Nanotechnology: Impossible made possible

Written by: Jason Tyson

       Nanotechnology is a perfect example of 21st century technology that will have a major impact on human capability in the future. Have you ever wished that you could make a copy of an item that you have just broken or instantly solve world hunger? Well this and much more can be made possible by nanotechnology. Companies all over the world are now trying to develop this technology, companies such as IBM, XEROX, and Bell Labs Innovations.

      Nanotechnology is the ability to build objects, one atom at a time, through the use of programmed nanoscopic robots; just like a seed does when it uses proteins to manipulate atoms of water, soil, and air to make a copy of the plant that it just left. Each robot will be the size of a nanometer. (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter (3-4) atoms wide.) The trick is to get these nanoscopic robots to place the atoms where they need to be placed in order to produce the desired object.

• A virtual end to illness by using miscopic robots to kill molecules of a virus
  
• Reintroduction of many extinct plants and animals
  
• Molecular food synthesis to put an end to world hunger
  
• End of pollution, and destruction of existing pollution, by breaking down pollution at a molecular level

       If all of these things were to happen it would revolutionize human development and push us into an era of our own evolution. With the development of nanotechnology, we could actually improve upon the human body, at a molecular level, in a matter of weeks. (Those same molecular improvements would normally take nature generations to accomplish.) We could improve upon such things as our memory, strength and resistance to disease.

      The main reason so many companies are trying to develop nanotechnology is so they can make their products at practically no cost. They would not need to waste money and resources making a product, such as microchips, when they could literally make it out of thin air. The first company to develop this technology would also be able to create never before heard of materials: materials like more durable metals or rare energy sources like antimatter, a known compact and enduring energy source. As you can see, the rewards for a fully developed version of this technology are endless.

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