Nano: Finer than fine

Nano is a new buzz word. Not only that, there is a lovely song entitled Awan Nano. Find it and listen to it on YouTube. Awan Nano song

What is nano? Nano is finer than fine. Nano is 10 to exponent-9. It means a nano particle is 9 times finer than fine.

What is wrong or right about nano particles? Now I will tell you what is good or bad about nano particles. I didn't make up this story. It was our discussion over dinner at Motorola engineer's home, one fine night.

This is the good about nano...

When particles are made superfine, they taste better - fine chocolate powder gives the fine taste of high quality chocolates. The chocolate powder is ground so very fine (we call it superfine in the research lab), that these chocolate particles enter every crevice in the tongue to trigger a fine chocolaty taste of fine chocolates.

Now there is a problem when we use superfine particles in other foods. Imagine we use superfine whitener particles in white flour, in toothpaste, in everything we like to eat. What will happen? What can possibly happen? To give you an idea of the possible grave concern is what IF the superfine nano particles decide to travel and traverse anywhere in the body? Where do you think superfine nano particles end up in the body after we eat superfine nano particles? Any idea?

Imagine if superfine nano particles decide to travel into the brain and stay put in the brain! What can happen next? Of course the superfine particles will accumulate with time ... and if we get unlucky, the superfine nano particles decide they have had enough and want to break loose, what can happen? What will happen if superfine nano particles want to break up and go somewhere else?

Of course the clump of superfine nano particles can easily break up and go separate ways. What if this time they decide to meet at the heart valves? Yes, sure, they can travel there and disturb the valves without us being aware trouble is brewing in the heart.

What if the superfine nano particles want to travel elsewhere in the body? Let's say the renal tubules. Imagine if the superfine nano particles inside us all decide to visit our kidneys and do some damage there, what will happen to us? Of course we can still wee but a concern is they can also cause damage to the renal tubules.

Now the best part is, imagine if the superfine particles decide to visit our eyes and eye lens. What can go wrong? Yes, they will fill the lens and make them hazy or even opaque. They can fill the eyes and we get eyeballs filled with superfine nano particles. What harm can that do to our eyes? Of course they will cause harm to the eyes, and the fine blood vessels won't like it and will definitely burst all over. So we will get blood-shot eyes, and people around us will think we are Dracula in the making or drunk or something. It can be fun if the blood-shot eyes are temporary. But .... what IF the blood-shot eyes are an indication of permanent damage to the fine capillaries in the eyes? Can we become blind from superfine nano particles? I think so it is possible. We can become blind and blinded by packing more and more superfine nano particles inside our bodies. We want to consume anything that contains the buzz word "nano", often thinking that a bombastic buzz word is always right and good and therefore our body needs a new food. We are often wrong and always have regrets of the worst kind. That's being human.

So when do we say Yes to nano and No to nano? I think we must know where nano particles like to go in the body and use them in moderation so we don't accumulate them in our life. We try to minimise consumption of such nano particles so we don't suffer ill-effects or complications of superfine nano particles.

Next we can expect scientists to create super duper fine nano trillo particles so that they taste just like water and we can consume them without worry. Isn't zamzam water also superfine nano water particles? But we use zamzam water for treatment which is putting superfine nano particles to good use. That's some thoughts about nano particles.