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Materials
As aluminum was considered a precious metal until chemistry made it common in the late 1800s, nanotechnology may transform diamond, a form of pure carbon, into a common building material. Its transparency, heat resistance and strength makes it a desirable substance. Carbon's abundance means diamond's raw materials are inexpensive and widely available. A molecular machine, stacking layers of carbon atoms in the right places, will turn out bulk diamond in nearly any quantity.
Engineers select materials such as plastic, steel and glass based on their material properties and cost. Advanced nanotechnology will make some of these properties variable. Like proteins in muscle tissue that contract when stimulated, molecular machines will allow materials to change their stiffness under computer control. Color, texture and physical size are a few other characteristics that can be controlled and modified. Materials could be given a "shape memory:" A car fender, once dented, could restore itself to its original form.
Computers
Computers will benefit from nanotechnology as they have from electronic technology. Current computer chips have features measuring 45 nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Nanotechnology will likely reduce components to under a nanometer, producing machines thousands to millions of times more powerful than current examples. Simple computers, such as those that run your microwave oven, will be smaller than a red blood cell.
Manufacturing
A mature nanotechnology may result in a general-purpose desktop manufacturing system, capable of building small items. Designs for all manner of household goods will be available as downloadable files. You can, for example, download a design for dinner plates for a party, turn the machine on and have a new set of plates in a few hours. The machine uses simple chemical raw materials such as water and acetone. It disassembles the atoms in the raw materials and builds new objects from them. The use of smaller, home and neighborhood-based manufacturing systems may reduce or eliminate factories as we know them.
Medicine
Advanced nanotechnology may revolutionize medicine. Mobile, microscopic robots will replace drug molecules as medical treatments. Although drugs are passive molecules that bump along in the blood stream until they stick to a compatible surface, a robot can make decisions and act independently. The physician will program the robots to recognize specific organs and tissues and ignore others, speeding up healing and eliminating side effects. A dose of robots can repair injuries, perform surgery without scarring and seek out blood-borne microbes. Other robots will improve medical diagnosis and enhance physical stamina.