Size matters - this illustration shows size comparisons, from picometers and nanometers to decimeters and meters.

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The growing ability to assemble materials and devices at the level of individual atoms and molecules--that is, at the nanoscale--will profoundly change the way we live. Many experts believe it will have an impact equal to the Industrial Revolution. And it's happening now. Already, nanotechnology is on the verge of producing powerful new drugs and medical treatments, ultra-tiny computers, new materials lighter and stronger than any known today, and breakthroughs in energy production and environmental quality.

"Nanotechnology has given us the tools . . . to play with the ultimate toy box of nature -- atoms and molecules. Everything is made from it . . . the possibilities to create new things appear limitless . . . "

-- Horst Stormer, Nobel Laureate, Columbia University, Lucent Technologies