So what is it?
Nanotechnology is technology that works at the scale of the nanometer - one billionth (1,000,000,000th) of a metre.

That's very, very small ... about the same as 10,000th the diameter of a human hair.

Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of structures at the atomic and molecular scale. This gives substances new properties - with huge economic potential.

Back in 1959, physicist Richard Feynman predicted that in the future we'd be able to build tiny machines, atom by atom. Now his dream is being realised as scientists learn to manipulate matter at the nano-scale level.

This is the birth of nanotechnology!

The invention of the scanning tunneling electron microscope in 1981 allowed scientists to start manipulating atoms and molecules, pushing them into interesting shapes. They demonstrated this new ability by making a molecular abacus and a molecular wheel.

Nanotechnology took a great leap forward in 1985 when new molecular building blocks were discovered. Christened 'Buckminsterfullerene', or 'buckyballs' for short, it was a previously unknown form of carbon. The incredibly strong, stable, football-shaped molecule kick-started an atomic building boom.

Some scientists say nanotechnology will dramatically change every aspect of our lives. They envisage a world where we'll build tiny nanorobots that can manufacture endless amounts of food, fight disease, and go out into the environment to clear up pollution. They predict a nanotopia where all the world's ills will disappear...

But other scientists insist that such claims are misleading. They say that nanotechnology will bring changes that are exciting but somewhat less dramatic - the production of new materials, and advances in computing as we move from microchips to nanochips