© 2004 by Oxford University Press
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© 2004 Oxford University Press
NEWS |
Nanotechnology Grows Into Billion-Dollar Enterprise
| The first 10% of the full text of this article appears below. |
Small is big. Although "nanotechnology" has been an academic and media buzz word for several years, the federal government and private investors are now backing a host of initiatives with huge sums.
In fiscal year 2005, federal agencies are slated to spend more than $1 billion on nanotechnology—defined as science and engineering at the scale of one billionth of a meter, or about the width of 10 water molecules. Private concerns are expected to ante up another $5 billion to $6 billion in the United States alone.
Nanotech observers say that the streams of money are flowing from the
unique nexus that forms nanoscience, where physics, chemistry, engineering,
biology, computer science, and medicine mesh in unexpected ways. At
conferences, microchip experts mingle with oncologists, who talk shop with
materials engineers and toxicologists. Every corner of science,
Nanomedicine
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