The Essence of Nanotech: From Boiling Water to Quantum Computing

This is what I continually harp on: Nanotech isn’t just one thing; it’s an enabling technology that has the ability to change the way we do almost everything, from the mundane to the esoteric.

Two stories released over the weekend best exemplify my point.

First, the highly respected labs at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have created a lining for metal vessels (pots and pans, not ships) out of copper nanorods that can reduce the time it takes to boil a liquid by an order of magnitude. (That’s 10 times for you nonscience folks).

Not only could this help save energy from cooking dinner to heating industrial boilers, but this also means you can reverse the application and cool things much better. You can make pasta and your computer faster with the same technology.

Actually, you can make your computer smaller, faster and cooler (literally as well as figuratively) using this application. Plus, because most of a computer’s pathways are already made of copper, the application of these new nanorods would be fairly simple to accomplish.

Once again, this is an exciting application of a simple, base material that takes on extraordinary qualities now that we can manipulate it at the nanoscale.

Moving on to the more esoteric, an international team of researchers at Purdue University has identified a new hybrid atom that could be used to develop quantum computers.  

In a Nature Physics journal paper currently online, the researchers describe how they’ve created a new, hybrid molecule in which its quantum state can be intentionally manipulated—a required step in the building of quantum computers.

This is one of those cool stories in which a bunch of scientists around the world were working one problem and, as they started to get some visibility on their initial research, discovered something surprising. Then other scientists ran with that discovery, and it landed them with a single atom that can move electrons.

Some of the people working on this discovery are now believe that we may see quantum computers within a decade.

What’s the big deal with quantum computers? Power, baby—and lots of it. The easiest way to conceive of the difference between today’s binary computing and quantum computing is if you run this thought experiment:

Say you’re looking for a phone number for a friend using your laptop and an online phonebook. Your laptop would sequentially run through the phone book one name/number at a time. Your processing speed would make this tedious job seem relatively fast, and it would certainly be much faster than you having to do it. However, if you had a quantum computer do it, the computer would look at the entire phonebook simultaneously—a little quicker, no?

And quantum computers can take advantage of the bizarre behaviors of quantum mechanics—some of which are counterintuitive even to physicists—in ways that are hard to fathom. For example, two quantum computers could, in concept, communicate instantaneously across any distance imaginable, even across solar systems. That would make for some pretty interesting network solutions.

Suffice it to say that both of these stories have very exciting implications on both ends of the application spectrum. But both are only possible because nanotechnology has enabled scientists to play with stuff that was impossible to experiment with before.

It’s kind of like following a recipe for food. If the recipe makes a certain number of servings and you need to increase or decrease that number, you don’t simply increase or decrease the ingredients by that factor. You’re changing the model, and you have to factor that into the equation.

With nanotechnology, when you reduce elements to the nanoscale, you yield new, undiscovered properties that don’t exist on a larger scale. A copper pot isn’t a pot with a layer of copper nanorods.

For investors, it won’t necessarily be the company making the copper nanorods that makes the money because there will likely be many manufacturers of the material. It will be the pot makers and the chip builders that can incorporate these new technologies seamlessly into their products lines, boosting performance and customer demand.

Speaking Engagements

“The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco,” a saying that’s almost a San Francisco cliche, turns out to be an invention of unknown origin, the coolest thing Mark Twain never said.

The natural setting is, however, among the most exciting in the US. Venture west to San Francisco Aug. 7-10, 2008, for the San Francisco Money Show, and conduct your own field study.

My colleagues Neil George, Roger Conrad, Elliott Gue and I will discuss infrastructure, partnerships, utilities, resources and energy, and tell you what to buy and what to sell in 2008.

Click here or call 800-970-4355 and refer to priority code 011470 to attend as our guest.

I also have a special invitation for readers to join me and my colleagues Elliott Gue, Roger Conrad and Neil George aboard an exciting 11-day investment cruise Dec. 1-12 through the Caribbean and Panama Canal.

This will be a unique opportunity to step away from your daily routines, relax in one of the most beautiful parts of the world and share analysts’ knowledge and passion for the markets. During the sail, you’ll not only explore the cerulean splendor of the Caribbean, but you’ll also delve deep into current markets in search of the most profitable opportunities for your portfolios. You’ll also have the rare chance to sail through one of the world’s engineering marvels, the Panama Canal.

It’s always a special treat to meet and talk with subscribers in person, and we couldn’t have picked a better setting than aboard the six-star Crystal Serenity. This is sure to be an especially memorable experience. We hope you’ll join us.

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