"So nat'ralists observe, a flea
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey,
And these have smaller fleas that bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."
—Johnathan Swift
The miniscule devices that fall under the title of nanotechnology have huge potential, so long as they can utilize a power source better than a battery. The successful nanotech product will rely on its ability to scavenge “waste energy” ad infinitum (as Jonathan Swift would have said). In a recent article in the Scientific American (January, 2008), Zhong Lin Wang (Director of the Centre for Nanostructure Characterization, Georgia Institute of Technology) gives the example of the 1920’s watchmaker who invented the self-winding watch. Mechanically harvesting energy from the wearer’s moving arm and putting it to work rewinding the watch was a brilliant concept.
Hath smaller fleas that on him prey,
And these have smaller fleas that bite 'em,
And so proceed ad infinitum."
—Johnathan Swift
The miniscule devices that fall under the title of nanotechnology have huge potential, so long as they can utilize a power source better than a battery. The successful nanotech product will rely on its ability to scavenge “waste energy” ad infinitum (as Jonathan Swift would have said). In a recent article in the Scientific American (January, 2008), Zhong Lin Wang (Director of the Centre for Nanostructure Characterization, Georgia Institute of Technology) gives the example of the 1920’s watchmaker who invented the self-winding watch. Mechanically harvesting energy from the wearer’s moving arm and putting it to work rewinding the watch was a brilliant concept.
