If you are interested at all in “nanotech,” you probably already know some of the industry buzz words for nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the study of any form of technology or the manipulation of any type of matter that can be measured on the scale of a nanometer, which is one billionth of a meter. Fibers, circuits, even wires can be created on an atomic or molecular basis, so basically anything that can be measured to be between 1 and 100 nanometers in size, no matter the physical properties, as well as any study of particles this small or controlling matter on a molecular level is considered “nanotech.” Naturally, with anything this “cutting edge” in regard to technology, there are ideas generated and shared, and before you know it there are terms and a designated lingo when speaking about subjects such as “nanotech.” And with the absolutely vast array of application options, from fiber optics and circuit generation to medical equipment to the cell phone you hold in your hand, nanotechnology is on the forefront of improving all of these areas of technology.
A few of the industry buzz words for nanotechnology are:
If you say this word around anyone who has any sort of background in the intricacies of nanotechnology, you will undoubtedly see their ears perk. This term is considered to be the unicorn of the nanotech world. If a nanoassembler is ever perfected and introduced to the world, all of the available science states that the assembly or building of anything imaginable becomes completely possible.
In fact, the creation of a fully functioning nanoassembler will only have the limitations of the imagination possessed by the manipulator. Once the item was thoroughly designed, meaning each component being broken down to the molecular level, the nanoassembler would be able to use the specifications of the design and create any item feasible. What’s the holdup? A functioning fabricator has to be able to combine separated molecules and create designed shapes from them on a nanoscale (size being between 1 and 100 nanometers).
Basically a nanobalance can be described as a scale that measures the nanometer mass of a particle by attaching the particle to the end of a nanotube. This nanoscale can weigh particles such as viruses. To show the size range you’re considering here, we’re talking picograms. A nanobalance works because of the fact that any mass that is attached to end of a calibrated nanotube will significantly shift the nanotube’s frequency of resonance, making it able to determine the particle’s overall mass.
Science is approaching the absolute limitations of all available technology when it comes to the aspect of the microchip. Developers have “pushed the envelope” with the microchip, and it’s becoming more and more apparent that there is only so much we will be able to do with this technology. That’s where the nanochip comes in. The nanochip will open the door to the next computer age, with smaller devices that can store an enormous amount of information in a fraction of the size, perform at a higher rate of speed, and cost a fraction of the rate of current technology to create.
With the creation of nanochips, the doors will be opened to produce nanocomputers. A nanocomputer is a computer made solely from components, both mechanical and electronic, created at the nanometer scale. This technology alone would allow computer software to make unbelievable leaps in terms of capabilities, at a speed that would make most existing computer systems and software obsolete.
Though science is working feverishly to make nanotechnology accessible to people who wouldn’t otherwise ever know of its existence, it could still be years before we see the direct results of the study in our daily lives. In the meantime, there are still plenty of industry buzz words for nanotechnology, and with the technology available now, however, one can only imagine the types of things that will become possible when nanotechnology becomes a mainstream and accessible technology for all fields of current technology to utilize.