If you could connect a little nanometer scale probe to a long wire you would have the essence of the nanosensor. The nanosensor may actually be designed to work in regular body fluid. We could actually go inside the body and sense real living cells or sit there and monitor the stuff that comes by in your blood stream. We tend to bandy the term nanotechnology about more than nanoscience or nanoengineering primarily because in one word nanotechnology comprises both the fundamental intellectual aspect of this new field and the fact that it is relevant to society. It's important that we get basic science more immediately coupled to the real world.
Nanotechnology has that aspect to it.
It is out of some of this basic nanoscience that future practical technologies will arise. When we say nanotechnology, that does not mean we exclude nanoscience. In fact, it must be included. Explain the particular strengths we have at Rice and what's going to happen here. If in fact this revolution of learning how to manipulate things on a nanometer scale much like you build bridges really starts to happen, it's going to have vast impact on all of these departments.