Taking technology to the molecular level

Fifty years ago (1950), nanotechnology could only merit serious consideration in dreams and science fiction. The author now believes nanotechnology's existence to be a certainty. The only question now is "when". The application areas for a mature nanotechnology industry are astounding. The author predicts nanotechnology will virtually eliminate pollution from the earth's air and water, as well as produce clean manufacturing processes for the future. Also, she foresees the creation of a space elevator stretching from Earth's surface to a geosynchronous orbit along which cargo and people could move, built with an extremely hard material called carbon nanotubes. And she predicts extremely small machines that destroy viruses, remove arterial plaque, and get rid of cancer cells. The author explains the research activities, some in the form of industry startups taking place across a variety of disciplines: chemistry, physics, mechanical engineering, materials science, molecular biology, and computer science. She also explains some of the issues surrounding this extremely powerful and potentially dangerous technology.