Inventors and scientists have been continuously working towards reducing the size of technological components. Room-sized computers to laptops that are slimmer than a pane of glass? It’s done. Huge bulky telephones to smartphones that can fulfil a lot more? A thing of the past. The real question is, to what extent can all this go? Will we see smartphones that can be embedded in human bodies? Or is there more to it?
Nanotechnology has been around for a while now. It is a branch of technology so minuscule that it can operate on a microscopic level. And what’s more, it can be programmed to do whatever is desired of it. Richard Feynman was the physicist who first gave birth to an idea of nanotechnology and nanoscience in 1959. With his paper titled “There’s plenty of room at the bottom”, Richard laid the vision on top of which nanotechnology is being developed today. And in the future, it is expected to greatly change the way our world operates.
“Nanobot” is a term that people may have gotten used to because of Hollywood science fiction movies. As the name suggests, a nanobot or a nanorobot measures about a few nanometers, where 1 nm = 10-9 meter. With properties like self-replication (producing copies of themselves to replace defective units) and molecular manufacturing (building nanoscale circuits and devices), nanobots have a host of applications that can be implemented in our day-to-day life. They are highly valued in healthcare, construction, telecommunications and disaster management.
Here are some of the areas where nanobots can be of immense help and value
News This Week
Oxford University breakthrough on global COVID-19 vaccine
The University of Oxford, in collaboration with AstraZeneca plc, today announces interim trial data from its Phase III trials that show its candidate vaccine, ChAdOx1 nCoV-2019, is effective at preventing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) and offers a [...]
Altered ‘Coat’ Disguises Fatal Brain Virus From Neutralizing Antibodies
A genetic modification in the ‘coat’ of a brain infection-causing virus may allow it to escape antibodies, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. They say testing people for this and other viral mutations [...]
A DNA-based nanogel for targeted chemotherapy
Current chemotherapy regimens slow cancer progression and save lives, but these powerful drugs affect both healthy and cancerous cells. Now, researchers reporting in ACS' Nano Letters have designed DNA-based nanogels that only break down and [...]
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines could be programmed to fight cancer, heart disease and more
The new technology behind Pfizer's and Moderna's coronavirus vaccines could be used to prevent everything from heart disease to cancer, experts say. The breakthrough vaccine 'platform' they use transforms the body into a virus-zapping vaccine [...]
New technology allows more precise view of the smallest nanoparticles
Current state-of-the-art techniques have clear limitations when it comes to imaging the smallest nanoparticles, making it difficult for researchers to study viruses and other structures at the molecular level. Scientists from the University of Houston [...]
The top emerging health technologies to end this pandemic and avert the next one
Virtual patients, vaccines, medicine-making biomachines and microneedles are examples of tech innovation that is meeting the moment to address the global health crisis. Health has been a strong focus for this year’s top 10 [...]
Vancouver-based biotech company central in development of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine
A Vancouver company is central to the news Monday morning that Pfizer is close to developing an effective vaccine against the coronavirus. Pfizer said Monday that an early peek at the data on its [...]
Is social media ready for a Covid-19 vaccine?
On Monday, Pfizer and BioNTech announced in a press release that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective at preventing Covid-19 infection, based on initial results from their ongoing phase 3 clinical trial. [...]
Covid vaccine: First ‘milestone’ vaccine offers 90 per cent protection
The first coronavirus vaccine can prevent more than 90% of people from getting Covid-19, a preliminary analysis shows. The developers - Pfizer and BioNTech - described it as a "great day for science and humanity". [...]
New Nanomedicine Approach Could Improve Effectiveness of COVID-19 Vaccine
Researchers led by the University at Buffalo (UB) have devised a new method that could enhance the effectiveness of vaccines against the novel coronavirus, the virus that is responsible for causing COVID-19. Jonathan F. Lovell, PhD, an [...]
The strange ways that coronavirus can affect the brain
On March 17 this year, a man was taken to hospital in Israel suffering from a dry cough and a loss of sense of smell. He developed a fever and felt tired but, after three [...]
Oxford Covid vaccine works in all ages, trials suggest
One of the world’s leading Covid-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in older adults as well as the young, its developers say, raising hopes of protection for those most vulnerable to the coronavirus that [...]
Researchers pin hopes on Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR-technology tests to detect coronavirus
Coronavirus tests performed in labs are the gold standard for accuracy and antigen tests are a fast and inexpensive alternative. But backers of a third type of test, developed by a Nobel Prize winner [...]
New SBMT Paper Released: COVID-19 Review of a 21st Century Pandemic
COVID-19 is a severe infectious disease that has claimed >150,000 lives and infected millions in the United States thus far, especially the elderly population. Emerging evidence has shown the virus to cause hemorrhagic and immunologic [...]
Intensive care capacity close to overload, warns top Swiss Covid-19 advisor
Switzerland’s Covid-19 scientific taskforce chief says hospitals across the Alpine country could be swamped with new coronavirus cases in the next two or three weeks unless the situation improves. “We estimate that the capacity limit [...]
Hunt on for future Covid mutations that cause treatments to lose potency
Scientists are to increase surveillance for new coronavirus mutations amid concerns that future strains of the virus could develop at least partial resistance to antibody treatments and Covid-19 vaccines. There is no evidence that the [...]
Leave A Comment