It’s hard enough to thread a needle. Imagine trying to manipulate threads and needles miniaturized to one-millionth the normal size. Now, you’re thinking like the emerging group of nanotechnologists whose growing dexterity at fashioning new materials and devices may eventually improve every arena of technology, from aerospace to drug development. While many researchers focus on developing tools for working on nanoscale materials, others are pursuing a virtual pathway toward nanotechnology applications. As ever-more powerful computers have become ever more affordable, computational nanoscientists can readily simulate materials atom by atom.
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By running such precise computer models of the chemical and physical properties of materials, researchers can examine tiny constructions more thoroughly than a bench scientist ever could.