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Predicting the next technological invention is admittedly difficult. We can make our best guess in light of current tech trends, but sometimes the forces that be either throw a wrench in our guesswork or technology simply changes and it's on to something bigger and better. So given that disclaimer, let's take a close look at an emerging technological invention that is already been seen in the marketplace: nanotechnology.

According to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanotechnology is "the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter at this length scale."(1) The Initiative describes the scale of a nanometer as one billionth of a meter. As a reference, they cite the thickness of a piece of paper at one hundred thousand nanometers. That's pretty small. But just what is so miraculous about this field?

In manipulating particles at this micro level, scientists believe they can create "smart" objects and materials that perform a variety of mind-blowing feats. Even tiny, self-replicating nano-robots could be created whose applications could include our previous scenario of a simple pill or injection to clear the arteries in the event of a heart attack. But that's only the beginning.

Remember the 1986 film, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, when the U.S.S. Enterprise crew discovers that transparent aluminum hasn't been developed yet in the twentieth century? Aluminum in its native state is opaque and silvery-white. You can't see though it. How then does one make it transparent? The only way to accomplish this feat is to get down to the atomic level and do some rearranging, which can only be accomplished through a high-magnification device such as an electron microscope. And there you have it; a brand new material.

This creating and rearranging of matter at the molecular level is nothing short of miraculous, notwithstanding the fact that electron microscopes power up to two million times magnification. Amazingly, nanotechnology isn't just in our future; it's here today and growing as we speak. The development and commercial application of the carbon nanotube (and more recently, the NanoBud) is a testament to the efficacy of this incredible new field of science.

To be fair, of course new materials have always been created; just look at plastic and

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