Micro machines

Micro machin Minimum size with es MAXIMUM potential

A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter or about the width of ten atoms. A single human hair is about 80,000 nanometers wide. Recent scientific advances mean that machines and materials are starting to be constructed on this phenomenally small scale.

Thinking small

The concepts behind nanotechnology were first discussed in 1959 by American physicist RichARd FeynmAn in his talk “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom.” He urged scientists to think small and build technology out of atoms.

Scientists started at the micRoscAle, measured in thousandths of a millimeter, building motors, gears, electronic circuits, and even sunglasses for houseflies! Microprocessor chips found in smartphones and PCs feature millions of switches and circuits etched onto a circuit board smaller than a fingernail.

It paved the way for…

Many clothing manufacturers already sell stain-resistant clothes that contain tiny particles called nanowhiskers, which stop stains from sticking to the fabric. There are 600 nanofoods on the market today, including a variety of canola oil that can

In 1981, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) was invented by German scientists Gerd binniG and HeinricH roHrer. It uses a needle tip just a few atoms wide to scan an object, tracing out the surface atoms and spaces between them to form an image. STMs work at incredible resolutions, capable of showing us individual atoms. They also allow scientists to work at the nanoscale directly, moving and manipulating individual atoms for the first time.

This highly magnified view shows an STM’s needle.

Nanobot injects treatment directly into cell.

Diseased cell

Lifesaving nanobots

Now that scientists are able to work on the nanoscale, the possibilities are endless.

One key application in the future could be medical nanobots—tiny robots injected into the body. Some might scrub blood vessels clean of fats while others could repair damage from the inside, or track, capture, and deal with harmful bacteria or diseased cells (left). Swarms of nanobots might monitor you from the inside to give your body a continual checkup.

Did you know? These micro-cogs, shown here next to a fly’s leg, were made using techniques that can work at scales of thousandths of a millimeter.

How it changed the world

The answer is…we don’t know yet, since all things nano are only just starting. But they could revolutionize the way we live in the future.

NaNoparticles of metal oxides are used in some suNscreeNs. They offer protection from the sun but don’t leave white marks on the skin. GrapheNe is a remarkable material with many potential applications. It is made of carboN atoms joined in hexagons that form a surface a single atom thick.