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Hi! Thank you for visiting here. I am glad that I have done with a blog filled with useful information that I can share with all my followers.  In this blog I will be writing about Nanotechnology.  Specifically, what nanotechnology gives to our environment.

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Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. 

The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal of precisely manipulating atoms and molecules for fabrication of macroscale products, also now referred to as molecular nanotechnology.

In its original sense, nanotechnology refers to the projected ability to construct items from the bottom up, using techniques and tools being developed today to make complete, highly advanced products.

Click here for the video of Nanotechnology and Environment

Nanotechnology is often referred to as a general-purpose technology. That’s because in its mature form it will have significant impact on almost all industries and all areas of society. It offers better built, longer lasting, cleaner, safer, and smarter products for the home, for communications, for medicine, for transportation, for agriculture, and for industry in general.

Applications of Nanotechnology

Nanomedicine

Nanobiotechnology

Green nanotechnology

Energy applications of nanotechnology

Industrial applications of nanotechnology

Potential applications of carbon nanotubes

Nanotechnology as defined by size is naturally very broad, including fields of science as diverse assurface science, organic chemistry, molecular biology, semiconductor physics and microfabrication. The associated research and applications are equally diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly, from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to direct control of matter on the atomic scale.

Scientists currently debate the future implications of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology may be able to create many new materials and devices with a vast range of applications, such as in medicine,electronics, biomaterials and energy production.

 On the other hand, nanotechnology raises many of the same issues as any new technology, including concerns about the toxicity and environmental impact of nanomaterials,and their potential effects on global economics, as well as speculation about various doomsday scenarios. These concerns have led to a debate among advocacy groups and governments on whether special regulation of nanotechnology is warranted.

Nanotechnology in Medicine Application

Therapy Techniques

Researchers have demonstrated a method to generate sound waves that are powerful, but also tightly focused, that may eventually be used for noninvasive surgery. They use a lens coated with carbon nanotubes to convert light from a laser to focused sound waves. The intent is to develop a method that could blast tumors or other diseased areas without damaging healthy tissue.

Researchers are investigating the use of bismuth nanoparticles to concentrate radiation used in radiation therapy to treat cancer tumors. Initial results indicate that the bismuth nanoparticles would increase the radiation dose to the tumor by 90 percent.

Nanoparticles composed of polyethylene glycol-hydrophilic carbon clusters (PEG-HCC) have been shown to absorb free radicals at a much higher rate than the proteins out body uses for this function. This ability to absorb free radicals may reduce the harm that is caused by the release of free radicals after a brain injury.

Targeted heat therapy is being developed to destroy breast cancer tumors. In this method antibodies that are strongly attracted to proteins produced in one type of breast cancer cell are attached to nanotubes, causing the nanotubes to accumulate at the tumor. Infrared light from a laser is absorbed by the nanotubes and produces heat that incinerates the tumor.

Diagnostic Techniques

Researchers are developing a nanoparticle intended to make very early detection of cancer tumors easier. When the nanoparticles attach to a cancer tumors the nanoparticles release "biomarkers", molecules called peptides. The idea is that since each nanoparticle carries several peptides a high  concentration of these biomarkers will occur  even at very early stages of cancer, allowing early detection of the disease.

A test for early detection of kidney damage is being developed. The method uses gold nanorodsfunctionalized to attach to the type of protein generated by damaged kidneys. When protein accumulates on the nanorod the color of the nanorod shifts. The test is designed to be done quickly and inexpensively for early detection of a problem.

Silver nanorods in a diagnostic system are being used to separate viruses, bacteria and other microscopic components of blood samples, allowing clearer Raman spectroscopy signals of the components. This methods has been demonstrated to allow identification of viruses and bacteria in less than an hour.

Anti-Microbial Techniques

One of the earliest nano-medicine applications was the use of nano-crystalline silver which is  as an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of wounds, as discussed on the Nucryst Pharmaceuticals Corporation website.

A nanoparticle cream has been shown to fight staph infections. The nanoparticles contain nitric oxide gas, which is known to kill bacteria. Studies on mice have shown that using the nanoparticle cream to release nitric oxide gas at the site of staph abscesses significantly reduced the infection.

Burn dressing that is coated with nanocapsules containing antibotics. If a infection starts the harmful bacteria in the wound causes the nanocapsules to break open, releasing the antibotics. This allows much quicker treatment of an infection and reduces the number of times a dressing has to be changed.

The Application of Nanotechnology to Energy Production

Generating steam from sunlight.

 Researchers have demonstrated that sunlight, concentrated on nanoparticles, can produce steam with high energy efficiency. The "solar steam device" is intended to be used in areas of developing countries without electricity for applications such as purifying water or disinfecting dental instruments.

Producing high efficiency light bulbs.

 A nano-engineered polymer matrix is used in a new style of high efficiency light bulbs. The bulbs produce white light, similar to sunlight and can be made in any shape. The new bulbs have the advantage of being shatterproof and twice the efficiency of compact fluorescence light bulbs.

Nanotechnology started with a talk entitled “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom” by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical Society meeting at the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) on December 29, 1959. 

The scanning tunneling microscope, an instrument for imaging surfaces at the atomic level, was developed in 1981 by Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer. 

In the early 2000s, the field was subject to growing public awareness and controversy, with prominent debates about both its potential implications, exemplified by the Royal Society's report on nanotechnology.

NANOTECH'S NEWS!

DID YOU KNOW?

Mechanical nanocomputer technology has sparked controversy and some researchers even consider it unworkable. All the problems inherent in Babbage's apparatus, according to the naysayers, are magnified a million fold in a mechanical nanocomputer. Nevertheless, some futurists are optimistic about the technology, and have even proposed the evolution of nanorobots that could operate, or be controlled by, mechanical nanocomputers.

Cornell leads universities overall in nanotechnology rankings by leading industry magazine

June 13, 2006

In a series of rankings of university nanotechnology programs by Small Times, a trade magazine devoted to nanotechnology, Cornell ranked in the top 10 in eight out of nine categories, and in the top five in six categories, leading all universities overall.