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The term "nano" refers to the metric prefix 10-9. It means one billionth of something. Nanoscience is the study of structures and materials on the scale of nanometers. To give you an idea of how long a nanometer is, a printed page is about 75,000 nanometers thick. When structures are made small enough -- in the nanometer size range -- they can take on interesting and useful properties.
Nanoscale structures have existed in nature long before scientists began studying them in laboratories. A single strand of DNA, the building block of all living things, is about three nanometers wide. The scales on a morpho butterfly’s wings contain nanostructures that change the way light waves interact with each other, giving the wings brilliant metallic blue and green hues. Peacock feathers and soap bubbles also get their iridescent coloration from light interacting with structures just tens of nanometers thick. Scientists have even created nanostructures in the laboratory that mimic some of nature’s amazing nanostructures.
This week, a look at nanotech.
TTFN, Fred.
Quote of the week: "Everyone's trying to...look out for us. Protect us from ourselves. But in the end, all that matters is how we feel...and what we do about it. Because either way, we're the ones who have to live with the consequences." - Jadzia Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Rejoined"
It's not the destination, it's the journey. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ernest Hemingway, Arthur Ashe, Zig Ziglar, Brian Eno and many others had something to say about this. I've had many interesting journeys along the way and look forward to many more.
Still, wouldn't getting wherever it is you are traveling to in a few seconds beat spending hours in a car or a crowded airplane?
This week, a look at getting somewhere in the blink of an eye.
TTFN, Fred.
Quote of the week: "I’ll never understand this obsession with accumulating material wealth. You spend your entire life plotting and scheming to acquire more and more possessions until your living areas are bursting with useless junk. Then you die, your relatives sell everything and start the cycle all over again." - Odo, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Q-Less"
I was a terrible tooth brusher as a child and, consequently spent many hours in the dentist chair. I learned to loath the Kit-Cat Clock hanging in the examination/torture room with it’s iconic swinging tail, rolling eyes and scary smile, laughing at me as the doctor put that foot long needle through my cheek and jaw to anesthetize my mouth.
This week, a look at hyposprays.
TTFN, Fred.
Quote of the week: "I will not sacrifice the Enterprise. We've made too many compromises already. Too many retreats. They invade our space and we fall back. They assimilate entire worlds and we fall back. Not again. The line must be drawn here! This far, no further!" - Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek VIII: First Contact
