Nanotubes To The Core
by
Randy Mears
It may have been my recent blog about batteries that rekindled my interest in these amazing carbon tubes, but the more I read about the wonders of nanotechnology, the more aware I become of the nanotube’s importance, both historically and technologically.
Somehow nanotubes seem to be the central axis around which modern commercial nanotechnology revolves (at least the popular version). Over the last 5 years, nanotube-based products have unceremoniously made their way into the market place. Like XML adoption in the late 1990s, early nanotube-based products were probably more about manufacturers saying they used the technology and less about them actually having the ability to exploit any real technological benefits. After all, who wouldn’t buy an ostensibly nanotube-reinforced sports toy after reading about nanotube elevators to space!
As nanotube technology has matured so has its importance. Just like XML, nanotubes are building blocks. But it’s not just what we make with nanotubes that make them important; it is what we learn in working with them that will become the foundation for greater pursuits in nanotechnology. XML did the same for computer science, helping to create the mindset and foundation for SOA.
With a wide range of research and applications in medicine, sports, electronics, physics, computer science, chemistry, etc., nanotubes help us appreciate the wider field of nanotechnology for what it is: a brand new discipline poised to help us solve some of today’s and tomorrow’s most complex problems. The simple nanotube also reminds us that when it comes to nanotechnology, we have not even scratched the surface.
