Some things are so tiny you can’t see them under a normal microscope – think proteins and molecules. These are a thousandth of the size of the red blood cells running through your veins.
We measure these things in nanometres: one nanometre is a billionth of a metre.
Scientists have some adventurous ideas harnessing things at the nanoscale – a field called nanotechnology.
Some ideas are realistic, others are still science fiction.
In this episode of the Science Briefing podcast, Dr Sophie Calabretto talks to Cosmos Magazine journalist Ellen Phiddian about nanotechnology, what’s realistically possible and how on Earth you work with things this small.
Read more: What is nanotechnology?
Watch: Just what is nanotechnology? Benjamin Eggleton explains
Originally published by Cosmos as Tiny robots in your blood? The possibilities of nanotechnology
Sophie Calabretto
Dr Sophie Calabretto is a mathematician specialising in fluid mechanics. She is Honorary Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and Honorary Associate Professor, at the ACE Research Group, University of Leicester.
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