in abundance on asteroids in our solar system. Today, aeronautical geeks have succeeded in designing manned aircraft, run by fusion engines that travel at supersonic speeds to these asteroids. They are slowed down, when close to the asteroid’s surface and then are made to land by making use of the asteroid’s relatively low gravity. During this rendezvous, with a suitable asteroid, the spacecraft uses abundant solar energy to extract and refine metals like gold and platinum and then the fusion engines power them back to Earth.4

In order to aid space travel and further exploit the hypersonic travel technology, a set of 5 astronomical telescopes, linked by laser, 100 times more powerful than the antiquated Hubble Space Telescope of the 20th century, was deployed in space in 20255 with the aid of space stations and hypersonic jets. Through these telescopes, we have been able to probe deeper into the universe and directly study details of planets in the Milky Way, without having to study the wobbling of stars.

This was just a glimpse of the hypersonic space travel in my age! Now, let’s delve into the advancement of supersonic and hypersonic travel in civil aviation. Civil aviation is governed by practicality and affordability. And when supersonic travel is looked at with these factors in mind, its picture seems somewhat blurred. Although, supersonic and hypersonic travel is easily available for civil aviation, its use is restricted only to the elite class. Four decades ago, hypersonic travel could take you anywhere on the planet in 4 hours6. Today, it can take you in just 2 hours! If the world population is transported from one corner of the globe to the other, then, oh my! The gas guzzling machines and sonic booms, created close to the earth’s surface, would simply attract the ire of environmentalists! Although this is the era of supersonic air travel, there also exists an alternative economic means of transport. No economy can ignore such basic realities. Even today we need economically viable means for mass transportation. So, where speed is not essential, the principles of freight transportation have been applied to mass travel. Non-inflammable gases are used to lift huge airships propelled by turbines7. This technology has made air travel extremely cheap, resulting in a five fold increase in air traffic compared to that of 2007. Although technology is reaching new heights every day, socialism continues to be a speed breaker!

In addition to supersonic and hypersonic aircraft being used in civil aviation, air taxis with tilt rotors have also come into daily use. Not needing a runway, these taxis can easily maneuver around the city. They help me land right in the center of a supermarket! In addition to the tilt rotors, which give them the vertical lift, they also make use of the ground effect that reduces the drag experienced by aircrafts8. This, thus, reduces the fuel consumption of the taxis. Bad news for environmentalists; they have one less topic to debate upon!

As far as the armed forces go, there is no stopping them! Billions were and are being spent to develop aircraft that are capable of traveling at such hypersonic speeds that they escape even the most efficient of all radars owned by their enemies. With the introduction of hypersonic travel, came the highly sensitive infrared radars that were capable of detecting the infrared radiation produced by the engines of these aircraft9.

Technology has constantly moved towards super automation. Way back in 2003, Arlen Rens’, a Lockheed Martin test pilot, describing automation in aviation, said humorously: “Airplanes are now built to carry a pilot and a dog in the cockpit. The pilot’s job is to feed the dog, and the dog’s job is to bite the pilot if he touches anything!”10

Now, the question arises; how did we reach this pinnacle? How did we overcome all the inevitable challenges?

The main challenges were:

a) Financial: the sums invested to develop this technology dwarfed those involved in making possible the Apollo missions to the Moon!

b) Biological: traversing long distances in space meant spending years in space in zero gravity conditions. The human body cannot adapt to stresses greater than 9g and react to situations as fast as machines. The human mind is incapable of making 1 million inferences per second unlike machines!

c) Technological: reaching high levels of automation required integrating man and machine, and the functioning of diverse systems in perfect synchronization over longer distances and timescales with a minimum of maintenance.11

d) Environmental and Ecological: sonic booms produced by supersonic and hypersonic aircrafts were a great threat to mankind, and wildlife12. Even if man could somehow artificially adapt his hearing sensibilities to sonic booms, he could possibly not dissuade animal activists from protesting against hypersonic travel. Apart from this, supersonic airlines of that age utilized gas guzzling engines, dependant upon dwindling petroleum supplies.

It has truly been a daunting task for man to find an answer to everything through technology. It is spellbinding to know how he prevented technology from reaching a standstill, without betting on speed at the cost of mankind.

It was observed rightly by Thomas Friedman, in 2006, that “the world is getting flat”. Outsourcing and around sourcing were the key to mutual cooperation, advancement, and ameliorating financial crises13 that would have otherwise brought about a pause in aviation technology. The cornerstones of cooperation, laid in the beginning of the 21st century, led to countries coming together to develop hypersonic and supersonic air travel. This has led us all to live in a more cooperative, rather than a competitive world. It was international cooperation that brought about the success of all the space projects since then and led to the establishment of international space stations.

The limiting reagent, in moving further down into space at hypersonic speeds, is the homo sapien! Although such speeds make one experience the tumbling alchemy of Earth and sky, the audacity, and miracle of flight, flying at stresses above 9g, in the Earth’s atmosphere, causes human blood to drain down from the brain, thus, extinguishing vision or even consciousness. In the old gravity suit, pilots would strain against their glottis. This would shut breathing. In the new suits, the pilots are able to flex their body muscles with less force, thus, reducing fatigue. This has been made possible by using “fluid muscles”, as they are called, which are independent of hoses and pressurized air on board, and reacts immediately to high g’s. Besides this, suits have designed in such a way, that pilots can communicate with each other even while traveling at such hypersonic speeds14.

As far as space travel is concerned, man’s shortcomings, both mental and physical, have been overcome by integrating him with machines. As Alwin Toffler predicted about 8 decades ago, the astronaut has become “an integral part of an ongoing micro-ecological process whirling through the vastnesses of space”15. What Theodore Gordon once said has come true. We have found that it would indeed be simpler “to provide life support in the form of machines that plug into the astronaut”. In accordance with his vision, an astronaut is “fed intravenously using a liquid food compactly stored in remote pressurized tank”. And “direct processing of body liquid wastes and conversion to water (is) accomplished by a new type of artificial kidney built in as part of the spaceship”16. Five decades ago, Professor Kevin Warwick, was able to connect his nervous system to his wife’s nervous system through a computer. Looking at that development, it is not hard to believe that today the human brain is directly connected to the computer, controlling his spacecraft. Thus, his mind is able to run as fast as a computer and in turn the computer gets a brain to think. Thus, what can be seen is that, the astronaut is no longer a separate entity monitoring the aircraft; he is in fact a part of the whole process.

If one divides human existence into three phases, then I would say that the first phase extends from the birth of humans till the year 1920. The second phase covers the time from 1921 to 2000 and we are at present in the third phase. This can be clearly explained by seeing the advancements that took place during these three phases. During the third phase mankind has moved so fast that from Earthlings we have started becoming Marslings! The technology that made all this probability a possibility would make a 20th century dweller dumbstruck! What humans did was that they teraformed Mars and tailored it to their requirements. The first thing that was required was to heat up the exceedingly cold atmosphere. The toxic pollution on Earth served as a medicine for Mars. Pollution creating machines were dropped on Mars whose work was to suck up a mixture of dust and atmosphere and process them into greenhouse chemicals. These chemicals trapped the heat radiated by the Sun and heated the surface and atmosphere of Mars. Once Mars was warm enough, plants and trees were grown in geodesic domes, which in turn increased the oxygen content of the atmosphere, making human existence possible17. This led to the establishment of an Earth colony on Mars which in turn gave birth to the Mars space station. The future now, is thus, to further the use of this technology and make the whole of Mars a human colony.

The technology developed for scramjets to attain hypersonic speeds, brought out a solution to the fossil fuel crises. Decades ago, rocket engines used hydrogen as well as liquid oxygen. The weight marred their performance and efficiency. A scramjet carries only hydrogen and uses oxygen from the atmosphere instead. Thus, it turns out to be lighter and more efficient18. Moreover, it also proves to be environment friendly. Mark Lewis of the University of Maryland had once said, “Flying an air-breathing rocket system above Mach5; that’s sort of the gleam in everyone’s eye”19. And yes, today we are all witness to the result of that vision. Scramjets have made hypersonic travel in the civil sector possible and to an extent, environment friendly as well. They fly at hypersonic speeds only high above the Earth and thus avoid the ill-effects of a sonic boom, protecting animals as well as mankind. In addition to the scramjets, the ion, nuclear fission, and nuclear fusion engines are also an answer to the dwindling fossil fuel resources, since they efficiently use materials that are available in abundance on the Earth, Moon, and Mars. Besides this, scientists, with the aid of nanotechnology, are trying to devise methods to manipulate abundantly available elements at the atomic level and give them fossil fuel properties.

The problem of inventing a lightweight material that can endure the prolonged high temperatures of the flight engines, plus the heat of the air friction against the wings20, was taken care of by nanotechnology. By manipulating materials at the nanoscale, scientists were able to develop in 2020 a nano-aerogel from carbon which has excellent thermal properties. This material is used to insulate hypersonic aircrafts, which in turn are made up of sheets of carbon nanotubes and nanofibres that are 60 times tougher than steel and much lighter than graphite.

For all the above advancements to take place a perennial desire to achieve something better was required. In the words of a Pelican program manager, Blaine Rawdon: “From our perspective, anything that’s already flying is history.”21

From the very beginning of space exploration, most people have always thought it to be an extravagant luxury, affordable only by the superpowers, and only justifiable by them at times when questions of global prestige, between the competing systems of capitalism and communalism, were involved22. However, it has been practically shown that on an average, every dollar spent on the space program and/or aviation industry, results in 7 dollars paid back to the economy23. A list of spin-offs from space technology can be as varied as it is long.

The most significant of all spin offs was the result of the need for smaller and more powerful computers, which provided an incentive for the development of microchips. Development of rescue blankets, CCD chip technology, virtual reality systems, advanced keyboards, etc. are all a consequence of space technology. If these things seem vague to some people, they would be astonished to know how space technology has extended its wings to everyday articles like wheelchairs, school buses, batteries, television screens, home security systems, medicines, etc24. Besides this, the modern designs of hypersonic aircraft are the result of research carried out for spacecraft designs over the years. Thus, in some way or the other, we all owe our modern comforts to space technology.

Our forefather’s of the 1960s knew that they were witnessing some of space exploration’s “game changing events”25! With our present and near future focussed on Mars, our children may experience the same extraordinary odysseys. Today, we are on Mars and the Moon; tomorrow we might be on one of Jupiter’s moons or even farther. The speed of sound has long been surpassed, and now man’s mission is to approach the speed of light! This may seem like an impossible dream but we must remember that powered flight were seemed impossible when the Wright Brothers set out with their bamboo and canvas contraption to the sand dunes of Kitty Hawk almost one and a half century ago!

Read more at http://www.nanojini.com

Notes

1 Robert Wall, A History of Airliners (Burlington Books: London 1980, rpt 1989) p 238.

2 Hindustan Times, New Delhi, March 15, 2007, p 1. “the Richard-Branson owned Virgin Galactic company that hopes to begin a new era in tourism in less than two years.

Apart from George, two US-based Indian Americans have also signed up for the two-hour flight, Louela Faria-Jones of Virgin Galactic told Hindustan Times from London. SpaceShipOne, a prototype of the space vehicle, flew to space three times in 2004, she said. George will fly on board the SpaceShipTwo, which has large windows, reclining seats, cabins the size of a Falcon 900 executive jet and wings approximately the size of a Boeing 757. It will carry six passengers and two pilots, Faria Jones said.

3 David Owen, Into Outer Space (Burlington Books: London 2000) p 135

4 Ibid, p138

5 Space: Episodes 3 and 4, VCD, B.B.C., 2001

6 Michael Klesius, “Wings of Change”, National Geographic (National Geographic Society: Washington DC, December 2003), p 32

7 Wall, A History of Airliners, p 251

8 Klesius, “Wings of Change”, National Geographic December 2003, p 25, 29

9 My own assessment

10 Klesius, “Wings of Change”, National Geographic December 2003, p 13

11 Owen, Into Outer Space, p 137

12 Wall, A History of Airliners, p 238

13 Thomas L. Friedman, The World is Flat (Penguin Books: London, 2005)

14 Klesius, “Wings of Change”, National Geographic December 2003, p 20,21

15 Alvin Toffler, Future Shock (Pan Books: London, 1971) p 196

16 Ibid, p 196

17 Space: Episodes 5 and 6, VCD, B.B.C., 2001

18 Klesius, “Wings of Change”, National Geographic December 2003, p 32

19 Ibid, p 32

20 Ibid, p 32

21 Ibid, p 29

22 Owen, Into Outer Space, p 128

23 Ibid, p 128

24 Ibid, p 129

25 Jeffrey Kluger, “Nasa’s Plan for a Lunar Comeback Gets a Big Boost”, Time (Time Asia: Hong Kong, March 19, 2007), p 36.

http://www.nanojini.com

Jabran Kundi asked:


The renowned American scientist, Ray Kurzweil, claims human beings could become immortal as early as the year 2029! He says advancements in nanotechnology and a detailed and increased understanding of the working of a human body could enable human beings to become immortal.

He says humans could be replacing their vital organs through nanotechnologies, which will be available in the market in just 20 years time. His claims are well supported by the fact that artificial pancreases and neural implants are already available. His theory is called the Law of Accelerating Returns. He believes humans will, in near future , have the necessary software to reprogramme their own bodies, and hence, halt or reverse their ageing process.

In his article published in The Sun, Mr. Kurzweil also claims many other tasks that will be completed by humans with astonishing ease and accuracy. He says that in 20 years time, a man will be able to:

* do an olympic sprint for 15 minutes without even breathing once.

* drive to the doctor and tell him that he just had a heart attack and needs treatment. During all this time, tiny blood bots will keep them alive!

* write books within minutes.

* go scuba-diving for four hours without oxygen.

* go into virtual-reality mode where nanobots will shut down brain signals and take himself wherever he wants to go. (Kurzweil believes virtual sex will become common after humans get hold of this piece of technologies.

And to put it all in the American scientist’s own words, “we can look forward to a world where humans become cyborgs, with artificial limbs and organs”

F2F Author asked:


The role of nanotechnology in textile industry has accelerated with a positive momentum during the recent past years. Textile companies have been spending ample in research and development activities in order to discover appropriate products, and add innovations to their existing ones. In fact, textile industry is the first manufacturing industry to come up with finished products that are enhanced through nanotechnology-based products. Nanotechnology has versatile applications in Textile Chemicals industry in manufacturing garments with stain resistance, flame retardant finishes, wrinkle resistance finishes, moisture management, antimicrobial qualities, UV protection, and soil release properties, etc.

Fibre2fashion has got feedback from the Schoeller Technologies AG, one of the leaders in Nanofinishes from the textile industry regarding the role of Nanotechnology in textile industry.

The leaves of certain plants always stay clean, because dirt cannot adhere to the finely- structured Surfaces and is easily washed off by rain.

The natural non-stick, and cleaning process, also known as the self-cleaning effect, is permanently transferred to the textile surface by means of nanotechnology.

The result is NanoSphere an ecologically clean textile finish, developed in accordance with the bluesign standard.

Water and stains have no chance:

Water and annoying stains have no chance on textiles with a NanoSphere finish. The nanotechnology-based textile impregnation is characterized by a high level of water resistance, a natural self-cleaning effect and a durable protective function.

Advantages:

• High level of water resistance

• Naturally self- cleaning

• Durable protective function

High level of water resistance:

On NanoSphere textiles, water drops, e.g. when it is raining steadily, runoff simply and reliably

Naturally self-cleaning:

Oil, dirt and dust do not adhere to the NanoSphere surface and can be rinsed off with water.

Durable protective function:

Due to the extremely high level of abrasion resistance, the NanoSphere protective function is retained even with heavy duty use, frequent washing or cleaning.

The NanoSphere-finish when compared to other traditional textile finishes has a very high level of both wet and dry abrasion resistance.

Durable protective function:

• Normal washing or dry cleaning.

• Garments with NanoSphere finish can be washed and dry cleaned very easily.

• After 50 washing cycles the function still remains.

• Fabric softeners or dryer sheets are not recommended.

• Ironing or Tumbling.

• Heat and ironing recommended for optimum function.

NanoSphere is based on blue sign standard:

This NanoSphere technology is based on the blue sign standard, and guarantees the highest possible exclusion of substances which are harmful to human so the environment and promotes the economical use of resources in manufacturing.

• Elimination of all problematic substances

• Nano particles are fixed into a coating matrix.

• First class hygienic working conditions.

NanoSphere advantages at a glance:

• Uniquely repels water and stains.

• High level of abrasion resistance.

• NanoSphere offers reliable protection and lots of comfort

• The function is maintained even after numerous washing or cleaning cycles.

• NanoSphere can be applied on all types of textiles (cotton, synthetics etc.)

• Look, feel and breath ability are not affected.

• Ecologically clean textile finish developed in accordance with the bluesign standard.

Ganesh asked:


When nanotechnology was first described, it was considered to be an over-hyped term straight out of a science fiction novel. But over the years, as technology advanced, microscopic machines and even factories became a reality and soon nanotechnology investing was the in thing for corporate ventures.

However, in the last few years, individual investors have realized that there is very little money to be made in nanotechnology investing. Even the existing firms have not performed according to expectations and newer IPO’s haven’t really flooded the market either.

The advances made by nanotechnology has been limited to improving the quality and lifetime of existing materials like batteries, cells etc. There have been very few breakthrough products in nanotechnology.

Whether to invest or not

Here is the big question. Do you invest in nanotechnology or not?

• There are many start up ventures out there that seem to be promising enough but most of these will take years to get established.

• Hence from an investor’s point of view, it is extremely important that you gauge the landscape.

• You need to be well aware of the time frame and the constraints in the filed.

• If you are expecting to invest in some of the nanotechnology products that seem sci fi, then keep in mind that most of these products are almost 100 years away.

• Unless you have an extremely broad time frame for investing, there are better options at hand

For the corporate investor

On the other hand, nanotechnology investing might just prove to be the right thing for corporate investors.

However, keep yourself updated about the recent advances made in the filed like the classification of nanotechnology into active, passive and hybrid groups. This will help investors get a better grip on the time frame required for commercialization of the technology.

smitha asked:


Nanotechnology: Giving a new dimension to Food Industry

INTRODUCTION:

A derivative of chemistry, engineering, and physics, and micro fabrication techniques, nanotechnology involves manipulating matter at the nanoscale level. It is responsible for determining not only that biological and nonbiological structures measuring less than 100 nm exist but also that they have unique and novel functional applications. In fact, the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI, 2006) defines nanotechnology as “the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications.” Because applications with structural features on the nanoscale level have physical, chemical, and biological properties that are substantially different from their macroscopic counterparts, nanotechnology can be beneficial on various levels. Research in biology, chemistry, engineering, and physics drives the development and exploration of the nanotechnology field. Consequently, certain industries such as microelectronics, aerospace, and pharmaceuticals have already begun manufacturing commercial products of nanoscale size. Even though the food industry is just beginning to explore its applications, nanotechnology exhibits great potential. Food undergoes a variety of postharvest and processing-induced modifications that affect its biological and biochemical makeup, so nanotechnology developments in the fields of biology and biochemistry could eventually also influence the food industry. Ideally, systems with structural features in the nanometer length range could affect aspects from food safety to molecular synthesis.

Potential Food Applications:

All organisms represent a consolidation of various nanoscale-size objects. Atoms and molecules combine to form dynamic structures and systems that are the building blocks of every organism’s existence. For humans, cell membranes, hormones, and DNA are examples of vital structures that measure in the nanometer range. In fact, every living organism on earth exists because of the presence and interaction of various nanostructures. Even food molecules such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fats are the results of nanoscale- level mergers between

sugars, amino acids, and fatty acids. As it applies to the food industry, nanotechnology involves using biological molecules such as sugars or proteins as target-recognition groups for nanostructures that could be used, for example, as biosensors on foods. Such biosensors could serve as detectors of food pathogens and other contaminants and as devices to track food products. Nanotechnology may also be useful in encapsulation systems for protection against environmental factors. In addition, it can be used in the design of food ingredients such as flavors and antioxidants. The goal is to improve the functionality of such ingredients while minimizing their concentration. As the infusion of novel ingredients into foods gains popularity, greater exploration of delivery and controlled-release systems for nutraceuticals will occur. Although nanotechnology can potentially be useful in all areas of food production and processing, many of the methods are either too expensive or too impractical to implement on a commercial scale. For this reason, nanoscale techniques are most cost-effective in the following areas of the food industry: development of new functional materials, food formulations, food processing at microscale and nanoscale levels, product development, and storage.

Nanodispersions and Nanocapsules:

As the fundamental components of foods, functional ingredients such as vitamins, antimicrobials, antioxidants, flavorings, and preservatives come in various molecular and physical forms. Because they are rarely used in their purest form, functional ingredients are usually part of a delivery system. A delivery system has numerous functions, only one of which is to transport a functional ingredient to its desired site. Besides being compatible with food product attributes such as taste, texture, and shelf life, other functions of a delivery system include protecting an ingredient from chemical or biological degradation, such as oxidation, and controlling the functional ingredient’s rate of release under specific environmental conditions. Because they can effectively perform all these tasks, nanodispersions and nanocapsules are ideal mechanisms for delivery of functional ingredients. These types of nanostructures include association colloids, nanoemulsions, and biopolymeric nanoparticles.

§ Association Colloids:



Surfactant micelles, vesicles, bilayers, reverse micelles, and liquid crystals are all examples of association colloids. A colloid is a stable system of a substance containing small particles dispersed throughout. An association colloid is a colloid whose particles are made up of even smaller molecules. Used for many years to deliver polar, nonpolar, and amphiphilic functional ingredients (Golding and Sein, 2004; Garti et al., 2004, 2005; Flanagan and Singh, 2006), association colloids range in size from 5 nm to 100 nm and are usually transparent solutions. The major disadvantages to association colloids are that they may compromise the flavor of the ingredients and can spontaneously dissociate if diluted.

§ Nanoemulsions:

An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids (such as oil and water) that do not easily combine. Therefore, a nanoemulsion is an emulsion in which the diameters of the dispersed droplets measure 500 nm or less. Nanoemulsions can encapsulate functional ingredients within their droplets, which can facilitate a reduction in chemical degradation (McClements and Decker, 2000). In fact, different types of nanoemulsions with more-complex properties— such as nanostructured multiple emulsions or nanostructured multilayer emulsions—offer multiple encapsulating abilities from a single delivery system that can carry several functional components. In structures such as these, a functional component encased within one component of a multiple emulsion system could be released in response to a specific environmental trigger.

§ Biopolymeric Nanoparticles:

Food-grade biopolymers such as proteins or polysaccharides can be used to produce nanometer-sized particles (Chang and Chen, 2005; Gupta and Gupta, 2005; Ritzoulis et al., 2005). Using aggregative (net attraction) or segregative (net repulsion) interactions, a single biopolymer separates into smaller nanoparticles. The nanoparticles can then be used to encapsulate functional ingredients and release them in response to distinct environmental triggers. One of the most common components of many biodegradable biopolymeric nanoparticles is polylactic acid (PLA). Widely available from a number of manufacturers, PLA is often used to encapsulate and deliver drugs, vaccines, and proteins, but it has limitations: it is quickly removed from the bloodstream, remaining isolated in the liver and kidneys. Because its purpose as a nanoparticle is to deliver active components to other areas of the body, PLA needs an associative compound such as polyethylene glycol to be successful in this regard (Riley et al., 1999).

Nanolaminates:

Besides nanodispersions and nanocapsules, another nanoscale technique is commercially viable for the food industry: nanolaminates. Consisting of two or more layers of material with nanometer dimensions, a nanolaminate is an extremely thin food-grade film (1–100 nm/ layer) that has physically bonded or chemically bonded dimensions. Because of its advantages in the preparation of edible films, a nanolaminate has a number of important food-industry applications. Edible films are present on a wide variety of foods: fruits, vegetables, meats, chocolate, candies, baked goods, and French fries (Morillon, 2002; Cagri et al., 2004; Cha and Chinnan, 2004; Rhim, 2004). Such films protect foods from moisture, lipids, and gases, or they can improve the textural properties of foods and serve as carriers of colors, flavors, antioxidants, nutrients, and antimicrobials. Currently, edible nanolaminates are constructed from polysaccharides, proteins, and lipids. Although polysaccharide- and protein-based films are good barriers against oxygen and carbon dioxide, they are poor at protecting against moisture. On the other hand, lipid-based nanolaminates are good at protecting food from moisture, but they offer limited resistance to gases and have poor mechanical strength (Park, 1999). Because neither polysaccharides, proteins, nor lipids provide all of the desired properties in an edible coating, researchers are trying to identify additives that can improve them, such as polyols. For now, coating foods with nanolaminates involves either dipping them into a series of solutions containing substances that would adsorb to a food’s surface or spraying substances onto the food surface (McClements et al., 2005). While there are various methods that can cause adsorption, it is commonly a result of an electrostatic attraction between substances that have opposite charges. The degree of a substance’s adsorption depends on the nature of the food’s surface as well as the nature of the adsorbing substance. Different adsorbing substances can constitute different layers of a nanolaminate; examples are polyelectrolytes (proteins and polysaccharides), charged lipids, and colloidal particles. Consequently, different nanolaminates could include various functional agents such as antimicrobials, anti-browning agents, antioxidants, enzymes, flavors, and colors.

Nanofibers and Nanotubes:

Two applications of nanotechnology that are in the early stages of having an impact on the food industry are nanofibers and nanotubes. Because nanofibers are usually not composed of food-grade substances, nanofibers have only a few potential applications in the food industry. Produced by a manufacturing technique using electrostatic force, nanofibers have small diameters ranging in size from 10 nm to 1,000 nm, which makes them ideal for serving as a platform for bacterial cultures. In addition, nanofibers could also serve as the structural matrix for artificial foods and environmentally friendly food-packaging material. As advances continue in the area of producing nanofibers from food-grade materials, their use will likely increase. As with nanofibers, the use of nanotubes has predominantly been for non-food applications. Carbon nanotubes are popularly used as low resistance conductors and catalytic reaction vessels. Under appropriate environmental conditions, however, certain globular milk proteins can self-assemble into similarly structured nanotubes (Graveland- Bikker and de Kruif, 2005, 2006; Graveland-Bikker et al., 2006a, b).

Regulations:

In India, the nanotechnology is at nascent stage and there does not exist any regulation for its application in food industry. Similarly in the United States, no special regulations exist for the use of nanotechnology in the food industry. In contrast, the European Union has recommended special regulations that have yet to be accepted and enforced. The Food and Drug Administration says that it regulates “products, not technologies.”Nevertheless, FDA expects that many products of nanotechnology will come under the jurisdiction of many of its centers; thus, the Office of Combination Products will likely absorb any relevant responsibilities. Because FDA regulates on a product- by-product basis, it emphasizes that many products that are already under regulation contain particles in the nanoscale range. Accordingly, “particle size is not the issue,” and any new materials will be subjected to the customary battery of safety tests. The Institute of Food Science and Technology, a United Kingdom–based independent professional body for food scientists and technologists, has a different view of nanotechnology. In its report (IFST, 2006), the organization says that size matters and recommends that nanoparticles be treated as potentially harmful until testing proves otherwise. Still it is the European Commission’s intention to apply existing food laws to food products using nanotechnology. Consequently, the European Commission says that the technology will likely require some modification for it to adhere to existing laws. Commissioned by the UK to assess the potential effects of nanotechnology, the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering recommend indicating nanoparticles in the lists of ingredients. The UK government agrees that the inclusion of nanoparticles on ingredient labels is necessary for consumers to make informed decisions; thus, updated ingredient labeling requirements will be necessary. The UK government plans to consult with its EU partners to determine whether IFST’s recommendation to scrutinize nanoparticle ingredients for safety is valid.

Conclusion:

As developments in nanotechnology continue to emerge, its applicability to the food industry is sure to increase. The success of these advancements will be dependent on consumer acceptance and the exploration of regulatory issues. Food producers and manufacturers could make great strides in food safety by using nanotechnology, and consumers would reap benefits as well. More than 200 companies are conducting research in nanotechnology and its application to food products (IFST, 2006), and as more of its functionalities become evident, the level of interest is certain to increase.

R E F E R E NC E S:

Cagri, A., Ustunol, Z., and Ryser, E.T. 2004. Antimicrobial edible films and coatings.J. Food Protect. 67: 833-848.



Cha, D.S. and Chinnan, M.S. 2004. Biopolymer-based antimicrobial packaging: Review. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 44:223-237.



Chang, Y.C. and Chen, D.G.H. 2005 Adsorption kinetics and thermodynamics of acid dyes on a carboxymethylated chitosan- conjugated magnetic nano-adsorbent. Macromol. Biosci. 5: 254-261.



Charych, D., Cheng, Q., Reichert, A., Kuziemko, G., Stroh, N., Nagy, J., Spevak, W., and Stevens, R. 1996. A ‘litmus test’ for molecular recognition using artificial membranes. Chem. Biol. 3: 113.



Chen, H., Weiss, J., and Shahidi, F. 2006. Nanotechnology in nutraceuticals and functional foods. Food Technol. 60(3): 30-36.

Flanagan, J. and Singh, H. 2006. Microemulsions: A potential delivery system for bioactives in food. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 46: 221-237.



Garti, N., Shevachman, M., and Shani, A. 2004. Solubilization of lycopene in jojoba oil microemulsion. J. Am. Oil Chem. Soc. 81: 873-877.



Garti, N., Spernath, A., Aserin, A., and Lutz, R. 2005. Nano-sized self-assemblies of nonionic surfactants as solubilization reservoirs and microreactors for food systems. Soft Matter 1: 206-218.



Golding, M. and Sein, A. 2004. Surface rheology of aqueous casein-monoglyceride dispersions. Food Hydrocoll. 18: 451-461.



Graveland-Bikker, J. and de Kruif, C. 2005. Self-assembly of hydrolysed

?-lactalbumin into nanotubes. FEBS J.272 (Suppl 1): 550.



Graveland-Bikker, J.F. and de Kruif, C.G. 2006. Unique milk protein-based nanotubes: Food and nanotechnology meet. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 17: 196-203.

Graveland-Bikker, J.F., Fritz, G., and Glatter, O. 2006a. Growth and structure of ?-lactalbumin nanotubes. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 39: 180-184.



Graveland-Bikker, J.F., Schaap, I.A.T., Schmidt, C.F., and de Kruif, C.G. 2006b. Structural and mechanical study of a self assembling protein nanotube. Nano Lett. 6: 616-621.

















Gupta, A.K. and Gupta, M. 2005. Synthesis and surface engineering of iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications. Biomaterials 26: 3995 -4021.



Haruyama, T. 2003. Micro- and nanobiotechnology for biosensing cellular

responses. Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 55: 393-401.



IFST. 2006. Nanotechnology information statement. Institute of Food Science and Technology (IFST) Trust Fund, London, UK. www.ifst.org/nano.pdf.

Imafidon, G.I. and Spanier, A.M. 1994.

Unraveling the secret of meat flavor. Trends Food Sci. Technol. 5: 315-321.



Lawrence, M.J. and Rees, G.D. 2000.Microemulsion-based media as novel drug delivery systems. Adv. Drug Delivery Rev. 45: 89-121.



McClements, D.J. and Decker, E.A. 2000. Lipid oxidation in oil-in-water emulsions: Impact of molecular environment on chemical reactions in heterogeneous food systems. J. Food Sci. 65: 1270-1282.



McClements, D.J., Decker, E.A., and Weiss, J., inventors; University of Massachusetts, assignee. 2005. UMA 05-27: Novel procedure for creating nanolaminated edible films and coatings, U.S. patent application. Morillon, V., Debeaufort, F., Blond, G., Capelle, M., and Voilley, A. 2002. Factors affecting the moisture permeability of lipid-based edible films: A review. Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 42: 67-89.



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Riley, T., Govender, T., Stolnik, S., Xiong, C.D., Garnett, M.C., Illum, L., and Davis, S.S. 1999. Colloidal stability and drug incorporation aspects of micellar-like PLA-PEG nanoparticles. Colloids Surf., B 16: 147-159.



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Denise Palmer asked:


If current news is any indication, Nanotechnology is poised to play a significant role in the development of clean, less expensive energy. The potential of nanotechnology for solving some of today’s greatest energy challenges is vast.

Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the molecular level in scales smaller than one micrometer, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. For scale, a single virus particle is about 100 nanometers in width.

Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale.”

At this size dimension, the physical, chemical, and biological properties of materials differ in fundamental and valuable ways from the properties of individual atoms, molecules, or bulk matter. The properties displayed at the nanoscale create a host of potential innovative uses for nanomaterials. One of these uses includes the creation of exciting and revolutionary energy applications. These potential nanoscale energy applications apply to a host of different sources of energy, including hydrogen, geothermal, unconventional natural gas, fission, and solar energy.

While hydrogen is an energy storage medium, it is not a primary energy source. Therefore, full realization of hydrogen as an alternative energy source is frustrated by gaps in technology, which do not precipitate the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen. Nanoscience provides new approaches to basic questions about the interaction of hydrogen with materials to enable the efficient and cost-effective storage and transport of hydrogen.

Applying nanotechnology to geothermal energy increases the opportunities to develop geothermal resources by enhancing thermal conductivity or aiding in the development of noncorrosive materials that could be used for geothermal energy production.

The recovery of unconventional sources of natural gas is yet another potential application of nanotechnology. Unconventional sources of natural gas include tight sandstones, shale gas, and coal bed methane. Nanotechnology applications may prove useful in accessing or exploiting these unconventional natural gas sources. For instance, nanocatalysts and nanoscale membranes may prove useful in assisting in Gas to Liquids production. Furthermore, certain nanostructured materials may assist in compressed natural gas transport.

Nanotechnology may also prove useful in solving the waste problems of the nuclear energy industry. For instance, certain nano-engineered barriers may prove useful in preventing the migration of or containing nuclear waste products.

Nanotechnology applications may assist in making solar energy more economical. Nanoscience can be utilized to improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells, creating cost-efficient conversion systems, effective solar power storage systems or even the generation of solar energy on a larger scale. For instance, “nanopatterning” can artificially change the optical properties of materials to allow light to be trapped in solar cells.

Nanotechnology might someday allow for more powerful, more efficient and less expensive energy generation, storage transmission and distribution. Nanotechnology is being used to optimize production from existing energy sources and to exploit new sources such as geothermal, liquefied natural gas, nuclear and solar energy. Nanotechnology is also improving and opening new possibilities for the transmission and storage of energy, especially electricity and possibly hydrogen in the future. Nanotechnologies have the potential to reduce energy consumption by making it possible to manufacture lighter and/or more energy efficient cards and appliances. Even though nanotechnology is a relatively young field, the potential for future nanotechnology applications within the energy industry could turn out to be one of the most important technological developments of our time.

Aarkstore Enterprise asked:


While nanotechnology is only in its earliest stages of development and application within the apparel industry, experts agree that nano-enhanced garments will likely become as expected and commonplace as attributes such as stretch, breathability and comfort.

One thing is clear, if investment by other industries is any indication of market potential, apparel is on track to reap many benefits.

The first in a series of timely Executive Briefings, provides a completely fresh look at how nanotechnology – by enhancing the functionality of fashion at all levels, from athletic wear to luxury – is set to completely revolutionise the apparel sector.

Table of Contents :

1.0 Executive summary

2.0 The marketplace

-a rapidly growing market

3.0 An overview of apparel applications

-the next revolution in apparel

-nanotechnology and anti-counterfeiting

4.0 Stumbling blocks ahead?

-educating the consumer

-buzzwords causing confusion

5.0 Nanotechnology’s market impact—present and future

-different cultures, different end uses

-the application of nano particles

-the cost-benefit of nanotechnology

6.0 Key products in apparel

-Schoeller

-Nano-Tex

-Evident Technologies

7.0 Products coming down the pipeline

-Endless opportunities

Table 1: Key apparel nanotechnology products

 

For more information, kindly visit :

http://www.aarkstore.com/reports/Nanotechnology-and-the-apparel-industry-7225.html

 

While nanotechnology is only in its earliest stages of development and application within the apparel industry, experts agree that nano-enhanced garments will likely become as expected and commonplace as attributes such as stretch, breathability and comfort.

One thing is clear, if investment by other industries is any indication of market potential, apparel is on track to reap many benefits.

The first in a series of timely Executive Briefings, provides a completely fresh look at how nanotechnology – by enhancing the functionality of fashion at all levels, from athletic wear to luxury – is set to completely revolutionise the apparel sector.

Table of Contents :

1.0 Executive summary

2.0 The marketplace

-a rapidly growing market

3.0 An overview of apparel applications

-the next revolution in apparel

-nanotechnology and anti-counterfeiting

4.0 Stumbling blocks ahead?

-educating the consumer

-buzzwords causing confusion

5.0 Nanotechnology’s market impact—present and future

-different cultures, different end uses

-the application of nano particles

-the cost-benefit of nanotechnology

6.0 Key products in apparel

-Schoeller

-Nano-Tex

-Evident Technologies

7.0 Products coming down the pipeline

-Endless opportunities

Table 1: Key apparel nanotechnology products

Tatiana Velitchkov asked:


People show their emotions in many diverse and specialized ways, some of which a computer can be programmed to detect. By employing nanotechnology, a camera and image analysis software, some computers are able to observe a user’s body language and, with proper programming can accurately interpret a person’s posture, restlessness and various facial expressions like grimacing, smiling or scowling. Nanotechnology advances provide onboard sensors which can monitor heartbeats, breathing rates, fluctuations in blood pressure, and other subtle body changes such as skin temperature and voice inflection.

Because human skin has the capability of transmitting electric signals which can be utilized as a method of transmission, nanotechnology researchers have already been able to develop computers that are designed with nano sensors that have the uncanny ability to actually ‘see’ and ‘hear’ the people using them. Inevitably it is only a matter of time until the technology is available to create a computer that can readily identify whether their users are in high spirits or in a bad mood.

With ever advancing nanotechnology equipped computers, scientists figure it is entirely possible to develop a computer that is able to interpret a user’s mood via input it receives based on body language, voice tone and facial expressions and that it will be programmed to adjust itself by providing images designed to provide a feeling of comfort and serenity. Since emotions are ambiguous, transient and ultimately difficult to interpret, it would be very difficult for a computer to accurately construe the many human mood variances, regardless of how advanced the nanotechnology utilized. Therefore, in order to operate with any modicum of precision, a user would have to input the required data in advance.

Nanotechnology, with its sensor based abilities, gives programmers little problem with ‘intelligence’ based activities such as diagnosing a medical condition or participating in a game of chess, yet even with the major advancements in nanotechnology in recent years it is still somewhat of a challenge to design computers that accurately simulate human sight, audio functions, language interpretation and/or motor control.

Human vision and other sensory perceptions have evolved over billions of years and the how and why of their operations are still difficult to understand and/or simulate, while things like mathematics are explicitly taught and are, therefore, easier to express in a computer program.

Programmers are also attempting to employ nanotechnology advancements into programs that they expect to be able to accurately determine a person’s innate wishes regarding resuscitation should they fall ill and not be able to make that decision for themselves. Although, theoretically this information would be beneficial to medical teams, caution should be exercised whenever we allow a machine to determine matters relative to ethics. Regardless of the technology involved, machines are not equipped to differentiate between what is intrinsically right or wrong.

Bharat Book Bureau asked:


Nanotechnology Market Forecast Report ( http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Nanotechnology-Market-Forecast.html ) provides the information about the emerging trends of Nanotechnology Market.

Nanotechnology is going to pave the way for a revolution in materials, information and communication technology, medicine, genetics and so on as it starts moving from the laboratories to new markets. It helps to improve products and production processes with better characteristics or new functionalities. In coming years, products based on nanotechnology are expected to impact nearly all-industrial sectors and will enter the consumer markets in large quantities. Considering the future prospects of nanotechnology, countries across the world are investing heavily in this sector.

The global market for nanotechnologies is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 20% till 2013. “Nanotechnology Market Forecast to 2013”  report also projects that market for nanotechnology incorporated in manufactured goods will worth US$ 1.6 Trillion, representing a CAGR of more than 49% in the forecast period (2009-2013). This growth will largely be driven by massive investment in nanotechnology R&D by both governments and corporates across the world.

According to our report findings, at the regional level, the Asia-Pacific region will experience the fastest growth in market for nanotechnology enabled goods, with CAGR pegged at around 52% in the forecast period, followed by Europe. The recent moves by the emerging markets such as India, China and Russia in the field of nanotechnology research and development will continue to the most prominent factors behind the growth in these countries.

Our updated and detailed research report evaluates  an overview of emerging trends. The report has segmented the nanotechnology market by application and R&D investment. It discusses the nanotechnology market by key countries showing their prominence in the sector together with the emerging nations in the domain. Besides, the report covers various growth potential areas in the nanotechnology market at the global level.

 

Contact us at :

Bharat Book Bureau

Tel: 91 22 27578668

Fax: 91 22 27579131

Email: info@bharatbook.com

Website: www.bharatbook.com

Shane Morgay asked:


Automakers are constantly incorporating the most advanced technology in their lineup. This time around they are planning to use nanotechnology to come up with spectacular vehicles. Two of the most sought-after vehicles are Acura FCX 2020 Le Mans and Volkswagen Nanospyder.

Recently, automakers have unleashed their environment-friendly concept cars that are expected to be manufactured using nanotechnology. The latter is a technology of building tiny machines using functional systems at a molecular scale. According to experts, nanotechnology, in its original sense, means projected ability to assemble items from the bottom up, utilizing techniques and tools being developed these days to make complete, high performance products.

Nanotechnology works from the bottom to the inside of the machine called personal nanofactories (PNs). Using mechanochemistry, nanotechnology will facilitate control at the nanometer scale. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. Basically, it is about the width of 3 to 4 atoms.

One of the striking future cars presented is FCX 2020 Le Mans from Acura. Said car is envisioned to be powered by advanced auto parts from the automaker. It will also be using Honda car accessories to boost its ergonomics and comfort.

Acura FCX 2020 Le Mans appears like a Batmobile. The difference is that it uses lightweight and recyclable materials. Moreover, it is equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell drivetrain that makes it an environment-friendly car. Its molecular nanotechnology made it lighter and more manageable than present day cars.

Another viable future car is Volkswagen Nanospyder. The captivating car is made up billions of spore-like nanobots. The car is inclusive of mouth, eyeballs and other Volkswagen car accessories including tiny logos.

One of the exciting features of this VW Nanospyder is the ability of its lead bots to pick up impending collisions. Aside from that, the information can be sent away to support particular sections of the car.

Analysts in the auto industry are expecting a greener car future because of nanotechnology. In fact, there have been interesting concept cars submitted in the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show’s Design Challenge. The latter is a competition designed to cover future cars that are environment-friendly. Mechanics of the competition include originality, safety, environmentalism and relevancy to Southern California’s ‘green’ lifestyle.

Tatiana Velitchkov asked:


What if you were terminally ill and your doctor informed you that the venom from a snail could save your life?

What if the technology was available to produce a non-addictive painkiller that was thousands of times more potent than any morphine based product available today?

What if nanotechnology could provide the method of administering these potentially life-saving, pain elimination medicines within the near future? Would you be willing to support its advancement?

Well, nanotechnology is rapidly taking the “what if” out of just such medical conundrums. Biochemists, working in close liaison with nano-scientists, have discovered that the highly lethal venom contained in cone snails, which are found in coastal waters near coral reefs, can be extracted and, when administered via nanotechnologic methods, can potentially be used as a safe and effective alternative to highly addictive morphine-based medications.

Nanotechnology initiative programs are leading the highly competitive worldwide race in mining and providing a conduit for administering spiral snail toxins (known as conotoxins) and are developing methods of administering this peptide in a safe and positive manner.

Changes to the ion channels in human cells are directly responsible for a myriad of health disorders. Ion channels, which traditionally allow only calcium and potassium through their highly specific filtering system, can now be treated with toxins that have the ability to deactivate these channels. However, in the past, administration of these life altering conotoxins has offered a bit of a challenge to biology experts. That is, until now. This is where nanotechnology, with its innate ability to connect quantum dots, has provided a viable method of probing and infiltrating the cells in order to safely administer life altering drugs.

Due to its ability to specifically target finite and defined cells, nano-quantum dot technology provides the wherewithal to deliver conotoxins to targeted areas. Quantum dot, a nano-scale crystalline structure, is being investigated as a method of introducing medicine to specific areas of the body where the crystals act as probes that are able to track and report on antibodies, any viral activity, proteins in the area and even DNA composition.

By a system of imaging, this biochemistry and nanotechnology combination allows scientists and medical personnel alike to monitor the progression of the administered conotoxins within the body and allow the manipulation of toxin released at the designated sites.

Conotoxins have been proven as effective early detection and treatment methods for small cell lung cancer and for promoting anti-seizure treatment in epileptics. In addition, some success has been shown in treating patients who have suffered spinal cord injury, re-activating cells damaged due to oxygen deprivation and in treating clinical depression, irregular heart rhythms and some instances of urinary incontinence. Nanotechnology plays a vital role in the success of administering this innovative treatment by providing a safe and non-invasive method of administering treatment while reducing the risk of rejection by the body.

The possibility of advanced medical treatments when biochemistry, medicine and nanotechnology work in conjunction with one another is limitless.

Nanotechnology research has showed some promise in treatment of aging-related tissue degeneration in humans. With its in- vivo therapy, nanotechnology is credited with repairing degraded components of human DNA which significantly counterbalances and, in some cases, actually corrects the effects of common crippling age-related afflictions such as arthritis, osteoporosis and other debilitating diseases.

Bharat Book Bureau asked:


 

The 2009-2014 World Outlook for Nanotechnology

 

 This econometric study covers the world outlook for nanotechnology across more than 200 countries. For each year reported, estimates are given for the latent demand, or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.), for the country in question (in millions of U.S. dollars), the percent share the country is of the region and of the globe. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a country vis-à-vis others. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each country and across countries, latent demand estimates are created. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved. This study does not report actual sales data (which are simply unavailable, in a comparable or consistent manner in virtually all of the 230 countries of the world). This study gives, however, my estimates for the worldwide latent demand, or the P.I.E. for nanotechnology. It also shows how the P.I.E. is divided across the world’s regional and national markets. For each country, I also show my estimates of how the P.I.E. grows over time (positive or negative growth). In order to make these estimates, a multi-stage methodology was employed that is often taught in courses on international strategic planning at graduate schools of business. ( http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/World-Outlook-for-Nanotechnology.html )

 

 WHAT IS LATENT DEMAND AND THE P.I.E.?

 

 The concept of latent demand is rather subtle. The term latent typically refers to something that is dormant, not observable or not yet realized. Demand is the notion of an economic quantity that a target population or market requires under different assumptions of price, quality, and distribution, among other factors. Latent demand, therefore, is commonly defined by economists as the industry earnings of a market when that market becomes accessible and attractive to serve by competing firms. It is a measure, therefore, of potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) or total revenues (not profit) if a market is served in an efficient manner. It is typically expressed as the total revenues potentially extracted by firms. The “market” is defined at a given level in the value chain. There can be latent demand at the retail level, at the wholesale level, the manufacturing level, and the raw materials level (the P.I.E. of higher levels of the value chain being always smaller than the P.I.E. of levels at lower levels of the same value chain, assuming all levels maintain minimum profitability).

 

 The latent demand for nanotechnology is not actual or historic sales. Nor is latent demand future sales. In fact, latent demand can be lower or higher than actual sales if a market is inefficient (i.e. not representative of relatively competitive levels). Inefficiencies arise from a number of factors, including the lack of international openness, cultural barriers to consumption, regulations, and cartel-like behavior on the part of firms. In general, however, latent demand is typically larger than actual sales in a country market. For reasons discussed later, this report does not consider the notion of “unit quantities”, only total latent revenues (i.e. a calculation of price times quantity is never made, though one is implied). The units used in this report are U.S. dollars not adjusted for inflation (i.e. the figures incorporate inflationary trends) and not adjusted for future dynamics in exchange rates. If inflation rates or exchange rates vary in a substantial way compared to recent experience, actually sales can also exceed latent demand (when expressed in U.S. dollars, not adjusted for inflation). On the other hand, latent demand can be typically higher than actual sales as there are often distribution inefficiencies that reduce actual sales below the level of latent demand.

Contact us at :

  

 Bharat Book Bureau

 Tel: +91 22 27578668

 Fax: +91 22 27579131

 Email: info@bharatbook.com

 Website: www.bharatbook.com

sharmkan asked:


As we are facing the uncertainly in supply of crude oil, as well as affluent prices, other fuel source is a happening and hot topic. An interesting option could be ethanol, now made out of plants like corn and sugar cane. Companies and universities are eagerly working to grow this process of making ethanol from many other kinds of plant substance; that might considerably augment the amount of ethanol accessible as fuel. Nanotechnology might be to assist this important effort.

Presently ethanol that is used in fuel in the United States is made out of corn especially. The starch in the corn kernels is rehabilitated to sugar using enzymes. This starch is further fermented to shape up ethanol. Any how, in order to make a necessary reduction in the United States consummation of crude oil, we require up that production by a long way. The goal prepared recently by the United States government is to make 35 billion gallons of ethanol a year within the next ten years.

Researchers at Michigan State University are trying nanotechnology in a neat trick. They are heritably engineering corn to comprise the required enzyme. The plan is to make the enzyme unmoving until activated by high temperatures. When the cellulous part of the corn, like stalk, is procedures, the high giving out temperatures might set in motion the enzyme and change the cellulous to starch. This would avoid the added cost of creation the enzyme separately.

Researchers at the University of Rochester are as well studying how bacteria select an exacting enzyme, or enzymes, to break at specific kind of plant or other bio mass. They expect to make enzymes, which could change cellulous to ethanol in one step, other than the two steps used by the accessible processes. The advantage of cars that could be filled up with either fuel or ethanol has been verified in Brazil, they use much of its sugar cane crop to make ethanol. Using nanotechnology / genetic engineering to make ethanol from cellulous has the latent to make a serious dent in our use of crude oil. However we do require keeping an eye on some safety issues.

Itsectornews asked:


Nanotechnology is going to pave the way for a revolution in materials, information and communication technology, medicine, genetics and so on as it starts moving from the laboratories to new markets. It helps to improve products and production processes with better characteristics or new functionalities. In coming years, products based on nanotechnology are expected to impact nearly all-industrial sectors and will enter the consumer markets in large quantities. Considering the future prospects of nanotechnology, countries across the world are investing heavily in this sector.

The global market for nanotechnologies is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 20% till 2013, says “Nanotechnology Market Forecast to 2013” an analytical study by RNCOS. The report also projects that market for nanotechnology incorporated in manufactured goods will worth US$ 1.6 Trillion, representing a CAGR of more than 49% in the forecast period (2009-2013). This growth will largely be driven by massive investment in nanotechnology R&D by both governments and corporates across the world.

According to our report findings, at the regional level, the Asia-Pacific region will experience the fastest growth in market for nanotechnology enabled goods, with CAGR pegged at around 52% in the forecast period, followed by Europe. The recent moves by the emerging markets such as India, China and Russia in the field of nanotechnology research and development will continue to the most prominent factors behind the growth in these countries.

Our updated and detailed research report evaluates the past, current and future scenario of the global nanotechnology market coupled with an overview of emerging trends. The report has segmented the nanotechnology market by application and R&D investment. It discusses the nanotechnology market by key countries showing their prominence in the sector together with the emerging nations in the domain. Besides, the report covers various growth potential areas in the nanotechnology market at the global level.

For more detail visit :- http://www.itsectornews.com/Report/IM185.htm

Tatiana Velitchkov asked:


Harnessing the power of tidal currents has the potential to provide unheard of clean, renewable energy production. Nanotechnology, with its innovative approach and non-surpassed success rate, may be the conduit needed to perfect the viability of ocean-current power as an alternative energy source.

Ocean currents are a natural phenomena located along most coastlines. The only requirement for harnessing their power is that the currents amalgamate under the surface of the ocean at depths of between eighty to two hundred and thirty feet (25 – 70 meters) with a flow of between five to ten feet per second. Harnessing this type of natural energy production it is not only a feasible undertaking, but is also quite an efficient way of supplying a clean, alternative energy source.

Although tidal power is an amazing concept, wave power also offers a much needed link to cheaper, cleaner power and its availability and conversion is being investigated vigorously in the ongoing race to market an economical, clean, renewable source of energy. Concerting above ground wind turbine units to meet undersea performance is technologically possible and, with a few adjustments, present day wind turbines are easily adapted to harness the awesome power of the sea.

Physicists have studied the gravitational pull of the moon and its effect on ocean currents for eons. Ocean tides are predictable, constant, natural occurrences that are easily forecasted for years in advance. This awesome and essentially untapped source of alternative power is not negatively affected either by adverse weather conditions or climate changes – which makes it ideal for further investigation and implementation.

In order to harness the full power of the ocean, nanotechnology may be just the ticket needed to successfully construct man-made tidal dams designed to control the flow as the tides ebb and recede. Predetermined openings would allow ocean currents to flow up through these gaps into a bay or estuary where the water is collected in the dam-like barrage and then released via a series of sluice gates and through a turbine which in turn generates electricity.

This alternative energy source is well established in La Rance France where a 240 megawatt facility has been operating since 1966. In addition, other, smaller sites have also garnered some success in Canada and in South Korea plans are underway to construct a plant larger than the one in France. However, there is one drawback to this type of power harnessing. Naturalists and environmentalists are concerned with the effects that constant flooding of the barrages has on the delicate ecosystems within the bays and estuaries where they are located.

Nanotechnology scientists are working in close liaison with forward thinking ecologists to correct this deficiency by designing a type of tidal lagoon to house the turbines. Instead of creating dams within the estuary itself, they propose to take advantage of strides in nanotechnology in order to erect man-made lagoons just off shore which would be built up from the seabed and reach out at least one meter above the high tide level. In this type of construction, the turbines would be situated in a wall close to, but not interfering with, the seabed itself. The concept is simple and very effective: the water would flow in through the turbine during high tide filling the lagoon, at low tide the flow would be reversed and the turbines turned in the opposite direction. The result is a generation of electricity in both directions four times a day. Careful placement of the lagoon would be determined by the differential between the maximum heights achievable between high and low tides. Producing energy by this means is anticipated to cost less than any coal fired facility, while protecting and encouraging a positive ecological environment.

Plans are underway to begin construction in several locations off the coast of Wales and China. This combination of conventional technology in partnership with nanotechnology advances has put environmental and ecological issues to rest, yet there is still a viable concern that this type of energy plant may have an adverse effect on shipping lanes. However, these concerns have also been considered and development of barrage ocean turbines that operate independently with little or no interference to ship traffic is well into production stages.

Because narrow passages promote the fastest movement of currents, the feasibility of harnessing huge amounts of power via ocean turbines offers an excellent alternative to nuclear and coal fired energy generating plants. With the reduced threat of ecosystem damage, advanced technology, co-operation between industry and environmental agencies and the almost unlimited locations that can potentially provide ideal conditions for tidal/ocean power harnessing, this type of energy source is generating serious attention worldwide.

Therefore, this begs the question: Is it really necessary to expose our planet and its people to constant ecological threat by continuing to provide nuclear power and its associated danger to the environment? The answer is, unequivocally – No. For those of us who care about living in a cleaner, safer world, it is imperative that we embrace nanotechnology assisted methods of energy generation which are proven to exceed present energy output while reducing the threat of pollution and destruction of our ecosystems.

Bharat Book Bureau asked:


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The 2009-2014 Outlook for Nanotechnology in Japan

This econometric study covers the latent demand outlook for nanotechnology across the prefectures and cities of Japan. Latent demand (in millions of U.S. dollars), or potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) estimates are given across some 1,000 cities in Japan. For each city in question, the percent share the city is of it’s prefecture and of Japan is reported. These comparative benchmarks allow the reader to quickly gauge a city vis-à-vis others. This statistical approach can prove very useful to distribution and/or sales force strategies. Using econometric models which project fundamental economic dynamics within each prefecture and city, latent demand estimates are created for nanotechnology. This report does not discuss the specific players in the market serving the latent demand, nor specific details at the product level. The study also does not consider short-term cyclicalities that might affect realized sales. The study, therefore, is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved. ( http://www.bharatbook.com/Market-Research-Reports/Outlook-for-Nanotechnology-in-Japan.html )

WHAT IS LATENT DEMAND AND THE P.I.E.?

The concept of latent demand is rather subtle. The term latent typically refers to something that is dormant, not observable, or not yet realized. Demand is the notion of an economic quantity that a target population or market requires under different assumptions of price, quality, and distribution, among other factors. Latent demand, therefore, is commonly defined by economists as the industry earnings of a market when that market becomes accessible and attractive to serve by competing firms. It is a measure, therefore, of potential industry earnings (P.I.E.) or total revenues (not profit) if Japan is served in an efficient manner. It is typically expressed as the total revenues potentially extracted by firms. The “market” is defined at a given level in the value chain. There can be latent demand at the retail level, at the wholesale level, the manufacturing level, and the raw materials level (the P.I.E. of higher levels of the value chain being always smaller than the P.I.E. of levels at lower levels of the same value chain, assuming all levels maintain minimum profitability).

The latent demand for nanotechnology in Japan is not actual or historic sales. Nor is latent demand future sales. In fact, latent demand can be either lower or higher than actual sales if a market is inefficient (i.e., not representative of relatively competitive levels). Inefficiencies arise from a number of factors, including the lack of international openness, cultural barriers to consumption, regulations, and cartel-like behavior on the part of firms. In general, however, latent demand is typically larger than actual sales in a market. As mentioned in the introduction, this study is strategic in nature, taking an aggregate and long-run view, irrespective of the players or products involved. In fact, all the current products or services on the market can cease to exist in their present form (i.e., at a brand-, R&D specification, or corporate-image level) and all the players can be replaced by other firms (i.e., via exits, entries, mergers, bankruptcies, etc.), and there will still be latent demand for nanotechnology at the aggregate level. Product and service offerings, and the actual identity of the players involved, while important for certain issues, are relatively unimportant for estimates of latent demand.

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Katie Kelley asked:


Mesothelioma has long been linked to the inhalation and exposure to asbestos fibers and dust, so when scientists uncovered an additional potential cause for this incurable form of lung cancer, the unthinkable became a reality.

According to researchers based out of the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington D.C., the early 90′s development of carbon nanotubes has been an amazing feat for technological applications, however, it has not gone without its price. Specifically, carbon nanotubes may be causing harm to the human body in the form of mesothelioma cancer.

If the carbon nanotubes are introduced into the wrong environment, the development of lesions and inflammation of the lungs occurs – symptoms similar to that of mesothelioma cancer and asbestos exposure. Researchers uncovered the finding through exposure of carbon nanotubes to animals.

Dr. Andrew Maynard, who published a study in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, described the use of nanotubes and the potential link to mesothelioma cancer. He said that currently, nanotubes are being implemented because of their awesome abilities at conducting heat and electricity. Mostly, Dr. Maynard explains, the nanotubes are being implemented into sports equipment. He said that there are no regulations as to where nanotubes can be implemented and there are currently no requirements for the use of nanotubes to be disclosed to the general public.

What Are Nanotubes?

According to Maynard, nanotubes are a product of nanotechnology research, one he considers the “poster child” of nanotechnology. The nanotubes are cylindrical structures comprised of carbon atoms that have been rolled together. Maynard’s study found that when mice were exposed to nanotubes, they developed asbestos-induced symptoms within the lungs. While he and other researchers consider nanotubes to be safe – when encased – the risk occurs when nanotubes are incinerated or broken.

Nanotubes are currently being used in:

* a variety of sports equipment



* bicycle frames



* tennis rackets



* electronic gas detectors



* radios

Additionally, because of the strength of nanotubes, many consider its future use to vastly effect several business ventures and areas, and be widely used in industries including:

* aerospace



* automobile



* airplanes



* television box productions



* medical



* environmental uses

Working with Nanotubes

While the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is doing research on nanotoxicology, there is little knowledge or research currently available regarding the safety of using nanotechnology. Additionally, Dr. Maynard noted that because of the ever-increasing nanotechnology industry, which is likely to be worth $2.6 trillion by 2014, it will be difficult to adequately and accurately assess nanotechnology safety because of the technology’s quick growth, which is also being used in the food industry.

Transparency of nanotoxicology among some nanotechnologically-produced products may fall into the hands of manufacturers and producers, which John M. Balbus, health program chief for the Environmental Defense Fund who was interviewed in a Washington Post article on nanotechnology, said could either be a very good thing with open communications, or a very bad thing replicating the mistakes made among the construction industry’s use of asbestos. However, he noted that upfront communication regarding the dangers of nanotechnology with the public may increase because of the previous mistakes made by other industries in hiding mesothelioma conditions from the public.

Finding Help with Nanotube Related Mesothelioma

Individuals, especially nanotube factory workers who have previously worked with carbon nanotubes or have been exposed to the potential dangers associated with the nanotubes and developing mesothelioma should receive medical attention immediately.

It may also become necessary for these individuals to locate a law firm with knowledge of mesothelioma-related litigation in order to develop a mesothelioma lawsuit.

Because of the nature of the industry and the continued funding flooding into carbon nanotube research it is important to develop a lawsuit that will also alert others, in a similar predicament, and provide aware of the potentially serious health risks associated with nanotechnology. Further, because only 5 percent of the funding, which consists of billions of dollars annually, provided by the National Nanotechnology Institute is going toward health and safety research, it is important for individuals with nanotube-induced mesothelioma to develop a lawsuit that may offer monetary compensation to victims suffering from this irreversible and deadly lung cancer.

David Tanguay asked:


With all of the technology that is being continuously introduced and used, it would only seem logical in our quest for a green world to apply some of the renewable energy efforts to this spectrum. That is exactly what some scientists are looking into with their research on how nanotechnology can be used with lithium batteries.

According to Science News, a report that will be published in International Journal of Nanomanufacturing asserts that “carbon nanotubes can prevent such batteries from losing their charge capacity over time.” The batteries they are speaking of are the lithium-based batteries that are found in commonly used devices such as MP3 players, laptop computers, and cell phones.

As any of us who partake of these various technologies are quite aware of, with continued use, the battery power just seems to lose its life. As the news story reports, elements such as hot and cold temperatures help this reduction process along even more. Scientists have been researching this degradation process for awhile, and have looked into silicon to replace the universally used lithium-ion batteries. However, due to the fast rate that silicon also degrades, they have had to search even further.

This is where nanotechnology comes into play. As Science News states, “Shengyang’s Hui-Ming Cheng and colleagues have turned to carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to help them use silicon (Si) as the battery anode but avoid the problem of large volume change during alloying and de-alloying.” By introducing the carbon nanotubes to the silicon, they seem to be solving some of the problems that previously existed.

The whole process is quite amazing. “The researchers grew carbon nanotubes on the surface of tiny particles of silicon using a technique known as chemical vapor deposition in which a carbon-containing vapor decomposes and then condenses on the surface of the silicon particles forming the nanoscopic tubes. They then coated these particles with carbon released from sugar at a high temperature in a vacuum. A separate batch of silicon particles produced using sugar but without the CNTs was also prepared.”

The scientists used these two diverse batches and compared them. What they found was remarkable – the batch using the carbon produced a discharge capacity twice that of the one which only contained the silicon particles.

There seems to be many reasons that have prompted research into better material used to create batteries. Reports of fires found to be ignited by lithium-ion batteries, although rare, seem to have caused much attention to be placed on safer materials. The general complaint many have regarding the increased reduction of device batteries after continued use is likely another reason that prompted the research. Whatever the likely combination was, this new research could be monumental in how users of technological devices power up their gadgets.

Nanotechnology is not the only material researchers are using in their quest for a better battery, but it does seem to be one of the options that show much promise.

Olga Kostrova, asked:


I would lie if I said that I know enough about nanotechnology, but from little I know, dangerous questions arise in my dangerous mind.

How nanotechnology and artificial intelligence development will effect the world of advertising and the business world as such?

To connect with my stream of thoughts, I suggest you to take 6 mins of your time and watch an interview with Ray Kurzweil who tells about his vision of the Singuarlity — a point around 2045 when artificial intelligence will blossom to such degree that technology will infuse itself with biology. Either you are skeptic or supporter, it will not matter when this picture becomes a matter of fact. Ray‘s theories have many supporters, as well as critics, but the fact that numerous Kurzweil’s theories and predictions he made few decades ago, now are the reality that seems obvious to us.

See the video on the IdeaMama’s blog where the article was originally posted:

http://ideamamaadnetwork.com/blog/2009/08/16/corporate-world-marketers-future-nanotech-nanotechnology-digital-products-business-strategy-compute/

“We have shown the feasibility of manipulating matter at the molecular level, which is what biology does. One of the ways to create nanotechnology is to start with biological mechanisms and modify them to extend the biological paradigm – to go beyond proteins. That vision of molecular nanotechnology assembly – of using massively parallel, fully programmable processes to grow objects with remarkable properties – is about twenty years away”, says Ray Kurzweil in one of his interviews. “The key issue is that information technology and information processes progress at an exponential pace. Biological evolution itself was an information process – the backbone is the genetic code, which is a digital code.” If indeed we decode the “DNA” of matter, creating ”things” out of the air (almost literally – all you need is a digital code that a friend sends to you via email or post on his blog) will become as easy as printing the fax page sent to you in a digital format today. Matter fabrication where the output of computation finds itself in a digital world, so any of products below become not more than a digital code, various combinations of 1 and 0 can effect all world processes to such to such degree that we can not even imagine now.

“We have shown the feasibility of manipulating matter at the molecular level, which is what biology does. One of the ways to create nanotechnology is to start with biological mechanisms and modify them to extend the biological paradigm – to go beyond proteins. That vision of molecular nanotechnology assembly – of using massively parallel, fully programmable processes to grow objects with remarkable properties – is about twenty years away”, says Ray Kurzweil in one of his interviews. “The key issue is that information technology and information processes progress at an exponential pace. Biological evolution itself was an information process – the backbone is the genetic code, which is a digital code.” If indeed we decode the “DNA” of matter, creating ”things” out of the air (almost literally – all you need is a digital code that a friend sends to you via email or post on his blog) will become as easy as printing the fax page sent to you in a digital format today. Matter fabrication where the output of computation finds itself in a digital world, so any of products below become not more than a digital code, various combinations of 1 and 0 can effect all world processes to such to such degree that we can not even imagine now.

No more Amazon, no more eBay, no more needs for sweet savings? No more wholesalers and distributors since no more retain chains… as we know it?

Boy, what is your girl going to Tweet about if not about her new bra?  Well, may be about the one she just have fabricated from an open source code?

Of course significant majority of the world population has no idea what might be coming, but the captains of multibillion dollars corporation who are responsible for the future of companies they are leading, have no right not to care. Corporate executive might ignore the development of nano science, but ignorance will not help to quickly turnaround the company that one day can became invalid in a blink of an eye, and “nobody seen it coming”.

If you are a young advertising professional, don’t you wonder what you might be advertising in the last decade before your retirement? May be all there will be is digital goods?

And if you are running a hype ad agency, don’t you think that all traditional media performance matrix might become irrelevant as expression “print media” becomes an archaism, so all your focus has to shift to mastering digital marketing techniques?

And if this truly digital world indeed will become the reality of the future, it opens unlimited opportunities to step beyond the commerce. We might become observers or participants of the new scene where innovation will jump out of each of 10 billions computers (of course at that point there will be no need in computers as we know them today).

The video (see on IdeaMama’s the blog) below supports the concept of the world as a “global invention lab” which breaks organizational boundaries and helps creative minds to invent solutions to both local and global problems.

Now imagine what shift would arise in a social media (if it doesn’t go down the drill till then). I cannot wait for the time when I can transform IdeaMamaClub.com (http://www.IdeaMamaClub.com) and furnish it by cloud hosted tools for innovation beyond imagination… (Hey, may be in my 60th I will look younger then now with new nano tools for immortal suffering :-)). I do believe matter “decoding” might happen within this lifetime… I guess that would take IdeaMama from Web 3.0 to Web 4.0, Web 5.0, or what have you.

Do I believe in the prevailing goodness of developments in nanotech and artificial intelligence? I never said so, but ethical / moral side of technology evolution is a separate conversation all together, and I will come back to it in one of my articles.

“There is no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world. … In this lies our only security and our only hope—we believe that an informed citizenry will act for life and not death.” Albert Einstein about atomic energy.

Here are excerpts from Nanoveau, a new column by John Robert Marlow, the author of the novel Nano: Digital Matter—Understanding Nanotechnology.

The coming Age of Nanotechnology might best be described as the Age of Digital Matter, for it will be a time in which it becomes possible to manipulate the physical world in much the same way that a computer now manipulates the digital ones and zeroes on its hard drive.

There are 116 known elements, or types of atoms. The world and everything in it is made up of atoms of one or some combination of those elements. The arrangement and combination of these atoms determines what a thing will be. Consider the element of carbon: arrange a gaggle of carbon atoms one way, and you have a worthless lump of graphite; arrange them a bit differently, and you have a diamond. Combined with oxygen atoms, they become a gas floating through the atmosphere. When arranged in yet another manner, and combined with several additional elements—those same atoms form a human being.

And just as the digital ones and zeroes of a computer’s binary code can be arranged to form mathematical formula, a symphony, an invitation to a hate rally or pornography—any object on earth can be torn apart into its basic atoms, which can then be used to build something else.

In the same way that the hate rally invitation can be deleted and overwritten with, say, Beethoven’s Ninth, it will be possible to disassemble a car, a building, or a person—and use their atoms to build something else. It will also be possible (and more common) to gather the necessary atoms from a junkyard, a dump, or the environment itself—and then use those atoms to make something useful.

Nanotech is, at its heart, a technology which will allow us to work directly with the basic building blocks of matter—to manipulate individual atoms at will. Because human hands are millions of times too large to do this, we must construct incredibly small machines, or nanodevices, to do the work for us. Such devices are now being developed.

Just a few of the many good things this technology will make possible: pollution reversal (because pollutants can be reduced to their component atoms and recycled); elimination of disease and genetic defects (because the body’s cells and DNA can be altered); eradication of poverty (because production costs of nearly all products—including food—will drop to near-zero); microscopic computers faster than today’s best supercomputers (because of radical miniaturization); inexpensive space travel (low production costs for lighter and stronger materials), and; the indefinite extension of human lifespan (because cells which grow old or damaged can be completely restored).

“… Production costs of nearly all products—including food—will drop to near-zero!” So, do you think this development would effect your business? You better believe it!

CONCLUSION:

Are we moving from programming bits to programming atoms and as a result of it – matter? None of us can know for sure. But those who invest millions or billions of dollars in creation of hard assets with intent to commercialize them in few decades just can not afford not to care. Entrepreneurs, managers, venture capitalists…. Can you?

I don’t suggest anybody to believe that this picture is our definite future, but I encourage us to assume that it is quite possible and ask “what if” when making plans – if the prediction to be true, the long-term strategic plans that we are making now can be used in a digitally designed restroom, pardon my French.

I encourage us, who invent the products, build companies, strategize and design processes simply expand our consciousness and ask right questions… and hold our horses when skeptical “no way” response arises in the mind. The reality of tomorrow might surprise all of us.

It all might be just a theory, but might be one that is included in a history book a few decades from now. One never knows… unless he does…

“[Nanotechnology is] a development which I think cannot be avoided.”

—Richard Feynman, Nobel Laureate, Physics

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