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A Bright Future:
Nanomedicine
10 Facts of Nanotechnology
1. Side-Effect-Free Cancer Cure
Chemotherapy treats cancer effectively. However, it causes disastrous side-effects such as, headaches, dry mouth or throat, blood disorders, damage in nervous system etc. With the development of Nanotechnology, we could now tackle these side-effects. Nanoparticles serve as nano carriers and directly carry medicine to the cancerous site without damaging nearby tissues. This protects the drugs from being degraded before reaching the cancer site and prevents drugs from interacting with the other cells, causing side-effects. (1)
2. Gecko's toes have nano-sized hair
Gecko are known as one of the best anti-gravity crawler because of their feet. Their toes are actually covered with hundreds of microscopic hairs called setae. Each seta further more splits into hundreds of tiny bristles called spatulae. When Geckos climb on walls, a physical bond called the van der Waals force react. This type of bond occurs when the electrons of the gecko's hair interact with the electrons of the wall, creating an electromagnetic force. It is also found by scientists that Geckos do not actually stand at a 90 degree angle on a wall, the hairs on their feet are actually landed on the wall with an obtuse angle, the flatter the hair lies on the wall, the more weight they could support. (2)
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3. Buckypaper is lighter and stronger than steel
Buckypaper is a thin sheet of paper made from nanotubes. These nanotubes are so tiny that they are approximately 50,000 times thinner than a human hair. (3) So what are they used for? They could be used for fire protection, believe it or not, some race cars are actually covered with a thin layer of buckypaper just to prevent explosion since a high amount of heat is produced when a race car is in motion.
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4. Nanoparticles at home could be damaging?!
Nanoparticles used in household paints could prove damaging. Studies on fish have found that the particles can kill nerve cells and cause holes to develop in the brain. However, the specific impact of nanoparticles on humans are still controversial discussed. (4)
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5. Grey Goo
Grey Goo is basically a dramatic scenario in which future nanorobots got out of control and start consuming the earth's environment while replicating itself. This scenario is also called ecophagy. We are still safe now because grey goo wouldn't just suddenly exists without intelligence or programming. Eric Drexler said that grey goo candidates must achieve some criteria to be a true grey goo. They must be self-replicating and must survive whatever environment they encounter. (5)
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6. Damascus Steel
Damascus Steel is used for manufacturing sword blades made from wootz steel. Damascus Steel is very easy to distinguish from regular steel because they have patterns on them. These marks appear because of mottling reminiscent of flowing water. These blades are tough and would not break that easily. However, the original method of producing Damascus Steel was unknown. (6)
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7. Generating Power from the Heart
A tiny nanowire which is almost not visible can conduct energy from the flexing and pulsing of muscles into electric energy. Their nano generator could someday lead to medical implants and sensors powered by heartbeats or breathing. (7) Zhong Lin Wang, a researcher at Georgia Institute of Technology showed a new research that nano-generators could actually work in live animals. When attached to a rat’s heart, the device gave 30 picoamperes at three millivolts.
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8. Regain ability for paralyzed limbs
Dr. Samuel I. Stupp, director of the Institute of BioNanotechnology in Medicine at Northwestern University discovered that nanotechnology could actually be used in human body for cells to repair or regenerate itself. He did an experiment of paralyzing a lab mice and injecting nano materials into the it. The results showed amazing achievement in nanotechnology, the mice regained the ability of walking by using their hind limbs only six weeks after the injection was done. “By injecting molecules that were designed to self-assemble into nanostructures in the spinal tissue, we have been able to rescue and regrow rapidly damaged neurons,” said Dr. Stupp at an April 23 session hosted by the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. (8)
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9. Bullet Proof Suits
Bullet proof suits are made of carbon nanotubes that are super tiny and light. However, they are about a hundred times as strong as steel. These carbon nanotubes are extremely strong, making them the perfect material for bullet proof suits. Bullet proof suits are actually made for the absorption of the energy of the bullet, in addition, carbon fibers, which are made form carbon nanotubes are extremely good at absorbing energy and researchers are still working on using these nanotubes to make better bullet proof suits. (9)
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10. Invisibility Cloak
Scientists have still not yet invented invisibility cloak yet, but there are several items in the world that are close to making an invisibility cloak. Yang Hao, professor of antennas and electromagnetics at Queen Mary University of London demonstrates that "surface waves cloak" could make a curved surface to appear flat when they came into contact with electromagnetic waves. Moreover, scientists have discovered that manipulating light waves could be the basic of building an invisible cloak. (10)
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