1. The art of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale especially to build microscopic devices; such as, robots.
2. A field of science whose goal is to control individual atoms and molecules to create computer chips and other devices that are thousands of times smaller than current technologies permit. Now, current manufacturing processes are using lithography to imprint circuits on semiconductor materials.
3. In the popular press, the term nanotechnology is sometimes used to refer to any sub-micron process, including lithography; as a result of this, there are many scientists who are beginning to use the term molecular nanotechnology when talking about true nanotechnology at the molecular level.
4. The science and technology of devices and materials; such as, electronic circuits or drug delivery systems, constructed on extremely small scales, as small as individual atoms and molecules.

This is the science and technology of precisely manipulating the structure of matter at the molecular level. The term nanotechnology embraces many fields and specialties, including engineering, chemistry, electronics, and medicine, among others; but all are concerned with bringing existing technologies down to a very small scale, measured in nanometers.

• A nanometer (a billionth of a meter) is about the size of six carbon atoms in a row.
• Today, as in the past, most industrial products are created by pushing piles of millions of atoms together; by mixing, grinding, heating; a very imprecise process.
• Scientists can now pick up individual atoms to assemble them into simple structures or cause specific chemical reactions.
• Propellers have been attached to molecular motors, and electricity has been conducted through nanowires.
• Nanotubes made of carbon are being investigated for a variety of industrial and research purposes.
• In the future, nanotechnology may be able to harness the forces that operate at the scale of the nanometer; as well as, changes in the quantum states of particles, for new engineering purposes.
• The development of nanotechnology holds out great promise of improvements in the quality of human life, including new treatments for diseases and greater efficiency in computer data storage and processing.
• Tiny autonomous robots, or nanobots, may one day be sent into human bodies to repair cells and cure cancers, perhaps even extending the human life span by many years (all very speculative).
• The simple devices created by nanotechnology so far have not approached the complexity of the envisioned nanomachines and nanobots.
• Some scientists even see a dark side to the technology, emphasizing the need for caution in its development, particularly in attempts to create nonobots that can replicate themselves like living organisms.

This article will describe what nano means.

A presentation of mostly unfounded fears of nanotechnology and how it may affect life on earth in a negative way.

Nanotechnology Index.

Often hailed as the next industrial revolution, nanotechnology gets little attention from newspapers.

An explanation of big monetary investments that are being made by governments and private industries.

A wide range of applications for nanotechnology is anticipated.