nanotechnology
Ever wished you could fix societies problem in a matter of a second? Ever dreamed that we could restore our environment and clean all the pollution? I always dreamed about people being able to travel at the greater speeds, so one day we could explore more beyond our planet and learn more about the world outside our solar system. Imagine a motor measuring a few hundredths of a thousandth of a millimeter, running on and on and on. Or a data storage device squeezing the equivalent of five ?high-density? floppy disks into a thousandth of a millimeter.  (Michael Gross, Travel to the Nanoworld, pg3 )Or imagine the new world of possibilities, where the new technology would replace the old one, and we would be able to restore human health, help disabled and slow down the aging process. But recently I found out that all that is possible with a new scientific theory: a concept called nanotechnology. As we know everything around us is made from atoms. The properties of those products depend on how those atoms are arranged. If we reorganize the atoms in coal, we get diamonds. If we rearrange the atoms in dirt, water and air we get grass. Scientists hope to create and program atomic sized machines that would build real world objects one atom at a time. With a vast amount of these machines we would be able to manufacture objects of any size and shape, without using any special resources.
The concept of nanotechnology, first suggested by Richard Feynman over 40 years ago, is now coming much closer to actual existence. We still classify it a wildcard, though many in the field will disagree and say it is a sure thing. (
http://www.futurist.com/portal/scien...d_nanotech.htm) Nanotechnology is technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex atomic specifications. (Policy, 16) In other words, nanotechnology is the ability to build objects one atom at a time. To do this we would need atomic-scale tools about one nanometer big, which is one-billionth of a meter, only 10 atoms long. And to make objects of normal size, we would need billions of these little tools working together. The easiest way to build billions of assemblers would be to design tools that can make more of themselves, in a way, which would copy them. Since we can not dedicate billions of people to manipulate each individual tool, the tools must operate on their own. To do this, the tools must be programmable. Scientists must be able to manipulate individual atoms. This means that they will have to develop a technique to grab single atoms and move them to desired positions. In 1990, IBM researchers showed that it is possible to manipulate single atoms. They positioned 35 xenon atoms on the surface of a nickel crystal, using an atomic force microscopy instrument. These positioned atoms spelled out the letters "IBM." (
http://www.howstuffworks.com/nanotec....htm/printable) 
If our civilization would adapt to such a new technology, this would change and improve our society with a great benefits. People would be able to produce much better products without polluting environment around ourselves. The first products made from nanomachines will be stronger fibers. Eventually, we will be able to replicate anything, including diamonds, water and food. Famine could be eradicated by machines that fabricate foods to feed the hungry. (
http://www.howstuffworks.com/nanotec....htm/printable) We could inexpensively make very strong and very light materials: unbreakable diamond in precisely the shapes we want which would be much lighter and stronger then steal. The buildings would be unbreakable, and less people would suffer from the earthquakes. Bridges and roads made of unbreakable diamond strands would never need fixing, so the government would never spend money on things like that. 
The most important things which would benefit our society from Nanotechnology would be; Improved Transportation ? Today we use metal which is a very heave material, despite the fact that they are much lighter and stronger materials, but the cost is too great. But nanotechnology will let us inexpensively create material in the shapes we want, which would be much lighter and safer to use. That would make space travel inexpensive, so much more people would be able cover the great distances to travel and explore. Nanotechnology would totally change the way our modern computers work. The microchips would be of enormous size compared to molecular computers. We would be able to put trillions of bytes of information in a structure of sugar cube. And those computers would be thousand times faster and cheaper than current models. Today, "smart" weapons are fairly big - we have the "smart bomb" but not the "smart bullet." In the future, even weapons as small as a single bullet could pack more computer power than the largest supercomputer in existence today, which will make the bullet precise and would help it to navigate to the target. Nanotechnology will cut costs on spending on the energy production. Making energy cheap and easy to use would help us to reduce the pollution of the environment.  The biggest impact would on the medical industry. Patient would be able to get nanorobots inside of its body which would be programmed to attack viruses and diseases. This could slow or reverse the aging process, and life expectance could increase significantly. We could make surgical instruments of such precision and deftness that they could operate on the cells and even molecules from which we are made -- something well beyond today's medical technology. (
http://www.actionbioscience.org/newf...rs/merkle.html) In Michael Gross article, he points out that nanotechnology can be used for prosthetics. "Molecular machines could be used t rebuild damaged organs, make cosmetic alterations or provide people with whole new parts capable of dramatic powers. Missing limbs could be regenerated. Defective eyes and ears could be restored to perfect function or even enhanced. ?(Michael Gross, Travel to the Nanoworld, pg3)
The Last but not least important fact about nanotechnology is how it will affect the environment in our society. Right now there are many concerns with pollution, deforestation, and species extinction is increasing every day. With process based on molecular manufacturing, industries will reduce pollution and increase the quality of their products. Manufactures would be able to rearrange atoms in controlled ways, and return unneeded atoms back in their source. Cutting down trees, mining coal or drilling for oil may no longer be necessary. Resources could simply be constructed by nanomachines from the atoms around us. 
Nanotechnology promises us many great things, and researches say that will achieve these capabilities witching next century. It might be the greatest human achievement yet, which will change and shape our society and show us a new perspective of life. Mankind has shown that if something can be done, it will be. Only time will show us if nanotechnology stay as a distant dream or will it become reality!
SHITLOADS OF MISTAKES!!!