News
By Sam Bresnahan
|
August 27, 2001
With uses ranging from the practical to the inane, nanotechnology, the science of the small, may be the next big thing.
In fact, things are getting so small that scientists need multi-million dollar microscopes to see what they are building.
For example, in 1989 an IBM scientist succeeded in writing the letters of his company using individual atoms.
Researchers in this growing field often manipulate objects that are a hundred thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair.
Although such an accomplishment may seem pointless, futurists such as Eric Drexler say nanotechnology will become the center of a new-age revolution.
Drexler's book "Engines of Creation" envisions a future where tiny machines are capable of building any object from scratch - whether it be food, cars or even more tiny machines.
Nano-hype?
Drexler's vision of a world filled with machines probably won't be realized for a very long time, if ever.