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We searched Yahoo! for "nanotechnology " and selected the first result, a link to Yahoo! News Full Coverage. We found a compelling aggregation of current headlines, feature articles, and related web sites on the subject of nanotechnology, the science of the small. Nano is Greek for dwarf, and nanoscience deals with the study of molecular and atomic particles, a world that is measured in nanometers (billionths of a meter or 10-9 ). Nanotechnology research has focusly primarily on molecular manufacturing -- the creation of tools, materials, and
machines that will eventually enable us "to snap together the fundamental building blocks of nature easily, inexpensively and in most of the ways permitted by the laws of physics." A leading nanotech scientist describes past efforts at molecular level manufacturing as attempts to assemble LEGO pieces while wearing boxing gloves. Nanotechnology, he believes, will enable us to take off the gloves and build extraordinary things. The timeline of nanotech history usually begins with a talk given in 1959 by physicist Richard Feynman, titled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom." The next milestone comes in 1981,
when MIT graduate student K. Eric Drexler, inspired by Feynman, published an article called "Protein design as a pathway to molecular manufacturing." This is followed by Drexler's definitive 1986 book, Engines of Creation, now available on the Web in its entirety. The Foresight Institute, founded by Drexler and colleagues, remains a primary source of nanoscience research. Recently, Foresight launched Nanodot, a news and discussion site for the latest nano developments, fashioned in collaborative, up-to-the-minute Slashdot format. We are still in the dawn age of nanotechnology. Theories and techniques
continue to emerge -- captivating scientists, students, entrepreneurs, investors, and even the U.S. government, which is betting that nanotechnology could lead to the next industrial revolution. With powerful tools like the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), processes like molecular beam epitaxy (a way to build layered materials by "spray painting with atoms"), and brave new materials like fullerenes, the potential for innovation is vast. Nanotechnology is a realm of possibility that reads like speculative science fiction. A richly illustrated PDF
brochure titled "Nanotechnology: Shaping the World Atom by Atom" increased our understanding of this "ultimate toy box."
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