Nano's new definition

Everyone seems to have a different definition of nanotechnology, each one deficient in its own way. Nanotech is often described as the science of making products out of components that measure less than 100 nanometers. The problem with that description is that it focuses only on size, not on nanotech's key feature: Atoms behave differently when separate.

Others say nanotechnology involves building things by manipulating molecules, but not all nano products are made of molecules.

Speaking at the International Congress of Nanotechnology, Hans Coufal, director of IBM's prestigious Almaden lab, came up with a new one. Nanotechnology is "the ability to continue to obtain funding for what you claim is of nano importance."