Wiki Nanotechnology

Although this term can be coined later in the future for a free open source nano technology, this post is about the information that wikipedia can give us about nanotechnology.

Wiki-ing for nanotechnology linked to some articles that are very good at describing to newcomers what nanotechnology is all about.

If your still asking yourself what nanotechnology is, then try wikipedia for a good answer, these are some of the nanotech topics that everyone should know about:

Wikipedia Nanotechnology

Nanotechnology comprises technological developments on the nanometer scale...

Bucky Balls

The fullerenes are a recently-discovered family of carbon allotropes. They are molecules composed entirely of carbon, in the form of a hollow sphere, ellipsoid, or tube.

Molecular nanotechnology

Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is the engineering of functional systems at the molecular scale[1]. An equivalent definition would be "machines at the molecular scale designed and built atom-by-atom".

Carbon nanotube

Carbon nanotubes are cylindrical carbon molecules with novel properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications (e.g., nano-electronics, optics, materials applications, etc.). They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized.

Nanofactory

A nanofactory is a proposed system in which nanomachines (resembling molecular assemblers, or industrial robot arms) would combine reactive molecules via mechanosynthesis to build larger atomically precise parts. These, in turn, would be assembled by positioning mechanisms of assorted sizes to build macroscopic (visible) but still atomically-precise products.

Quantum dot

A quantum dot, also called a semiconductor nanocrystal, is a semiconductor crystal whose size is on the order of just a few nanometers.

Self-assembly

Self-assembly is the fundamental principle which generates structural organization on all scales from molecules to galaxies. It is defined as reversible processes in which pre-existing parts or disordered components of a preexisting system form structures of patterns.

Smartdust

Smartdust is a hypothetical network of tiny wireless microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors, robots, or devices, installed with wireless communications, that can detect anything from light and temperature, to vibrations, etc.

Nanorod

In nanotechnology, nanorods are one morphology of nanoscale objects.

Grey goo

The Infamous Grey Goo ;)