My favorite physicist, quite possibly my favorite scientist in history, Richard Feynman is frequently credited with throwing down the gauntlet, to which nanotechnology has been the response, in his lecture "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom."
But I am not afraid to consider the final question as to whether, ultimately---in the great future---we can arrange the atoms the way we want; the very atoms, all the way down!While Feynman may have brought the idea of nanotech to scientific minds as an active pursuit, it should be pointed out that nanoparticles, in particular, are not inventions of the 20th century. Much as quinine has been used since the 17th century as an antimalarial without the benefit of the knowledge of its chemical structure, nanotechnology is popping up in ancient artifacts. Copper and silver nanoparticles have been discovered in Renaissance, Moorish, Persian and Mesopotamian pottery glazes to add to their lustrous finish. It also appears that 17th century Muslim Damascan swordsmiths produced sabres with incorporated carbon nanotubes.
For more on nanotech's history, see Northwestern University's History of Nano Timeline.
Whether ancient accident or modern marvel, it is accurate enough to state that the ability to appreciate nanostructures is a recent development. In the last installation of the series on nanotech, I'd like to turn the focus away from benefits and risks of objects at the nanoscale, and simply invite you to take a look at a selection of images of nanothings. Here, I'm actually asking you to do the opposite of my stated intention of this blog. I'd like you to strip the science of any context and just look. Again, I admire Feynman's scientific perspective of aesthetics.
The first exhibit in the nanoart collection is titled "The nano-grip" and is displayed with permission from Dr. Boaz Pokroy at Harvard University. It is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of 250 nm diameter epoxy bristles which have self-assembled about a 2.5 micrometer polystyrene sphere.
This image is provided courtesy of S.K. Hark at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and is titled "Field of Sunflowers." The image was obtained by SEM and consists of densely packed silica nanowires comprising the central disc (in brown) with loosely packed silica nanowires comprising ray florets (in yellow). The SEM image was colorized with graphics software. The nanowires are roughly 10 nm in diameter and are on the micrometer length scale.
Matt Bierman at University of Wisconsin-Madison (Go Badgers!) went as far as providing a description of his image, "Two Pine Trees," which I'll use with no alteration.Spiraling pine tree-like PbS nanowires are evidence of nanowire growth driven by screw dislocations without the help of metal catalysts. The screw dislocation drives the rapid growth of the nanowire tree trunk and causes the lattice of the trunks to twist (called the “Eshelby twist”) and their epitaxial branches to spiral. See Science 320 (2008) 1060.Pretty soon all the kids will be doing the Eshelby twist.
I should note here that I came across all of the above images at the Materials Research Society's online gallery that resulted from their "Science as Art" competitions they've held at their meetings since 2005. There, you can find all of the above images, as well as many more, available as high resolution desktop images. Of course, you should obtain permission if you wish to blog about them.
I should also note that I intended to include quite a few more images in this post over which you could ooh and aah. I was caught between two competing interests. 1) Waiting to obtain responses to inquiries seeking permission to use more images. 2) Publishing on deadline. Even though the deadlines are self-imposed, and my blog probably isn't sufficiently popular to draw the attention of the imagemakers, I went with promptness (for the sake of my legions of fans) and integrity (for whose sake?).
As such, in lieu of a page full of beautiful images, I'll round off this post with links to more nanoart image galleries online.
NanoArt 21
Nanotechnology Art Gallery hosted by Nanotechnology Now
The Nano Gallery at Northwestern University
With that, the nanotech series comes to a close, for now. Of course, new developments are made daily. Progress in the field of nanotechnology will provide plenty of promise, peril and pulchritude to keep new nanoscientists, nanoartists, nanoskeptics, nanomystics, nanopoliticians, nanolobbyists and nanojournalists busy over the century ahead. The point I'm trying to make here is that nanotechnology adds another dimension to life . . . all of it, not just the science of life . . . the cogs, pulleys, gears and other assorted machinery that keep it all in motion.
A couple of friends of mine illustrate this last point well. They are artists, musicians, thinkers, dreamers, makers. The two of them formed a musical duo, The Nanobots. You can find them on MySpace and Facebook and can listen online. One of the members, * PETER BOT *, gave the caveat, "Other than by inspiration, no actual nanotech was used to create these songs." As a relatively new nanophile, I'm just pleased that nanotech is, indeed, providing creative inspiration.
Next week, tune in for a tribute to architect, philosopher, visionary Buckminster Fuller.
The progress of nanotech over the past years is impressive, as it is a relatively new-developed science.
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