"The new possibilities that will open up when we can routinely tailor material at the atomic level is something we can only speculate about for the moment..."  Read more

"My gut feeling is that this will be a decisive step towards being able to use molecules that 'build themselves' in practical applications. This would open up whole new possibilities."  Read more

Scientists are convinced that nanotechnology will enable us to monitor and control our own bodies in entirely new ways in the future. What will we be able to do ten years from now? Fifty years from now?  Read more

Imagine you're out in space and scanning our solar system with your eyes. There's Eve, down on planet Earth, with an apple in her hand. Obviously you can't see her or the apple. Or can you? Nano scientists face the same astonishing size differences. The difference in size between the Earth and the apple is the same as the difference between the apple and a carbon atom in its peel!  Read more

Scientists have a new box of toys. With new 'spectacles' and precision instruments they can not only see into the smallest of things but can also alter what they see. They can build molecules that didn't exist before, change ones that need improving. What does design at molecular level – nanotechnology – actually imply?  Read more

For a long time people thought that graphite and diamond were the only stable forms in which pure carbon could occur. Then fullerenes, carbon balls, rolled into the arena, and nothing's been quite the same since. Absolutely nothing comes stronger than a carbon nanotube!  Read more

A simple saliva test at home in the morning and you can decide for yourself whether you need antibiotics. An implanted sensor that keeps a check on your blood sugar and fats. One day we'll be amazed at how little we used to know about what goes on inside us.  Read more

The nano clock – sounds like science fiction? In fact, both you and I have always been controlled by nano clocks. The world's smallest clock is actually also the world's oldest. All organisms that depend on sunlight also need something to measure time...  Read more

An incredibly small electrical switch, a nano relay, has been built in Göteborg, Sweden. It's a million times thinner than an ordinary switch. But how can we use this new technology when we have no chance to see what's happening?  Read more

Which jumper would you prefer today – one treated with nano particles so it never gets dirty or smelly, so it glows in the dark, changes colour according to your mood – or a traditional woollen one like grandma used to knit?  Read more

Botany was Carl Linnaeus's most important source of inspiration and knowledge as a physician. In sharp contrast, the pharmaceuticals industry of our own age relies more on the laboratory than on the field trip. However, a growing interest in natural products has led to something of a renaissance for the subject of pharmacognosy, the study of medicines from natural sources.  Read more

Building an elevator to space has long been a dream among science-fiction authors. If this becomes possible one day it will be thanks to the incredibly strong and incredibly small nanotube – a structure that nano scientists foresee a revolutionising future for.  Read more

In September 1864, the Nobel factory in Stockholm exploded. Five people lost their lives, among them Alfred Nobel's brother, Emil. How this affected Alfred, we can only guess. But just three years later, he applied for a patent for an explosive substance that was much safer to handle - dynamite. And without being aware of it, he used nanostructures from diatom fossils that were tens of millions of years old.  Read more