As we close out Nanodot for 2007, we note some predictions for the future of nanotechnology through 2025 from Peter von Stackelberg:
“Between the end of the first decade of the 21st century and 2025, a number of gamechangers will need to occur if nanotech is to advance significantly,” von Stackelberg says. These gamechangers include:
• A shift from “passive” to “active” nanotech. In the coming decades, nanotech will likely make the transition from simple nanomachines—particles, crystals, rods, tubes, and sheets of atoms—to more complex ones that contain valves, switches, pumps, and motors…
• Nanofabrication. Currently, manufacturing processes for nanomaterials are extremely expensive, produce only small amounts of material, and generate a significant amount of impurities and waste, von Stackelberg says. “But consider this: Assembly of nanodevices today is at the same stage as the automobile industry was before Henry Ford developed the assembly line.”
Quite so, and these nanotech ideas should sound familiar to longtime Nanodot readers. Happy New Year! (Credit NanoTechWire.com) —Christine
