The Strange and Promising World of Nano-Science

It's easy to get used to the world of our experience, and to expect future innovations to resemble previous ones. If we want a bridge capable of withstanding tremendous amounts of weight, we might be inclined to think that the bridge itself must be massive; or if we want to perform more delicate surgeries, we might develop more precise tools for doctors to do their job, but never question the idea that a doctor must be directly involved.

But if we consider the fact that the rules that govern the subatomic (or nano) world are not always the same rules that apply to the objects of our normal experience, then a realm of seemingly endless possibilities opens up for us to get creative and find truly innovative solutions to old problems. As Stephen Fry explains in the following short animated documentary, things are about to get very exciting.

And if you want to learn more about the history of nano-technology, you might be surprised (or not) that the idea can be traced back to Richard Feynman and a talk he delivered in 1959, as the following clip narrated by Alan Alda illustrates:

Check out more Feynman goodies.
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