Nanotechnology enables our visual culture to perceive reality based on
sensing and connectivity. It introduces a new era of our lives and shifts the
paradigms; pushing all of us into the 21st century. Even though
nanotechnology is new, nanoscale materials were also used in the past ("What Is Nanotechnology?"). For
example, stained glass windows of medieval churches centuries ago used
nanotechnology with their gold and silver particles that helped to create
colors. During that period, artists did not know that what they did was working
together with art and nanotechnologies.
A stained-glass window at an old medieval church used a form nanotechnology
http://www.rohlfstudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/17_Panel_Stained_Glass_Window_Panels_Blessed
Nanoscientist Dr. Gimzewski talked about the potentials of
nanotechnololgy and how it can change the world. He mentioned that in 1959, at
Caltech, Richard Feynman talked about the book “There’s Plenty of Room at the
Bottom” (Gimzewski). In this book, he suggested that it is possible to make machines at the
nano-scale to arrange the atoms the way we want. The micro electronic
evolutions kicked off a little later (Gimzewski). Feynman discovered that the behavior of
nanoscale objects could be used to create new effects such as different colors
and types of chemistry, etc (Gimzewski).
Richard Feynman, who some people called the father of nanotechnology
http://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/tiny-machines.jpg
The Scanning Tunneling Microscope, also known as the STM, enabled
scientists to visualize the world through atoms and molecules, and also enabled
them to study DNA molecues ("Scanning Tunneling Microscope"). Its inventors, Gerd Binnig and Heinrich Rohrer won
the Nobel Prize in Physics. The STM is not just limited to vacuum. It is also
able to resolve atoms in air, liquid in very low temperatures, and even in eletro-chemical
environments ("The Scanning Tunneling Microscope").
How an STM works
http://www.nobelprize.org/educational/physics/microscopes/scanning/images/stm1.gif
Self-assembly is a process by which molecules
and cells form themselves into specific, ordered structures under the right
conditions ("Snowflakes"). Here, it is evident that science can produce art. The complex
structure of a snowflake is a result of nanoscale arrangement of water
molecules in an ice crystal.
A nanoscale arrangement of a snowflake
https://cc00d70565-custmedia.vresp.com/library/1260228838/48f48bc642/SNOWFLAKE_prettyflake_w040123a032_photo.jpg
Nanotechnology have led to new knowledge and
innovations that were not possible before. Nanoscientists can now manipulate
matter at the nanoscale!
Works Cited
Gimzewski, James. “Nanotechnology and Art.” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 May 2012. Web. 23
May 2015.
"Scanning Tunneling Microscope." IBM100. Web.
23 May 2015.
"Snowflakes: Nano at Its Coolest." NISE
Network. Web. 23 May 2015.
"The Scanning Tunneling Microscope."
Nobelprize.org. Web. 23 May 2015.
"What Is Nanotechnology?" Nano.gov. Web. 23 May
2015.
1 comment:
Nice blog, I liked how you touched on a lot of different topics within nanotechnology, from visual art to self assembly to philosophical interests in nanotech. It is interesting to think that we have been using nanotechnology for thousands of years, humans just did not understand the nature of the materials that they were working with.
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