NanotechnologyFact or Myth?

© 2011 Project Lead The Way, Inc.Science of Technology

Fact or Myth?

1. There are currently biological nano-machines that naturally exist in your body.

FACT

Viruses are nano-sized biological

machines that currently exist

inside the body. Viruses can self-

replicate within a cell, which

means that virus parts

spontaneously come together to

create new viruses. Influenza virus particle

Fact or Myth?

2. Tiny nanotweezers can be used to pick up

nanometer-sized molecules and move them

around to build different structures.

FACT

True, but a major challenge is the

stickiness of materials at the

nanoscale. Many materials adhere

to the tweezers and refuse to be

released. Picking up is easy, but

putting down is difficult.

Fact or Myth?

3. Gold nano-sized balls can be injected into the

body to kill cancer cells.

FACT

Tiny gold capsules, a few

nanometers in diameter, are

coated with antibodies. The

capsules adhere to a tumor. As the

capsules are irradiated with a

laser, the gold heats up,

destroying the tumor while leaving

the surrounding healthy tissue

unharmed.

Fact or Myth?

4. Engineers have created a nano-sized car that

has four doors, tires, and tiny seats and can

move around freely.

MYTH

Engineers have made a car with

wheels made of buckyballs and a

chassis and axle made of organic

molecules that can move. The car

is 4 nanometers across. It does

not have doors, tires, or seats. Buckyball image

Fact or Myth?

5. There are clothes that do not stain due to

nanotechnology. You can spill juice on your

nanopants and the juice just rolls off.

FACT

Textile chemical engineers can

treat fabric with a special process

to alter the fabric’s properties at

the nanoscale. The fabric resists

stains and repels spills.

Future of Fabric

Fact or Myth?

6. Through nanotechnology, ice cream is being

made that is lower in fat and healthier for you.

FACT

Using nanotechnology in ice

cream has created a tighter matrix

in the ice cream that results in

smaller ice crystals. This makes a

smoother and creamier ice cream

that is lower in fat.

Fact or Myth?

7. NASA plans to build a space elevator that would

use carbon nanotubes to move materials from

Earth to outer space.

MYTH

Liftport, a space-infrastructure

company, supports construction of

a space elevator. The concept

includes long thin cables made of

carbon nanotubes anchored to a

platform at sea that, with the help

of robots, would move materials to

outer space.

Fact or Myth?

8. Wilson Double Core Tennis Balls last longer

because a thin layer of nanocoating is applied to

the rubber lining.

FACT

Nanolok™ is applied via a roll, dip,

or spray coating process onto a

rubber substrate. Once dry, a thin

coating (10-30 microns) of

Nanolok™ forms on the substrate.

A thin layer of Nanolok™ on the

inner rubber lining of these balls

increases air retention compared

to the uncoated rubber.

Fact or Myth?

9. Self-cleaning toilets are now available. These

toilets are made with nanotechnology that keeps

the porcelain clean.

FACT

CeFIONtect, Ceramic Fine Ion

Technology, is a ceramic glaze

that prevents waste particles,

bacteria, or mold from attaching to

a surface. This permanent stain-

resistant surface lasts as long as

the product is in use.

Fact or Myth?

10. Through nanotechnology, steaks can be made

atom-by-atom such that cows are no longer

needed to produce the meat.

MYTH

Currently there is no way to make

complex proteins like those found

in steak. Food chemists are

looking at new food additives and

ways to keep food from spoiling

through nanotechnology.

Image Resources

Microsoft, Inc. (2009). Clip Art. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/clipart/default.aspx