The most recent decade has been one of unprecedented alarmism regarding the future of the earth. Not since the Cold War following World War 2 and the introduction of the Doomsday Clock, predicting our collective global proximity to disastrous nuclear fallout, has there been such a widespread dearth of optimism regarding the possibilities for the future. In fact, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the group responsible for the creation and curation of the Doomsday Clock, has recently added considerations of global climate change to its rationale for moving the minute-hand of the clock, which itself sits currently at two minutes to midnight, the closest it’s ever been.

In this climate of uncertainty and despair, many are turning to new technology to look for answers to problems that seem to be unsolvable through social or political avenues. The most significant and promising among recent scientific developments have mostly been in the field of nanotechnology. The key part of nanotechnology is the ‘nano,’ referring to the tiniest scales, atomic and even subatomic, at which research and development is being conducted. This new hope is mirrored in popular culture as well - the plot of the newest Avengers movie involves the protagonists using the ‘quantum realm’ as their magical mcguffin, a clear reference to rapidly evolving frontiers in the realm of nanoscience.

While the possibilities inherent in these new technologies certainly don’t (yet) involve super-powered exoskeletons and mind-bending time travel, the applications we’ve already seen are certainly impressive, and it’s very likely that there is more to come. The power of working at such a small scale comes from the inability of the pre-existing laws of physics themselves to predict and explain what will happen at such small scales. General relativity, the prevailing theory for most of the 20th century and beyond, holds for sufficiently large objects, but when things get tiny enough, the rules change. Those new rules, which have already been explored with vigor, allow scientists to do the kinds of things that would have seemed like magic just years ago.

The most exciting and currently relevant application of nanotechnology is in the field of energy creation and refinement. The major cause of the current crisis is what are commonly called “fossil fuels,” named because they are created by their age, pressed into high-density fuel sources by massive spans of time. Nanotechnology can be used to change the chemical composition of current fuels, making them last longer and burn cleaner, and can even replace them entirely by making solar cells more efficient and even enabling new, unforeseen methods of energy creation that have little to no environmental impact. This is no pipe dream, either - the most recent report on uses for nanotechnology in energy includes heavy-hitting companies like Bayer and Dow Chemical. 

Predictably, nanotechnology has also pushed to the forefront of research in medical science. One research discipline, called biomimetics, or biomimicry, involves looking at the natural world and copying its mechanisms in order to improve human technologies. As it turns out, the human body is already excellent at using nano-scale mechanisms in order to regulate its internal functions, and scientists are keen on finding ways to augment that existing functionality by using nanomachines for a variety of purposes. For instance, treating cancer is notoriously difficult. Cancer cells themselves are as easy to kill as any other cell - but the problem is differentiating them from the healthy cells in the body. Most modern cancer therapies are reasonably effective but can have disastrous side effects on the patient. Researchers are currently making breakthroughs in nano-scale drug delivery systems that can more effectively target specific cells and reduce the harm done to the healthy cells around them.

One of the break-out stars of nanotechnology research when the field first began to explode in popularity were carbon nanotubes - very small and thin but long chains of individual molecules that form something like a strand of carbon. They’re very light and incredibly strong, and the potential uses for these carbon nanotubes have yet to be exhausted years later. However, the astute may have noticed similarities between these carbon nanotubes and another material called asbestos. Prized for its flame retardant characteristics, asbestos was used widely as insulation in both commercial and private properties. Unfortunately, the long, thin fibers in the material could become dislodged and find their way into people’s respiratory systems, causing serious health problems. Studies have shown that fibrous carbon nanotubes can affect mice in ways similar to asbestos.

Previously there had been independent organizations established with aims similar to the FDA, in order to monitor and assess risks posed by new materials created through nanotechnology research for the sake of protecting consumers and researchers. These organizations have since been defunded, and there is currently no significant or meaningful oversight regarding the level of safety risks posed by new discoveries. These organizations could find other sources of funding, like government or private sector grants, or a lender like Max Funding, but ultimately we need them, or other organizations like them, to make sure that the new technologies saving our lives and our world aren’t accidentally killing us in the process.

1. nanotechnology