Nanotechnology

When I say, “Scientific Revolutions of the twenty-first century” do you automatically think of nanotechnology? If you don’t, well, you better change your way of thinking because advancements in nanotechnology has dramatically increased in the past few years.

Nanotechnology is the study, understanding, and control of matter on the nanoscale. The nanoscale ranges roughly between one and one-hundred nanometers. Matter on the nanoscale is smaller than micro organisms. To give you some examples, human hair is between 60 – 120k nm and red blood cells are between 2 -5k nm.

So what’s so interesting about nanotechnology? What’s interesting is that, “Unusual physical, chemical, and biological properties can emerge in materials at the nanoscale. These properties may differ in important ways from the properties of bulk materials and single atoms or molecules.” (http://www.nano.gov/index.html). Basically, with the right technology scientists are able to change the properties of elements at the nanoscale or even create their own molecules by building them up, atom by atom.

We are already starting to see nanotech appear in commercial consumer products today. Some common nanotech items include; sunscreen that gives extra UV protection, faster recharging batteries, lightweight tennis rackets, longer lasting rubber tennis balls, stain resistant clothing, odor “eating” socks, circuitry in cell phones and other electronic devices. Basically, the idea is that just about everything can be enhanced by some sort of nanotechnology whether it’s making materials stronger, sturdier, lighter, more conductive, more flexible, or even more reactive.

Nanotechnology in non-commercial fields is rapidly advancing as well. Government and military research facilities have recently been developing groundbreaking nanotechnology. The Air Force Research Laboratory has developed nickel nanofibers that can be added to paints, adhesives, polymers, and ceramics to make materials lightning-proof. This weather protection will possibly be applied to all aircrafts and vehicles in the near future. In addition to that, the AFRL has created flexible silicone circuit board electronics. They accomplished this by changing the properties of silicone on the nanoscale. These flexible electronics are some of the worlds fastest to date and are the most damage resistant. The flexible electronics and circuit boards are currently only for satellite use. They are meant to be lightweight, compact, and undamageable by vibration.

Of course, there are going to be several risks and dangers involved when dealing with nanotechnology. It’s a relatively new field and nobody is really certain of the effects nanoparticles and materials will have on the human body. Many believe that stray nanoparticles from products on the market today can cause Morgellens disease. Morgellens is a reoccurring skin irritation that causes stinging, crawling, or biting sensations in selective areas.

Just about every scientific advancement has its own science fiction apocalyptic theory. For nanotech, the Grey Goo is what spells disaster for the human race. The Grey Goo theory is the theory that self-replicating nanobots will reprogram themselves to eat carbon. Thus, devour everything on the face of the earth. Luckily, for us, self replicating nanobots do not exist yet.

So when I say, “Scientific revolutions of the twenty-first century” Hopefully nanotechnology will pop into your head. And if for some reason it doesn’t, click the links in this article such as, “THIS ONE” or, “THIS ONE” or the links previously seeded in the text above until your brain is so full of information about nanotechnology that when asked questions completely unrelated to this subject, like, “What time is it?” or, “Where’s the beef?” you will think nothing but thoughts of nanotech.

Works Cited

Miracle, Daniel. "Dr. Daniel B. Miracle." AFRL Nanoscience Technologies (Applications, Transistions, and Innovations) 01-15. Web. 4 Nov 2009. www.nano.gov/AFRLNanobooklet.pdf>.

"What is Nanotechnology?". Center for Responsible Nanotechnology. 11/04/09 .

"Research Home." National Nanotechnology Initiative. US Government, Web. 4 Nov 2009. www.nano.gov/index.html>.

"Grey Goo". Wikipedia. 11/04/09 .

Schizophrenia in the 1800's

Little was known in the scientific world about Schizophrenia in the 18th century. We will explore how the world reacted to this unknown disorder, and the history behind it.
Throughout the 1700's, Schizophrenia was commonly confused with the mental illness dementia. Starting in the 18th century, scientists began to notice small differences between the two disorders yet the actual term Schizophrenia was not coined until the early 19th century.
The rise of mental institutions began at the turn of the 17th century. In prior decades, mental patients were housed in insane asylums and normal hospitals. These places treated patients as a near sub-human class. They were put onto display for the entertainment of the public. The mental institutions introduced the moral treatment method which was far more humane. These buildings were set away from the busy cities, giving the patients a calm environment.
One of the largest barriers for Schizophrenia research comes from the lack of scientific case studies. Throughout the evolution schizophrenia, many medical scientists attempted to pinpoint the exact symptoms of it, through the observations and study of various "mad" individuals. One of the greatest contributors to this progression was the medical psychiatrist John Haslam. Haslam's case study of the individual James Tilly Mathews helped to identify and classify the various rudimentary contributing symptoms of schizophrenia.

Find out more about schizophrenia from this book, Amazon.com
And for a patients story follow this link: http://www.youtube.com

Charles Darwin And The Tree Of Life

I found this video on Digg.com it's an animation of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. It's quite good, enjoy!

Society Craves Mobile Technology

November 2001, AT&T launched a groundbreaking addition to the mobile phone community. Text messaging became public and was on the rise to popularity. This new technology opened doorways in the design and capabilities of cell phones. As texting became more popular throughout the years, inventions to aid texters were developed. T9(predictive text) and full keyboards integrated into cell phones made sending messages much easier. As more and more updates became prominent, more options opened up in the world of texting. For example, cameras built into cell phones made it possible to send and receive pictures and videos. The mobile communication field has come along way since text messaging was introduced. Cell phones are now a huge part of human culture. We crave innovation and are always wanting what is cool and trendy in the world of technology.

As of today, a phone with only texting and picture/video messaging is a thing of the past. Smart phones are in demand now. With the full power of the Internet, custom applications, music and your favorite social networking sites at your fingertips, smart phones are becoming a very popular and very useful piece of technology. You can now, post blog updates, send e-mails, and instant message instead of just texting. Mobile technology has become much more advanced in the past few years and it's only going to get better.

Workes cited:
http://cell-phones.suite101.com/article.cfm/cell_phone_history

http://www.usshortcodes.com/csc_history.html