To design nanomotors that spin 100 million times per second and program for devices and systems built at the molecular and atomic levels, future engineers may need backgrounds in biology and chemistry as well as engineering, according to those working in the field of nanotechnology. THE predictions are bold - nano chips will supplant silicon chips within a decade, reinventing the semiconductor industry, and medical delivery systems using nanotechnology will revolutionise medicine before this century is half gone. Futurists even predict the advent of spiritual machines to be embedded within humans. Nanotechnology builds on the atomic and molecular levels. Nano refers to nanometer, one-billionth of a metre, which is the width of five carbon atoms.
Molecules consist of two or more atoms.
The ultimate goal of nanotechnology is to imitate life by producing minuscule self-replicating devices to fight disease, store and process information, and perform construction tasks. To be effective, nanodevices must be self-replicating because to manufacture them individually would be prohibitively expensive. Rather than a seperate science, nanotechnology is an umbrella term for research being conducted at the molecular level in physics, engineering, biology, and chemistry. A few breakthroughs building illustrate the parallels of nanoscience and basic engineering. In a famous demonstration, the two men using the STM arranged 35 xenon atoms to form the IBM logo.