What's the Latest in Nano Technology?

I just Googled "nanotechnology", and got nearly 17 million hits! There's a fair bit to get your teeth into.

Smalltimes is a general magazine on small tech.

Any specific area of application will have a magazine and nano in it. I.E. photonics, sensors, materials etc.

I would say, as an "unable technology" nanotechnology is already being part of our industry and society. A lot of effort is being devoted in basic in applied research within the field everywhere. I suppose fundamental breakthroughs take place slowly, not really being much noticed when they are taking place, but only later on, when looking back and comparing achivements.

there are many small machines used in the human body. enzyme based and pattern based programmable assembly machines with RNA 'tapes' used to xcarry instructions in the golgi apparatus and other places.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golgi_apparatus

as far as I know, these work and we are trying to make similar stuff ourselves. At this size gravity is negligible and viscosity and electris fields rule the roost.

As far as making tiny wheeled cars to operate inside our veins to chip off plaque...time will tell

Nanotechnology is a broad term and there does not seem to be any one definition. In the broadest sense it is the development of new technologies that make use of our ability to make extremely small objects. Unfortunately, there has been too much hype, including the image of robots working in blood vessels. Governments around the world have begun funding research in "nanotechnology" at a very high rate. All of a sudden everything has become nano in an effort to attract federal funds, including basic polymer synthesis (e.g., dendritic polymers) which is old technology that now is presented as nano. The most interesting applications I've seen are "Quantum Dots" and extremely small particles that have a high surface area to volume ratio. Quantum dots are nano-sized particles that absorb and emit light at very high efficiences, making them useful for detection in life sceince research. The use of small particles to carry therapeutic compounds to their targets is also interesting. This includes the ability to administer drugs transdermally. Another interesting area is the fabrication of artificial membranes that have extremely small, but well-defined pores, for use in separating small molecules. But much of the nano press comes from the excitement of attracting government funds and venture capital investment, unfortunately. It is often difficult to sort out the relevance of so many nano projects and "inventions."

I happen to be the Equipment Engineer for NanoOpto Corp. You might want to take a look at our websight below. We try to work on a spec of +/- 3-5 nanometers. Interesting enough, we utililze much of the same equipment a semiconductor fab would use. Our products are already being used in fiber optic communications and in cell phone cameras with an ever increasing interest from the government. Anyway, hope this sheds a little light on the subject for you.

http://www.nanoopto.com/

BTW, as you might imagine...at this scale, particle contamination is our worst enemy.

To all:

Thank you for the information, it is a very exciting technology. I can imagine a wide area of applications e.g. medical, agriculture, weapons etc.

I, for one, would rather not imagine the weapons.

Neither would I, but when you look at the DARPA website it's apparent that somebody is.

The latest is.......they is still tiny.