While its benefits are still years away from reaching the public, scientists hope nanotechnology -- the manipulation of atoms as raw materials -- will eventually live up to the hype it's received for its potential to advance medicine, electronics and manufacturing.

From science fiction to the halls of Congress, the promise and perils of nanotechnology have become big news. But just what is nanotechnology, what are its prospects, and how should policymakers and citizens think about it? Adam Keiper explores the surprisingly varied meanings of nanotech, and the implications of our growing control over the very small.

Nanotechnology experts say that visions of molecule-sized, self-replicating robots (and their accompanying risk scenarios) are science fiction, not science fact.

Molecular manufacturing, and the use of molecular assemblers to hold and position molecules, will be key to the future, controlling how molecules react and allowing scientists to build complex structures with atomically precise control. In this essay, Dr. Drexler discusses the benefits and challenges of future molecular manufacturing.

The role of nanotechnology and nanoscale materials in military operations is still limited but the U.S. military is ramping up nanotech research and development efforts for the next war.

Microscopic wires which could help form the miniature technology of the future have been constructed using the basic building blocks of living things.

Though still largely exploratory, nanoscience is gradually becoming nanobusiness, and consumers looking for payoffs should expect near-term gains in semiconductors, data storage, life sciences, and optics to name a few.

More and more businesses are moving into the world of nanotechnology, where particles of common materials are shrunk to such a minuscule size that they behave in unexpected ? and often useful ? ways. Entrepreneurs and multinationals alike are building on research from the 1980's and 1990's that led to relatively simple ways to fashion silicon, metals, plastics and even workaday substances like clay into particles of no more than a few molecules apiece.

The authors survey the optimistic and pessimistic projections for nanotechnology and conclude that nanotechnology is "still a long way from living up" to either expectation.

Engineers have crossed a symbolic barrier with a new way to make microchips with transistors that are a thousand times smaller than the width of a human hair or as small as a flu virus. The 90-nanometre width is regarded as a major milestone because scientists believe it will eventually lead to the production of transistors with atomic level dimensions.