What many scientists are calling “the next big thing” is really very small. Nanotechnology uses extremely tiny particles to make lots of things better and stronger. It involves the manufacture and manipulation of materials on an extremely tiny scale – particles so small that they can’t be seen with the unaided eye.
The unit of measure, a nanometer, is one-billionth of a meter – comparable in size to 10 hydrogen atoms, or roughly one-50,000th the width of a human hair. (Nano is from the Greek nanos, which meant little old man or dwarf.)
But these tiny structures – be they carbon nanofibers, liquid crystals or something else – pack a large potential, for good or bad.