HVAC Control in the New Millennium.pdf - HVAC.Amickracing

HVAC Control in the New MillenniumNanotechnologyShrinking microelectronics smaller and smaller into the nanometerregion is called nanotechnology. This technology can be used for mechanicaltypes of applications. One application could be very smallmachines that move around in the bloodstream. This would be similarto the flagellar motor in bacteria. One of the problems in this type ofmachine is power. Another example is sensors. Human sensors like theretina and the nose use molecules that are nanoscale sensors.In the future, nanotechnology may change manufacturing as wellas other areas. Micron-scale technology may cost less than newsprint.Instead of a newspaper, you might buy a sheet of paper. One side of itis a battery and the other side is a display. You can read it, scroll to findreferences, see animated illustrations and when you are done, throw itaway. In about 10 years micron-scale electronics with new technologiesmay be used in toys, grocery labels, shipping labels, and credit/IDcards.Modern technology heats up silicon, saws it into slices and makespatterns on its surface using stencils and light. This produces the electronicchips of microelectronic technology. It has moved machines aspowerful as the room-sized computers of the early 1950s into pocketsizedcomputers. The individual components are 1/10th the width of afine hair.The new technology will handle individual atoms and moleculeswith precision and is sometimes called molecular nanotechnology. Theterms nanotechnology and molecular technology are also used interchangeablyto describe this new type of technology.Microcircuits have parts measured in micrometers (millionths of ameter) but molecules are measured in nanometers, which are a thousandtimes smaller. The new technology will build both nanocircuits andnanomachines.Molecular NanotechnologyEarly in the 21st century, we may have submicroscopic, self-replicatingrobots. Molecular nanotechnology could let us manufacture anythingwith atomic precision. Ten nanometers is 1,000 times smaller thanthe diameter of a strand of human hair.©2001 by The Fairmont Press, Inc. All rights reserved.