An uninformative article about a very interesting topic. First of all, "nanotechnology" is not restricted to carbon nanotubules...
Posted by DeLong at August 2, 2003 09:06 AM | TrackBackFT.com /Technology zone: Some fear work on nanotechnology will lead to a planet smothered in "grey goo", but Motorola is pushing ahead with research that could yield low-cost flat panel displays of unparalleled clarity.
Such displays could be used to make wall-mounted televisions more than 4ft across the diagonal and less than 1in thick. They could equally be used for advertising applications.
Nanotechnology is a branch of materials science which deals with tubes of carbon atoms less than a billionth of a metre in diameter. These tubes have unique properties, one of which is to emit electrons when electrically excited. Motorola scientists have grown nanotubes at temperatures that make it easy to bond them to a surface material such as glass.
Furthermore, they have unprecedented control of the way the tubes are aligned.
"The ability to place nanotubes directly on a substrate while controlling their spacing, size and length provides a high-quality image with optimised electron emissions, brightness, colour purity and resolution," claims Motorola. It now plans to license the technology to European and Asian display makers.
"Some fear work on nanotechnology will lead to a planet smothered in "grey goo", but Motorola is pushing ahead with research that could yield low-cost flat panel displays of unparalleled clarity," sez the Financial Times?
Gimme a break. Cathode ray tubes have been delivering grey goo into the world's homes for sixty years now. Flat screens aren't going to change it much one way or the other.