Nanotechnology that we use in life. "Nanotechnology in the modern world

Markin Kirill Petrovich

The field of science and technology called nanotechnology appeared relatively recently. The prospects for this science are immense. The particle itself "nano" means one billionth of any value. For example, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. These sizes are similar to those of molecules and atoms. The precise definition of nanotechnology is as follows: nanotechnology is technologies that manipulate matter at the level of atoms and molecules (therefore, nanotechnology is also called molecular technology). The impetus for the development of nanotechnology was a lecture by Richard Feynman, in which he scientifically proves that from the point of view of physics there are no obstacles to creating things directly from atoms. To denote a means of efficiently manipulating atoms, the concept of an assembler was introduced - a molecular nanomachine that can build any molecular structure. An example of a natural assembler is the ribosome, which synthesizes protein in living organisms. Obviously, nanotechnology is not just a separate piece of knowledge; it is a large-scale, comprehensive area of research related to the fundamental sciences. We can say that almost any subject, of those that are studied at school, one way or another will be associated with the technologies of the future. The most obvious is the connection of “nano” with physics, chemistry and biology. Apparently, it is these sciences that will receive the greatest impetus for development in connection with the approaching nanotechnical revolution.

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Introduction ……………………………………………………………… ..
1. Nanotechnology in modern world………………………………...
1.1 The history of the emergence of nanotechnology ………………………… ...
1.2 Nanotechnology in different spheres of human life….
1.2.1 Nanotechnology in space …………………………………………
1.2.2 Nanotechnology in medicine ……………………………………….
1.2.3 Nanotechnology in the food industry ………………… ...
1.2.4 Nanotechnology in military affairs ………………………………… ..
Conclusion………………………………………………………………..
Bibliography……………………………..................................... ....

Introduction.

Currently, few people know what nanotechnology is, although the future lies behind this science.

Purpose of work:

Learn what nanotechnology is;

Find out the application of this science in various fields;

Find out if nanotechnology can be dangerous to humans.

Today we can take advantage of the benefits and new opportunitiesnano technologies in:

medicine, including aerospace;
pharmacology;
geriatrics;
protecting the health of the nation in the face of the growing environmental crisis and man-made disasters;
global computer networks and information communications based on new physical principles;
ultra-long-distance communication systems;
automobile, tractor and aviation equipment;
road safety;
information security systems;
solving environmental problems of megalopolises;
agriculture;
solving problems of drinking water supply and wastewater treatment;
fundamentally new navigation systems;
renewal of natural mineral and hydrocarbon raw materials.

We decided to focus on the application of nanotechnology in medicine, food industry, military affairs and space, since these areas aroused interest in us.

1. Nanotechnology in the modern world.

1.1 The history of the emergence of nanotechnology.

Science "Nanotechnology I am" arose due to revolutionary changes in computer science!

In 1947, the transistor was invented, after which the era of the heyday of semiconductor technology began, in which the size of the created silicon devices was constantly decreasing.The term "nanotechnology"in 1974, proposed by the Japanese Noryo Taniguchi to describe the process of constructing new objects and materials by manipulating individual atoms. The name comes from the word "nanometer" - one billionth of a meter (10-9 m).

In modern terms, nanotechnology is a technology for manufacturing supermicroscopic structures from the smallest particles of matter, combining all technical processes directly related to atoms and molecules.

Modern nanotechnology has a fairly deep historical footprint. Archaeological finds testify to the existence of colloidal formulations in the ancient world, for example, "Chinese ink" in Ancient Egypt. The famous Damascus steel was made thanks to the presence of nanotubes in it.

The father of the idea of nanotechnology can be conditionally considered the Greek philosopher Democritus around 400 BC. era he first used the word "atom", which translated from Greek means "unbreakable", to describe the smallest particle of matter.

Here's a rough development path:

1905 year. Swiss physicist Albert Einstein published a paper in which he argued that the size of a sugar molecule is about 1 nanometer.
1931 year. German physicists Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska created an electron microscope, which made it possible for the first time to study nanoobjects.
1934 year. American theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize laureate Eugene Wigner theoretically substantiated the possibility of creating an ultradispersed metal with a sufficiently small number of conduction electrons.
1951 year. John von Neumann singled out the principles of self-copying machines, scientists generally confirmed their possibility.
In 1953, Watson and Crick described the structure of DNA, which showed how living objects convey the instructions that guide their construction.
1959 year. The American physicist Richard Feynman first published a paper that assessed the prospects for miniaturization. Nobel laureate R. Feynman wrote a phrase that is now perceived as a prophecy: "As far as I see, the principles of physics do not prohibit the manipulation of individual atoms." This thought was voiced when the beginning of the post-industrial era was not yet realized; in those years there were no integrated circuits, no microprocessors, no personal computers.
1974 year. Japanese physicist Norio Taniguchi introduced the word "nanotechnology" into scientific circulation, which he proposed to name mechanisms less than one micron in size. The Greek word for "drift" means roughly "old man."
1981 year. Glater was the first to draw attention to the possibility of creating materials with unique properties, the structure of which is represented by crystallites of the nanoscale range.

On March 27, 1981, CBS radio news quoted a NASA scientist as saying that engineers would be able to build self-replicating robots within twenty years, for use in space or on Earth. These machines would build copies of themselves, and the copies could be instructed to create useful products.
1982 G. Bining and G. Rohrer created the first scanning tunneling microscope.
1985 year. American physicists Robert Curl, Harold Kroto and Richard Smaley have created technology that can accurately measure objects with a diameter of one nanometer.
1986 year. Nanotechnology has become known to the general public. The American scientist Eric Drexler published the book "Creation Machines: The Coming of the Era of Nanotechnology", in which he predicted that nanotechnology would soon begin to develop actively.
1991, Houston (USA), Department of Chemistry, Rais University. In his laboratory, Dr. R. Smoly (1996 Nobel laureate) with the help of a laser vaporized graphite under vacuum, the gas phase of which consisted of fairly large crusters, each containing 60 carbon atoms. A cluster of 60 atoms is more stable, since it has an increased amount of free energy. This cluster is a structural formation similar to a soccer ball and suggested calling this molecule fullerene.
1991, Sumio Ijima, an employee of the NEC laboratory in Japan, first discovered carbon nanotubes, which had previously been predicted a few months earlier by the Russian physicist L. Chernozatonsky and the American J. Mintmere.
1995 year. At the L.Ya. Karpov developed a sensor based on a film nanocomposite that detects various substances in the atmosphere (ammonia, alcohol, water vapor).
1997 year. Richard E. Smoli, 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and Professor of Chemistry and Physics, predicted the assembly of atoms by 2000, and by the same time predicted the appearance of the first commercial nanoproducts. This forecast came true on the predicted date.
1998 year. the dependence of the electrical properties of nanotubes on geometric parameters was experimentally confirmed.
1998 year. Dutch physicist Sees Dekker has created a transistor based on nano-technology.
1998 year. The pace of development of nanotechnology began to grow sharply. Japan has identified nanotechnology as a likely technology category for the 21st century.
1999 year. American physicists James Tour and Mark Reed determined that a single molecule can behave in the same way as molecular chains.
year 2000. The research group of Hewlett-Packard has created a switch molecule or minimicrodiode using the latest nanotechnological methods of self-assembly.

year 2000. The beginning of the era of hybrid nanoelectronics.
2002 year. S. Decker combined a nanotube with DNA, obtaining a single nanomechanism.
2003 year. Japanese scientists were the first in the world to create a solid-state device that implements one of the two basic elements required to create a quantum computer. 2004 year. The "world's first" quantum computer was presented

On September 7, 2006, the Government of the Russian Federation approved the concept of the Federal Target Program for the Development of Nanotechnologies for 2007-2010.

Thus Having formed historically, to the present moment, nanotechnology, having conquered the theoretical area of public consciousness, continues to penetrate into its everyday layer.

However, nanotechnology should not be reduced only to a local revolutionary breakthrough in these areas (electronics, information technology). A number of extremely important results have already been obtained in nanotechnology, which make it possible to hope for significant progress in the development of many other areas of science and technology (medicine and biology, chemistry, ecology, energy, mechanics, etc.). For example, on going to the nanometer range (i.e., to objects with characteristic lengths of about 10 nm), many of the most important properties of substances and materials change significantly. We are talking about such important characteristics as electrical conductivity, optical refractive index, magnetic properties, strength, heat resistance, etc. Based on materials with new types of solar cells, energy converters, environmentally friendly products, etc. are already being created with new properties.It is possible that it is the production of cheap, energy-saving and environmentally friendly materials that will become the most important consequence of the introduction of nanotechnology.Highly sensitive biological sensors (sensors) and other devices have already been created, which make it possible to speak of the emergence of a new science of nanobiotechnology and have great prospects for practical application. Nanotechnology offers new possibilities for micromachining materials and creating new production processes and new products on this basis, which should have a revolutionary impact on the economic and social life of future generations.

1.2. Nanotechnology in different spheres of human life

The penetration of nanotechnology into the sphere of human activity can be represented as a tree of nanotechnology. The application is in the form of a tree, the branches of which represent the main areas of application, and the branches from the large branches represent differentiation within the main areas of application at a given point in time.

Today (2000 - 2010) there is the following picture:

biological sciences involve the development of gene-tagging technology, surfaces for implants, antimicrobial surfaces, targeted drugs, tissue engineering, and oncological therapy.
simple fibers imply the development of paper technology, cheap building materials, lightweight boards, auto parts, and heavy-duty materials.
nanoclips involve the production of new fabrics, glass coatings, smart sands, paper, carbon fibers.
protection against corrosion by means of nanoadditives to copper, aluminum, magnesium, steel.
catalysts are intended for use in agriculture, deodorization, and food production.
Easy-to-clean materials are used in everyday life, architecture, dairy and food industries, transport industry, and sanitation. This is the production of self-cleaning glasses, hospital equipment and instruments, anti-mold coating, easy-to-clean ceramics.
Biocoatings are used in sports equipment and bearings.
Optics as a field of application of nanotechnology includes such areas as electrochromics, the production of optical lenses. These are new photochromic optics, easy-to-clean optics and coated optics.
Ceramics in the field of nanotechnology application makes it possible to obtain electroluminescence and photoluminescence, printing pastes, pigments, nanopowders, microparticles, membranes.
Computer technology and electronics as a field of application of nanotechnology will give the development of electronics, nanosensors, household (embedded) microcomputers, visualization and energy converters. Further, this is the development of global networks, wireless communications, quantum and DNA computers.
Nanomedicine, as a field of application of nanotechnology, is nanomaterials for prosthetics, "smart" prostheses, nanocapsules, diagnostic nanoprobes, implants, DNA reconstructors and analyzers, "smart" and precision instruments, pharmaceuticals of directed action.
Space as a field of application of nanotechnology will open up prospects for mechanoelectric converters of solar energy, nanomaterials for space applications.
Ecology as a field of application of nanotechnology is the restoration of the ozone layer, weather control.

1.2.1 Nanotechnology in space

A revolution is raging in space. They began to create satellites and nanodevices up to 20 kilograms.

A system of microsatellites has been created; it is less vulnerable to attempts to destroy it. It is one thing to shoot down a colossus weighing several hundred kilograms, or even tons, in orbit, immediately knocking out all space communications or reconnaissance, and another thing when a swarm of microsatellites is in orbit. Disabling one of them in this case will not disrupt the operation of the system as a whole. Accordingly, the requirements for the operational reliability of each satellite can be reduced.

Young scientists believe that among other things, the creation of new technologies in the field of optics, communication systems, methods of transmission, reception and processing of large amounts of information should be attributed to the key problems of microminiaturization of satellites. We are talking about nanotechnology and nanomaterials that can reduce by two orders of magnitude the weight and dimensions of devices launched into space. For example, the strength of nanonickel is 6 times higher than that of ordinary nickel, which makes it possible, when used in rocket engines, to reduce the mass of the nozzle by 20-30%.Reducing the mass of space technology solves many problems: it extends the period of the spacecraft's presence in space, allows it to fly farther and carry away more useful equipment for conducting research. At the same time, the problem of energy supply is being solved. Miniature devices will soon be used to study many phenomena, for example, the effect of sunlight on processes on Earth and in near-Earth space.

Today space is not exotic, and its exploration is not only a matter of prestige. First of all, this is the question national security and the national competitiveness of our state. It is the development of super-complex nanosystems that can become a national advantage of the country. Like nanotechnology, nanomaterials will give us the opportunity to seriously talk about manned flights to various planets in the solar system. It is the use of nanomaterials and nanomechanisms that can make manned flights to Mars and the exploration of the lunar surface a reality.Another highly demanded direction in the development of microsatellites is the creation of remote sensing of the Earth (ERS). A market for information consumers with a resolution of space images of 1 m in the radar range and less than 1 m in the optical range began to form (such data are primarily used in cartography).

1.2.2 Nanotechnology in medicine

Recent advances in nanotechnology, scientists say, could be very helpful in the fight against cancer. An anti-cancer drug has been developed directly to the target - to cells affected by a malignant tumor. A new system based on a material known as biosilicone. Nanosilicone has a porous structure (ten atoms in diameter), into which it is convenient to incorporate drugs, proteins, and radionuclides. Having reached the goal, the biosilicone begins to disintegrate, and the drugs delivered to it are taken to work. Moreover, according to the developers, the new system allows you to regulate the dosage of the drug.

Throughout recent years employees of the Center for Biological Nanotechnology are working on the creation of microsensors that will be used to detect cancer cells in the body and fight this terrible disease.

A new technique for recognizing cancer cells is based on implanting tiny spherical reservoirs made of synthetic polymers called dendrimers (from the Greek dendron - tree) into the human body. These polymers have been synthesized in the last decade and have a fundamentally new, non-integral structure that resembles the structure of coral or wood. Such polymers are called hyperbranched or cascading. Those of them in which branching is regular are called dendrimers. In diameter, each such sphere, or nanosensor, reaches only 5 nanometers - 5 billionths of a meter, which makes it possible to place billions of such nanosensors in a small area of space.

Once inside the body, these tiny sensors penetrate lymphocytes - white blood cells that provide the body's defense against infection and other disease-causing factors. With an immune response of lymphoid cells to a certain disease or environmental conditions - a cold or exposure to radiation, for example, - protein structure cells change. Each nanosensor, coated with special chemical reagents, will begin to glow with such changes.

To see this glow, scientists are going to create a special device that scans the retina of the eye. The laser of such a device should detect the glow of lymphocytes when they pass one by one through the narrow capillaries of the fundus. If there are enough labeled sensors in the lymphocytes, it will take a 15-second scan to detect cell damage, scientists say.

Here, the greatest impact of nanotechnology is expected, since it affects the very basis of the existence of society - man. Nanotechnology reaches such a dimensional level of the physical world, at which the distinction between living and nonliving becomes unstable - these are molecular machines. Even a virus can partly be considered a living system, since it contains information about its construction. But the ribosome, although it consists of the same atoms as all organic matter, does not contain such information and therefore is only an organic molecular machine. Nanotechnology in its advanced form involves the construction of nanorobots, molecular machines of inorganic atomic composition, these machines will be able to build copies of themselves, having information about such a structure. Therefore, the line between living and non-living begins to blur. To date, only one primitive walking DNA robot has been created.

Nanomedicine is represented by the following possibilities:

1. Laboratories on a chip, targeted delivery of drugs in the body.

2. DNA - chips (creation of individual drugs).

3. Artificial enzymes and antibodies.

4. Artificial organs, artificial functional polymers (substitutes for organic tissues). This direction is closely related to the idea of artificial life and, in the future, leads to the creation of robots with artificial consciousness and capable of self-healing on molecular level... This is due to the expansion of the concept of life beyond the organic

5. Nanorobots-surgeons (biomechanisms carrying out changes and required medical actions, recognition and destruction of cancer cells). This is the most radical application of nanotechnology in medicine will be the creation of molecular nanobots that can destroy infections and cancerous tumors, repair damaged DNA, tissues and organs, duplicate entire life support systems of the body, and change the properties of the body.

Considering an individual atom as a brick or "detail", nanotechnology is looking for practical ways to design materials with specified characteristics from these parts. Many companies already know how to assemble atoms and molecules into some kind of structure.

In the future, any molecules will be assembled like a child's construction set. For this, it is planned to use nanorobots (nanobots). Any chemically stable structure that can be described, in fact, can be built. Since a nanobot can be programmed to build any structure, in particular, to build another nanobot, they will be very cheap. Working in huge teams, nanobots will be able to create any object with low cost and high accuracy. In medicine, the problem of using nanotechnology is the need to change the structure of the cell at the molecular level, i.e. carry out "molecular surgery" using nanobots. It is expected to create molecular robotic doctors that can "live" inside the human body, eliminating all damage that occurs, or preventing the occurrence of such.By manipulating individual atoms and molecules, nanobots can repair cells. The projected date for the creation of robotic doctors, the first half of the XXI century.

Despite the current state of affairs, nanotechnology as a cardinal solution to the aging problem is more than promising.

This is due to the fact that nanotechnology has great potential for commercial application in many industries, and, accordingly, in addition to serious government funding, research in this direction is carried out by many large corporations.

It is quite possible that after improvement to ensure "eternal youth", nanobots will no longer be needed, or they will be produced by the cell itself.

To achieve these goals, humanity needs to solve three main questions:

1. Design and create molecular robots that can repair molecules.
2. Design and create nanocomputers that will control nanomachines.
3. Create Full description of all molecules in the human body, in other words, create a map of the human body at the atomic level.

The main difficulty with nanotechnology is the problem of creating the first nanobot. There are several promising avenues.

One of them is to improve the scanning tunneling microscope or atomic force microscope and achieve positional accuracy and gripping force.
Another way to create the first nanobot is through chemical synthesis. Perhaps designing and synthesizing ingenious chemical components that are capable of self-assembly in solution.
And another path leads through biochemistry. Ribosomes (inside the cell) are specialized nanobots, and we can use them to create more versatile robots.

These nanobots will be able to slow down the aging process, heal single cells and interact with individual neurons.

The work on the study began relatively recently, but the pace of discoveries in this area is extremely high, many believe that this is the future of medicine.

1.2.3 Nanotechnology in the food industry

Nanoed (nanofood) - the term is new, obscure and unsightly. Food for nanhumans? Very small portions? Food crafted in nanofactories? Of course not. Still, this is an interesting direction in the food industry. It turns out that nanoeda is a whole set of scientific ideas that are already on their way to implementation and application in industry. Firstly, nanotechnology can provide food workers with unique opportunities for total monitoring in real time of the quality and safety of food directly during the production process. We are talking about diagnostic machines using various nanosensors or so-called quantum dots, capable of quickly and reliably detecting the smallest chemical pollution or hazardous biological agents. Food production, transportation, and storage methods can get their share of useful innovations from the nanotechnology industry. According to scientists, the first serial machines of this kind will appear in mass food production in the next four years. But more radical ideas are also on the agenda. Are you ready to swallow nanoparticles that cannot be seen? But what if nanoparticles are purposefully used to deliver nutrients and drugs to precisely selected parts of the body? What if these nanocapsules could be incorporated into food? So far, no one has used nanoedu, but preliminary developments are already underway. Experts say edible nanoparticles can be made from silicon, ceramics, or polymers. And of course - organic substances. And if everything is clear with regard to the safety of so-called "soft" particles, similar in structure and composition to biological materials, then "hard" particles composed of inorganic substances are a big white spot at the intersection of two territories - nanotechnology and biology. Scientists still cannot say which routes such particles will travel in the body, and where they will stop as a result. This remains to be seen. But some experts are already painting futuristic pictures of the benefits of nanoeda. In addition to delivering valuable nutrients to the right cells. The idea is as follows: everyone buys the same drink, but then the consumer will be able to manipulate the nanoparticles himself so that the taste, color, aroma and concentration of the drink will change before his eyes.

1.2.4 Nanotechnology in military affairs

The military use of nanotechnology opens up qualitatively new level military-technical domination in the world. The main directions in the creation of new weapons based on nanotechnology can be considered:

1. Creation of new powerful miniature explosive devices.

2. Destruction of macrodevices from the nanoscale.

3. Espionage and pain suppression using neurotechnology.

4. Biological weapons and genetic guidance nanodevices.

5. Nano-equipment for soldiers.

6. Protection against chemical and biological weapons.

7. Nanodevices in military equipment control systems.

8. Nanocoatings for military equipment.

Nanotechnology will enable the production of powerful explosives. The size of the explosive can be reduced tenfold. An attack by guided missiles with nanospeakings on nuclear fuel regeneration plants could deprive the country of the physical ability to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The introduction of small robotic devices into electronic equipment can disrupt the operation of electrical circuits and mechanics using. The malfunctioning of control centers and command posts cannot be prevented unless the nanodevices are isolated. Robots for disassembling materials at the atomic level will become a powerful weapon that turns into dust the armor of tanks, concrete structures of pillboxes, nuclear reactor hulls and the bodies of soldiers. But this is still only a prospect for a developed form of nanotechnology. In the meantime, research is being carried out in the field of neural technologies, the development of which will lead to the emergence of military nanodevices that carry out espionage, or the interception of control over the functions of the human body, using the connection with the help of nanodevices to the nervous system. NASA laboratories have already created working samples of equipment for intercepting internal speech. Photonic components on nanostructures, capable of receiving and processing huge amounts of information, will become the basis for space monitoring, ground surveillance and espionage systems. With the help of nanodevices embedded in the brain, it is possible to obtain "artificial" (technical) vision with an extended spectrum of perception, in comparison with biological vision. A pain-suppressing system in soldiers, implanted in the body and brain, neurochips are being developed.

The next application of nanotechnology in the military sphere is genetic guidance nanodevices. A nanodevice with genetic guidance can be programmed to perform certain destructive actions, depending on the genetic structure of the DNA of the cell in which it appears. As a condition for activating the device, a unique section of the genetic code of a specific person or a template for actions on a group of people is specified. Distinguishing an ordinary epidemic from ethnic cleansing will be almost impossible without means of detecting nanorobots. Nanodevices will only work against a given type of people and under strictly defined conditions. Once in the body, the nanodevice will not manifest itself in any way, until the activation command. The next application of nanotechnology is the equipment and equipment of soldiers. It is proposed to make a kind of hybrid out of a person, uniforms and weapons, the elements of which will be so closely interconnected that a fully equipped soldier of the future can be called a separate organism.

Nanotechnology has given a breakthrough in the manufacture of armor and body armor.

Military equipment is supposed to be equipped with a special "electromechanical paint" that will change color and prevent corrosion. Nano-paint will be able to "tighten" minor damages on the body of the machine and will consist of a large number of nano-mechanisms that will allow performing all of the above functions. Using a system of optical arrays, which will be individual nanomachines in the "paint", the researchers want to achieve the invisibility effect of a car or an airplane.

Nanotechnology will change the military field. New qualitatively transformed and uncontrolled arms race. Control over nanotechnology can be realistically implemented only in a global civilization. Nanotechnology will allow for the complete mechanization of field warfare, excluding the presence of modernized soldiers.

Thus, the main conclusion about the result of the penetration of nanotechnology into the sphere of arms is the prospect of the formation of a global society capable of controlling nanotechnology and the arms race. This trend of universalism is determined by the rationality of technogenic civilization and expresses its interests and values.

Conclusion

Having clarified the concept of nanotechnology, outlining its prospects and focusing on possible dangers and threats, I want to conclude. I believe that nanotechnology is a young science, the results of the development of which can change beyond recognition the world... And what these changes will be - useful, incomparably making life easier, or harmful, threatening humanity - depends on the mutual understanding and rationality of people. And mutual understanding and rationality directly depend on the level of humanity, which implies a person's responsibility for their actions. Therefore, the most important necessity in the last years before the inevitable nanotechnological "boom" is the education of philanthropy. Only intelligent and humane people can turn nanotechnology into a stepping stone to the knowledge of the Universe and their place in this Universe.

Bibliography

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Kimmel P. Creating an application in Delphi./P. Kimel - M: Williams, 2003 .-- 114s.
Kobayashi N. Introduction to nanotechnology / N. Kobayashi. - M.: Binom, 2005 - 134s
Chaplygin A. "nanotechnology in electronics" / A. Chaplygin. - 2005 M.: Technosphere
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Nanotechnology is an area of fundamental and applied science and technology that deals with the totality theoretical background, practical methods of research, analysis and synthesis, as well as methods of production and use of products with a given atomic structure through controlled manipulation of individual atoms and molecules.

History

Many sources, primarily in English, the first mention of the methods, which will later be called nanotechnology, are associated with the famous speech of Richard Feynman "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", made by him in 1959 in california Institute of Technology at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. Richard Feynman suggested that it is possible to mechanically move single atoms using a manipulator of the appropriate size, at least such a process would not contradict the physical laws known to date.

The last stage - the resulting mechanism will assemble its copy from individual atoms. In principle, the number of such copies is unlimited; it will be possible to create an arbitrary number of such machines in a short time. These machines will be able to assemble macro things in the same way, by atomic assembly. This will make things an order of magnitude cheaper - such robots (nanorobots) will need to be given only the required number of molecules and energy, and write a program to assemble the necessary items. Until now, no one has been able to refute this possibility, but no one has yet succeeded in creating such mechanisms. In the course of a theoretical study of this possibility, hypothetical doomsday scenarios appeared, which suggest that nanorobots will absorb all the biomass of the Earth, carrying out their self-reproduction program (the so-called "gray slime" or "gray slime").

The first assumptions about the possibility of studying objects at the atomic level can be found in the book "Opticks" by Isaac Newton, published in 1704. In the book, Newton expresses the hope that the microscopes of the future will someday be able to explore the "mysteries of corpuscles."

For the first time the term "nanotechnology" was used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974. He called this term the production of products several nanometers in size. In the 1980s, the term was used by Eric K. Drexler in his books Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation.

What is nanotechnology capable of?

Here are just a few of the areas where nanotechnology is promising breakthroughs:

Medicine

Nanosensors will provide advancements in the early diagnosis of disease. This will increase your chances of recovery. We can defeat cancer and other diseases. Old cancer drugs killed not only diseased cells, but also healthy ones. With the help of nanotechnology, the drug will be delivered directly to the diseased cell.

DNA-nanotechnology- use the specific bases of DNA and nucleic acid molecules to create clearly defined structures on their basis. Industrial synthesis of molecules of drugs and pharmacological preparations of a well-defined form (bis-peptides).

At the beginning of 2000, thanks to the rapid progress in the technology of manufacturing nanosized particles, an impetus was given to the development of a new field of nanotechnology - nanoplasmonics... It turned out to be possible to transmit electromagnetic radiation along a chain of metal nanoparticles using the excitation of plasmon oscillations.

Construction

Nanosensors of building structures will monitor their strength and detect any threats to their integrity. Objects built using nanotechnology will be able to last five times longer than modern structures. The houses will adapt to the needs of the residents, keeping them cool in the summer and keeping them warm in the winter.

Energy

We will be less dependent on oil and gas. Modern solar panels have an efficiency of about 20%. With the use of nanotechnology, it can grow 2-3 times. Thin nanofilms on the roof and walls can provide energy to the entire house (if, of course, there is enough sun).

Mechanical engineering

All bulky equipment will be replaced by robots - easily controlled devices. They will be able to create any mechanisms at the level of atoms and molecules. For the production of machines, new nanomaterials will be used that can reduce friction, protect parts from damage, and save energy. These are not all areas in which nanotechnology can (and will!) Be applied. Scientists believe that the emergence of nanotechnology is the beginning of a new Scientific and technological revolution, which will greatly change the world already in the 21st century. It is worth noting, however, that nanotechnology does not enter real practice very quickly. Not many devices (mainly electronics) work with nano. This is partly due to the high cost of nanotechnology and the low return on nanotechnology products.

Probably, already in the near future, with the help of nanotechnology, high-tech, mobile, easily controllable devices will be created, which will successfully replace today's automated, but complex in control and cumbersome technology. So, for example, over time, biorobots controlled by a computer will be able to perform the functions of today's bulky pumping stations.

DNA computer- a computing system using the computational capabilities of DNA molecules. Biomolecular Computing is a collective name for various techniques that are somehow related to DNA or RNA. In DNA computing, data is not presented in the form of zeros and ones, but in the form of a molecular structure built on the basis of a DNA helix. Special enzymes play the role of software for reading, copying and manipulating data.
Atomic Force Microscope- a high-resolution scanning probe microscope based on the interaction of the cantilever tip (probe) with the surface of the sample under study. Unlike a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), it can examine both conductive and non-conductive surfaces even through a layer of liquid, which makes it possible to work with organic molecules (DNA). The spatial resolution of an atomic force microscope depends on the size of the cantilever and the curvature of its tip. The resolution reaches atomic horizontally and significantly exceeds it vertically.
Antenna-oscillator- On February 9, 2005, an antenna-oscillator with dimensions of the order of 1 micron was obtained at the laboratory of Boston University. This device has 5,000 million atoms and is capable of oscillating at 1.49 gigahertz, which allows it to transmit huge amounts of information.

10 nanotechnologies with amazing potential

Try to remember some canon invention. Probably, someone now imagined a wheel, someone a plane, and someone and an iPod. How many of you have thought about a completely new generation invention - nanotechnology? This world is poorly understood, but it has incredible potential to give us really fantastic things. Amazing thing: the direction of nanotechnology did not exist until 1975, even though scientists began working in this area much earlier.

The human naked eye is able to recognize objects up to 0.1 millimeter in size. Today we will talk about ten inventions, which are 100,000 times less.

Electrically conductive liquid metal

Using electricity, you can make a simple alloy of liquid metal, consisting of gallium, iridium and tin, form complex shapes, or wind circles inside a Petri dish. We can say with some degree of probability that this is the material from which the famous cyborg of the T-1000 series, which we could see in Terminator 2, was created.

“Soft alloy behaves like a smart shape, capable of deforming itself if necessary, taking into account the changing environment in which it moves. Just like I could make a cyborg from a popular sci-fi movie, ”says Jin Li of Tsinghua University, one of the researchers involved in the project.

This metal is biomimetic, that is, it mimics biochemical reactions, although it is not itself a biological substance.

This metal can be controlled by electrical discharges. However, he himself is able to move independently, due to the emerging load imbalance, which is created by the difference in pressure between the front and rear of each drop of this metal alloy. And although scientists believe that this process may be the key to converting chemical energy into mechanical energy, the molecular material is not going to be used to build evil cyborgs in the near future. The whole "magic" process can only take place in sodium hydroxide solution or saline solution.

Nanoplastics

Researchers at the University of York are working to create special patches that will be designed to deliver all the necessary drugs inside the body without the need for needles and syringes. Patches of quite normal size are glued to your hand, delivering a certain dose of nanoparticles of the drug (small enough to penetrate the hair follicles) into your body. Nanoparticles (each less than 20 nanometers in size) themselves find harmful cells, kill them and will be excreted from the body along with other cells as a result of natural processes.

Scientists note that in the future, such nanoplastics can be used in the fight against one of the most terrible diseases on Earth - cancer. Unlike chemotherapy, which in such cases is most often an integral part of treatment, nanoplastics can individually find and destroy cancer cells while leaving healthy cells intact. The nanoplaster project was named "NanJect". It is being developed by Atif Sayed and Zakaria Hussein, who in 2013, while still students, received the necessary sponsorship through a crowdsourcing fundraising campaign.

Nanofilter for water

When this film is used in combination with a fine stainless steel mesh, the oil is repelled and the water in this place becomes pristine.

Interestingly, nature itself inspired scientists to create nanofilms. Also known as water lily, lotus leaves have the opposite properties of nanofilm: instead of oil, they repel water. This is not the first time that scientists have spied on these amazing plants at least amazing properties... This resulted, for example, in the creation of superhydrophobic materials in 2003. As for the nanofilm, the researchers are trying to create a material that mimics the surface of water lilies and enrich it with molecules of a special cleaning agent. The coating itself is invisible to the human eye. Manufacturing will be inexpensive at about $ 1 per square foot.

Submarine air purifier

Hardly anyone thought about what kind of air submarine crews have to breathe, except for the crew members themselves. Meanwhile, air purification from carbon dioxide must be carried out immediately, since in one voyage through the light crew of the submarine, the same air has to pass hundreds of times. To clean the air from carbon dioxide use amines, which have a very unpleasant odor. To address this issue, a purification technology called SAMMS (an abbreviation for Self-Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports) was created. It proposes the use of special nanoparticles embedded within ceramic granules. The substance has a porous structure due to which it absorbs excess carbon dioxide. Different types of SAMMS cleaning work with different molecules in air, water and earth, however, all of these cleaning options are incredibly effective. Just one tablespoon of these porous ceramic granules is enough to clean an area the size of a soccer field.

Nanoconductors

Researchers Northwestern University(USA) figured out how to create an electrical conductor at the nanoscale. This conductor is a solid and tough nanoparticle that can be tuned to transmit electric current in various opposite directions. Research shows that each such nanoparticle is capable of emulating the operation of a "rectifier, switches and diodes." Each 5 nanometer particle is coated with a positively charged chemical and surrounded by negatively charged atoms. Applying an electrical discharge reconfigures negatively charged atoms around the nanoparticles.

The potential of the technology, scientists say, is unprecedented. On its basis, it is possible to create materials "capable of independently changing for certain computer computational tasks." The use of this nanomaterial will actually "reprogram" the electronics of the future. Hardware upgrades will be as easy as software upgrades.

Nanotechnology charger

Once this thing is created, you no longer need to use any wired chargers. The new nanotechnology works like a sponge, only it does not absorb liquid. It sucks kinetic energy from the environment and directs it directly into your smartphone. The technology is based on the use of a piezoelectric material that generates electricity while under mechanical stress. The material is endowed with nanoscopic pores that transform it into a flexible sponge.

The official name of this device is "nanogenerator". Such nanogenerators may one day become part of every smartphone on the planet, or part of the dashboard of every car, and possibly part of every pocket of clothing - gadgets will be charged right there. In addition, the technology has the potential to be used on a larger scale, for example, in industrial equipment. At least that's what the researchers at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, who created this amazing nano-sponge, think.

Artificial retina

The Israeli company Nano Retina is developing an interface that will directly connect to the neurons of the eye and transmit the result of neural modeling to the brain, replacing the retina and returning vision to people.

An experiment on a blind chicken showed hope for the success of the project. The nanofilm allowed the chicken to see the light. True, the final stage of developing an artificial retina for returning sight to people is still far away, but progress in this direction is good news. Nano Retina is not the only company that is engaged in such developments, but it is their technology that is currently seen as the most promising, efficient and adaptable. The last point is the most important, since we are talking about a product that will integrate into someone's eyes. Similar developments have shown that solid materials are unsuitable for these applications.

Since the technology is being developed at the nanotechnological level, it eliminates the use of metal and wires, as well as avoids low resolution of the simulated image.

Glowing clothes

Scientists in Shanghai have developed reflective threads that can be used to make clothing. The basis of each filament is a very thin stainless steel wire, which is coated with special nanoparticles, an electroluminescent polymer layer, and a protective sheath made of transparent nanotubes. The result is very light and flexible threads that can glow under the influence of their own electrochemical energy. At the same time, they work at a much lower power than conventional LEDs.

The disadvantage of this technology is that the threads have enough "light supply" for only a few hours. However, the developers of the material are optimistic that they will be able to increase the "resource" of their product at least a thousand times. Even if they succeed, the solution to another drawback is still in question. Most likely, it will not be possible to wash clothes based on such nanothreads.

Nano-needles for the restoration of internal organs

The nanoplastics we talked about above are specially designed to replace needles. What if the needles themselves were only a few nanometers in size? If so, they could change the way we think about surgery, or at least significantly improve it.

More recently, scientists have conducted successful laboratory tests on mice. With the help of tiny needles, the researchers were able to inject nucleic acids into the organisms of rodents that promote the regeneration of organs and nerve cells and thereby restore the lost efficiency. When the needles perform their function, they remain in the body and decompose completely in a few days. At the same time, scientists did not find any side effects during operations to restore blood vessels of the muscles of the back of rodents using these special nano-needles.

If we take into account human cases, then such nano-needles can be used to deliver the necessary funds to the human body, for example, during organ transplantation. Special substances will prepare the surrounding tissues around the transplanted organ for rapid recovery and exclude the possibility of rejection.

3D chemical printing

University of Illinois chemist Martin Burke is the real Willie Wonka of the world of chemistry. Using the collection of molecules " building material"For various purposes, it can create a huge number of different chemicals, endowed with all kinds of" amazing and yet natural properties. " For example, one such substance is ratanin, which can only be found in the very rare Peruvian flower.

The potential for synthesizing substances is so enormous that it will make it possible to produce molecules used in medicine, in the creation of LED diodes, solar cells and those chemical elements that even the best chemists on the planet took years to synthesize.

The capabilities of the current prototype of a three-dimensional chemical printer are still limited. He is able to create only new medicines... However, Burke hopes that one day he will be able to create a consumer version of his amazing device that will be much more powerful. It is possible that in the future, such printers will act as a kind of home pharmacists.

Is nanotechnology a threat to human health or the environment?

There is not so much information on the negative effects of nanoparticles. In 2003, a study showed that carbon nanotubes can damage the lungs in mice and rats. A 2004 study showed that fullerenes can accumulate and cause brain damage in fish. But both studies used large doses of the substance under unusual conditions. According to one of the experts, chemist Kristen Kulinovski (USA), “it would be advisable to limit the exposure of these nanoparticles, despite the fact that currently there is no information about their threat to human health”.

Some commentators have also argued that the widespread use of nanotechnology can lead to social and ethical risks. So, for example, if the use of nanotechnology initiates a new industrial revolution, it will lead to the loss of jobs. Moreover, nanotechnology can change the perception of a person, since their use will help prolong life and significantly increase the body's stability. “No one can deny that the widespread adoption of mobile phones and the Internet has brought about tremendous changes in society,” says Kristen Kulinovski. "Who would dare to say that nanotechnology will not have a greater impact on society in the coming years?"

Russia's place among countries developing and producing nanotechnology

The world leaders in terms of total investment in nanotechnology are the EU countries, Japan and the United States. Recently, Russia, China, Brazil and India have significantly increased investments in this industry. In Russia, the volume of financing under the program "Development of the infrastructure of the nanoindustry in the Russian Federation for 2008 - 2010" will amount to 27.7 billion rubles.

The latest (2008) report by the London-based research firm Cientifica, called the Nanotechnology Outlook Report, reads literally the following about Russian investment: "Although the EU still ranks first in terms of investment, China and Russia have already overtaken the United States."

There are areas in nanotechnology where Russian scientists became the first in the world, having obtained results that laid the foundation for the development of new scientific trends.

Among them, one can single out the production of ultrafine nanomaterials, the design of one-electron devices, as well as work in the field of atomic force and scanning probe microscopy. Only at a special exhibition held as part of the XII St. Petersburg Economic Forum (2008), 80 specific developments were presented at once. Russia already produces a number of nanoproducts that are in demand on the market: nanomembranes, nanopowders, nanotubes. However, according to experts, in the commercialization of nanotechnological developments, Russia lags behind the United States and other developed countries by ten years.

Nanotechnology in art

A number of works by the American artist Natasha Vita-Mor deal with nanotechnology.

In contemporary art, a new trend has emerged "nanoart" (nano art) - an art form associated with the creation of sculptures (compositions) of micro- and nano-sizes (10-6 and 10-9 m, respectively) by an artist under the influence of chemical or physical processes of material processing , photographing the obtained nano-images using an electron microscope and processing black-and-white photographs in a graphics editor.

In wide famous work Russian writer N. Leskov "Levsha" (1881) has a curious fragment: the name is displayed: what Russian master did that horseshoe. " Magnification of 5,000,000 times is provided by modern electron and atomic force microscopes, which are considered the main tools of nanotechnology. Thus, the literary hero Lefty can be considered the first "nanotechnologist" in history.

Feynman's ideas about ways to create and use nanomanipulators in his 1959 lecture "There's a lot of space down there" Soviet writer Boris Zhitkov's "Mikroruki", published in 1931. Some of the negative consequences of the uncontrolled development of nanotechnology are described in the works of M. Crichton ("The Roy"), S. Lem ("Inspection in Place" and "Peace on Earth"), S. Lukyanenko ("Nothing to Divide").

The protagonist of the novel "Transman" by Yuri Nikitin is the head of a nanotechnology corporation and the first person to experience the effects of medical nanorobots.

In the sci-fi series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, one of the most technologically advanced races is the two “replicator” races that emerged from unsuccessful experiments using and describing various applications of nanotechnology. In The Day the Earth Stood Still, starring Keanu Reeves, an alien civilization pronounces humanity a death sentence and nearly destroys everything on the planet with the help of self-replicating nanoreplikant-beetles devouring everything in its path.

We live in the modern world of medicine, science and various technologies. And probably every person has already heard what nanotechnology is and what it does.
In a general sense, nanotechnology creates objects. But they are by no means ordinary, like, for example, your table or bed. Let's just say - the prefix "nano" is one of the billionths of something. That is, 0.000000001 meters in one nanometer. This means that if we represent the entire Earth in nanometers, we will be very surprised when we learn that it will be the size of a walnut.
So, nanotechnology is engaged in the creation of nanoobjects, operating with individual atoms and creating a certain structure from them. In the future, a waterproof T-shirt or fireproof paper will be a common thing for us, thanks to nanotechnology. But even now, for example, the transistors produced, which, in fact, are the basis of all chips, are produced with an accuracy of up to 90 nanometers. More recently, representatives of Hewlett-Packet TM reported that nanotechnology will soon be able to replace modern traditional technologies for creating transistors.
Nanotechnology is applied in various fields of science and is accompanied by progress everywhere. For example, in medicine, if you carry out diagnostics for another early stage diseases, nanosensors will help ensure a speedy recovery. Perhaps, in this way, humanity will be able to defeat both cancer and other serious diseases, because nanotechnology will help the drug to enter diseased cells immediately, and not spread throughout the body.
Nanotechnology can also be applied in the energy sector. Perhaps in the future, we will stop depending on gas and oil thanks to solar panels, because their efficiency can increase two to three times precisely with the use of nanotechnology.
We also cannot fail to mention nanotechnology in such a field as mechanical engineering. Indeed, in the future, with the help of nanomaterials, we will be able to reduce friction when driving a car, and, perhaps, we will be able to make sure that parts are preserved much longer than today.
Professor N. Taniguchi was the first to use the very term "nanotechnology" in his report at the 1974 International Conference in Japan, Tokyo.
Now very often we can come across news that scientists have invented something new using nanotechnology, for example, the smallest nano lattice, a monomolecular submarine, the darkest material on earth, or a new form of carbon, in structure, stronger than diamond. Thus, already in 2004, Kodak produced nine-ply Ultima paper for printers, in which the top layer is formed of ceramic nanoparticles, making the paper thick, smooth and with a pleasant gloss.
Also, for example, a solution of silver nanoparticles has a powerful antiseptic effect. Thus, if you apply a bandage with such a silver solution to the wound, it will heal many times faster than, for example, using conventional antiseptic agents.
With such a rapid pace of development of nanotechnology, we will be able to more intensively explore space, underwater depths, and in general, make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. And maybe soon, like various films about the future, chips will be implanted into our skin, which will help us in something; maybe our usual technology will be replaced by nanotechnology; people will stop dying from cancer and similar serious illnesses.
Nanotechnology is a window to the future that scientists are opening today. We are confident that in the future, what is now considered a fantasy will seem completely ordinary to us.

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation

Municipal educational institution

general education school - boarding school № 1 secondary (complete)

general education of Tomsk

ESSAY

on this topic: Nanotechnology in the modern world

Performed: student of grade 8A

Sakhnenko Maria

Supervisor: Pahorukova D.P.

Physics teacher

Tomsk 2010

INTRODUCTION

Currently, few people know what nanotechnology is, although the future lies behind this science. The main goal of my work is to get acquainted with nanotechnology. I also want to find out the application of this science in various industries and find out if nanotechnology can be dangerous to humans.

1. NANOTECHNOLOGY IN THE MODERN WORLD

1.1 The history of the emergence of nanotechnology

The grandfather of nanotechnology can be considered the Greek philosopher Democritus. He was the first to use the word “atom” to describe the smallest particle of matter. For more than twenty centuries, people have tried to penetrate the secret of the structure of this particle. The solution to this problem, unbearable for many generations of physicists, became possible in the first half of the twentieth century after the creation of an electron microscope by German physicists Max Knoll and Ernst Ruska, which made it possible for the first time to study nanoobjects.

Many sources, primarily English-speaking, associate the first mention of the methods, which will later be called nanotechnology, with the famous speech of Richard Feynman "There's a lot of space down there" (English "Plenty of Roo at the Bottom"), made by him in 1959 in California Institute of Technology at the American Physical Society Annual Meeting. Richard Feynman suggested that it is possible to mechanically move single atoms using a manipulator of the appropriate size, at least such a process would not contradict the physical laws known to date.

He suggested doing this manipulator in the following way. It is necessary to build a mechanism that would create its own copy, only an order of magnitude smaller. The created smaller mechanism must again create its own copy, again an order of magnitude smaller, and so on until the dimensions of the mechanism are commensurate with the size of the order of one atom. In this case, it will be necessary to make changes in the structure of this mechanism, since the forces of gravity acting in the macroworld will exert less and less influence, and the forces of intermolecular interactions will more and more affect the operation of the mechanism. The last stage - the resulting mechanism will assemble its copy from individual atoms. In principle, the number of such copies is unlimited; it will be possible to create an arbitrary number of such machines in a short time. These machines will be able to assemble macro things in the same way, by atomic assembly. This will make things an order of magnitude cheaper - such robots (nanorobots) will need to be given only the required number of molecules and energy, and write a program to assemble the necessary items. Until now, no one has been able to refute this possibility, but no one has yet succeeded in creating such mechanisms. The fundamental disadvantage of such a robot is the impossibility of creating a mechanism from one atom.

Here is how R. Feynman described his alleged manipulator:

I think about creating an electrically controlled system , which uses conventionally made "service robots" in the form of four times reduced copies of the "hands" of the operator. Such micro-mechanisms will be able to easily perform operations at a reduced scale. I'm talking about tiny robots equipped with servo motors and small “hands” that can tighten equally small bolts and nuts, drill very small holes, etc. In short, they can do all the work on a 1: 4 scale. To do this, of course, you first need to make the necessary mechanisms, tools and manipulator arms in one fourth of the usual size (in fact, it is clear that this means a reduction in all contact surfaces by a factor of 16). In the last stage, these devices will be equipped with servo motors (16 times reduced in power) and connected to a conventional electrical control system. After that, it will be possible to use the manipulator arms, reduced by 16 times! The scope of application of such microrobots, as well as micromachines, can be quite wide - from surgical operations to the transportation and processing of radioactive materials. I hope that the principle of the proposed program, as well as the unexpected problems and brilliant opportunities associated with it, are understood. Moreover, one can think about the possibility of a further significant reduction in the scale, which, of course, will require further structural changes and modifications (by the way, at a certain stage, it may be necessary to abandon the "hands" of the usual form), but will make it possible to manufacture new, much more advanced devices of the described type. Nothing prevents you from continuing this process and creating as many tiny machines as you like, since there are no restrictions associated with the placement of machines or their material consumption. Their volume will always be much less than that of the prototype. It is easy to calculate that the total volume of 1 million machine tools reduced by a factor of 4000 (and hence the mass of materials used for manufacturing) will be less than 2% of the volume and mass of a conventional machine of normal dimensions. It is clear that this immediately removes the problem of the cost of materials. In principle, it would be possible to organize millions of identical miniature factories, on which tiny machines would continuously drill holes, stamp parts, etc. As we decrease in size, we will constantly encounter very unusual physical phenomena. Everything that you have to meet in life depends on large-scale factors. In addition, there is also the problem of materials "sticking together" under the action of intermolecular forces (the so-called van der Waals forces), which can lead to effects unusual for macroscopic scales. For example, the nut will not separate from the bolt after loosening, and in some cases will stick tightly to the surface, etc. There are several physical problems of this type to keep in mind when designing and building microscopic mechanisms.

1.2. What is nanotechnology

Having appeared quite recently, nanotechnology is increasingly entering the field scientific research, and from it into our daily life. The developments of scientists are increasingly dealing with objects of the microworld, atoms, molecules, molecular chains. Artificially created nanoobjects constantly surprise researchers with their properties and promise the most unexpected prospects for their application.

The main unit of measurement in nanotechnology research is the nanometer - a billionth of a meter. These units are used to measure molecules and viruses, and now the elements of a new generation of computer chips. It is at the nanoscale that all basic physical processes that determine macrointeractions take place.

Nature itself pushes a person to the idea of creating nanoobjects. Any bacteria, in fact, is an organism consisting of nanomachines: DNA and RNA copy and transmit information, ribosomes form proteins from amino acids, mitochondria produce energy. Obviously, at this stage in the development of science, it occurs to scientists to copy and improve these phenomena.

Imagine: you are drinking a glass of water filled with microscopic robots. Their size is so small that it is not possible to see them. However, after you drink them, they will begin to work on your body, healing wounds and applying a kind of "patches" where necessary. A nanometer is one millionth of a meter. It is on this scale that nanotechnology works. Their activities are not limited specifically to the medical field, rather, on the contrary, they enter the field of high technologies, however, the development of nanotechnology is very costly, both financially and intellectually.

Probably each of us dreamed about. Well, apparently reminiscent of their childhood dreams, the researchers from have developed a real artificial leather that can change its color like a chameleon. According to scientists, such an invention can be applied in camouflage and in the development of large-scale dynamic displays. Such news periodically appears in the press. Is it really different this time?

Despite all the hype around, all its properties and the promises of scientists, you may be surprised by the fact that this material is still not widely used. As it turned out, this is not surprising. An international team of scientists analyzed samples of graphene produced by 60 companies around the world and came to the conclusion that all of them are actually engaged in the production and sale of not ultra-thin carbon-based material, for the invention of which its creators received the Nobel Prize, but ordinary garbage, which they also sell at exorbitant prices.