All of us are pretty impressed with the minute and compact gadgets that Bond….James Bond employs in his action packed flicks. These gadgets are negligibly diminutive but still very effectual whenever brought into play. Nano in literal as well as scientific respects means one billionth of an item, thing(dead or living) or number or any other countable thing. Mathematically, one Nano is 10 to the power -9 , i.e. nine zeros after a decimal and before a one. In other words Nano is small, rather smaller or you can say smallest. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. That's one thousand, million times smaller than a meter which is perfect for measuring very, very tiny things, such as molecules and atoms. According to Nanozine.com, 3 to 4 atoms side by side would measure about a nanometer. Nanotechnology is the technology of devices and machines of atomic or molecular dimensions. That's right devices such as computers and machines small enough to, for instance, float around in your bloodstream and fixing up the problems of various body parts and ultimately finding it's way out through the anal outlet for feacus. Converting silicon brains into miniature articles is a futuristic concept that is not very far away out of human reach. This is another great human fantasy which is going to materialize and benefit humankind sooner than we can expect. Nanotechnology is the technology of the future that would change the world of our eyes.

Nanotechnology deals with the de-Broglie matter at atomic levels. Currently, it is largely associated with the field of medicine but soon a change will fall upon each and every item of earthly living right from the food we eat to the houses we live in to the clothes that we wear. Mortals would be carrying more machines on and in their bodies than the number of cells and tissues in their body. "The trick to Nanotechnology is building small machines that can grab and rearrange individual atoms. Once you can do that, you can theoretically reproduce anything, any time, in as many quantities as you'd like. And once you create a machine that can replicate itself the possibilities are endless" says a reporter in his article on Nanotechnology. For the purpose of studying matter at molecular or atomic levels microscopes such as SCANNING TUNNELLING MICROSCOPE(STM) and the ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPE(AFM) belonging to the family of SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPES(SPM) are used. The resolving power of these microscopes is remarkably high. STMs give an accurate image of the particles, i.e. atoms and molecules that make up the surface, their behavior and the properties this way. STMs can also move atoms and molecules to desired locations in their structures. AFMs are used to get the image of non-conducting surfaces such as biological tissues, plastics, glass, etc.

K.Eric Drexler popularized the term Nanotechnology in 1986 when he came out with a book called Engines Of Creation in which he described what is possible with Nanotechnology. But, the initial practical nanotechnological advances can be taken back to 1960s - 70s when Bell Laboratories (the same one where C and C++ took birth) developed molecular epitaxy, a technique to deposit single atomic layers on a surface. In 1980s Gerd Binnig deployed the STM to image individual atoms. This followed the creation Buckyballs (buckministerfullerences) in 1985. Buckyballs measure about a nanometer in diameter and used widely for nanotechnological applications. Carbon nanotubes were discovered by Sumio Lijima of NEC which became yet another great nanotechnological advancement. Cees Dekker made the first transistor from a nanotube in 1998. The fact that single molecules can act as molecular switches was demonstrated in a research. The National Nanotechnology Initiative(NNI) at US started in 2000 was another step towards nanotechnological advancements.

Like any other human inventions and/or discoveries even Nanotechnology has got the black and white shades of application. Computers of tomorrow will be far more smaller than any Hollywood fiction writer could even imagine. Chip producing giants like Intel and AMD have already started off with the race and some of their tour reckons working chip prototypes will be soon available in the market. Computing giant IBM has invented a new kind of memory called "Millipede Technology". This is unique in the sense that when best of today's available storage devices have a memory capacity of 2 gigabits per square centimeter, "Millipede Technology" has made it possible densities up to 80 gigabits per square centimeter. This is about 40 times more than the available densities today. IBM has also come up with a "microdrive" which has 1GB of memory capacity in a matchbox sized drive. Richard Barry in his article "Nanotechnology to change our lives?" writes that "Nanotechnology could provide computer chips thousands of times quicker than today's fastest processors according to researchers at Molecular Electronics, a US firm dedicated to researching and developing atom-sized computer components". Richard Barry also writes, "Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary science where physicists, biologists and chemists work together. But there still remains an extreme gulf between what can be achieved in a lab and what is feasible in practice". Having reduced the size of the chip is beneficial in power conservation and indirectly conservation of conventional sources of fuel (that'll be soon emptied with the present rate of consumption) like petroleum, coal, natural gas, etc. Molecular electronic components will use a fraction of the power needed to run today's processors. Nanocomputing would revolutionize the economic and social system of world. Money transfer from one place to another would become faster and more and more compact. Nanocomputers could be carried to any and every place on this earth with utmost comfort and security. Nanocomputing would ensure much more safety, security and privacy. This would also lead to advancement in the field of international spying thus hampering national security. Bill Joy of Sun microsystems says that Nanotechnology can produce computers that can reproduce themselves and this may lead to the end of the world due to the "gray goo".

Futuristic surgeries would be performed not by extremely skilled and experienced surgeons, but by effectively and correctly programmed nanorobots which would be of the size of an ordinary pill or capsule. Whatever may be the problem with your body, all you have to do is to swallow a pill holding thousands of nanorobots. These bots will explore your body destroying offending cells. It is also said that the nanomedicine could even alter the way we age. The aging of human body could be stopped or reversed as the nanorobots can hunt for old cells and repair them, building new ones from the atom up. Nanotechnology would help in cleaning up toxic and hazardous nuclear wastes and other kinds of wastes. Nanotechnology would even synthesize food on molecular level. If food could be synthesized electronically then problems of starvation, malnutrition and famine could be solved permanently. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology plans to create military uniforms that can block out biological weapons and even heal their wearers. The unique lightweight materials that can be composed using nanotechnology will possess revolutionary qualities that MIT says will help it make a molecular "exoskeleton" for soldiers. Researchers are developing a kind of soft and almost invisible clothing that can solidify into a medical cast when a soldier is injured or a "forearm karate glove" for combat. Researchers also hope to develop a kind of molecular chain mail that can deflect bullets. In addition to protecting soldiers, these radically different materials will have uses in offensive tactics. Ned Thomas in one of his release has to say, "Imagine the psychological impact upon a foe when encountering squads of seemingly invincible warriors protected by armor and endowed with superhuman capabilities, such as the ability to leap over 20-foot walls".

Nanotechnology would give the power of creation to human hands as it mainly deals with most basic assembly of matter. As stated above, Nanotechnology is going to give birth to self-replicating computers and robots. This self-replicating mechanism is similar to reproductive mechanism of living cells. All these spectacular properties of the technology increase the chances of deliberate misuse of the technology. Experts are of the opinion to ban the Nanotechnology but this will be killing one of the greatest technologies even before it happened. The Foresight Institute has laid down a set of guidelines for Nanotechnology research and development.But none of the guidelines can really help in stopping the misuse of such an amazing technology. But, just because of the fear of maltreatment of technology we cannot overlook the immense blessings of the same. All great inventions till to date have also been used for destruction. For instance, Nuclear power or be it Biotechnology. Now, that we know the rewards of Nanotechnology all that we can do is to await its arrival.