Nanotechnology, every morning, in plain English

The world’s smallesttechnology, explained.

Things a billionth of a meter wide are quietly changing medicine, phones, batteries and the water you drink. We track it daily and tell you what happened, why it matters, and how far it is from your life.

Read the latest news New to nano? Start here

Behind this pageGrapheneCarbon atoms joined in a honeycomb just one atom thick. Each point of light is a single atom.Magnified about50 million timesAt this zoom, a single hair from your head would be about 2½ miles (4 km) wide.

Latest · 23 Oct 2026mRNA cancer vaccine: Full results from 1,137 patients, presented at the ESMO Congress in Madrid: adding the vaccine to Keytruda…Real-world testing

Latest

MedicinemRNA cancer vaccine: Full results from 1,137 patients, presented at the ESMO Congress in Madrid: adding the vaccine to Keytruda cut the risk of recurrence or death by 42%.MedicineNBTXR3: Nanobiotix reported that the FDA had cleared changes to the Johnson & Johnson-led phase 3 trial in head and neck cancer, NANORAY-312, so that its final analysis can come sooner.MedicinemRNA cancer vaccine: Merck and Moderna said their phase 3 trial in people whose high-risk melanoma had been removed met its main goal: with Keytruda, the vaccine lowered the risk of the cancer returning.EnergyTandem solar: A LONGi tandem cell reached 35.5% efficiency, a world record, certified by the European Solar Test Installation.EnergyNanotube additives: Batteries containing OCSiAl's nanotubes were powering about a million electric vehicles, and Volkswagen's battery company PowerCo picked OCSiAl as a supplier for its Unified Cell.ChipsNanosheet transistors: Intel launched Core Ultra Series 3, its first chips made on its 18A process with its new RibbonFET transistors.MedicineIn-body gene editing: The FDA lifted the hold on MAGNITUDE-2, the trial in the nerve form of the disease, with closer monitoring of liver tests.MaterialsAerogels: Aspen Aerogels sold $168.9 million of its PyroThin battery heat barriers in 2025, down from $306.8 million in 2024, mostly to GM.

Today in nanoThe latest 5

The latest news, decoded.

Every story comes with plain lines: what happened, why it matters when a source says so, and how far it is from your life.

Medicine and health · Human trial · 23 Oct 2026

mRNA cancer vaccine

What happened: Full results from 1,137 patients, presented at the ESMO Congress in Madrid: adding the vaccine to Keytruda cut the risk of recurrence or death by 42%. Healio, 23 Oct 2026
Why it matters: Given with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda after surgery for high-risk melanoma, it cut the risk of the cancer coming back, or death, by 42% in a large trial.
How far from your life: Real-world testingCould reach you in a few years if the tests go well.

In brief

What happened. Nanobiotix reported that the FDA had cleared changes to the Johnson & Johnson-led phase 3 trial in head and neck cancer, NANORAY-312, so that its final analysis can come sooner. Nanobiotix, 24 Sept 2026
Why it matters. Nanobiotix says the particles magnify the X-ray dose inside the tumor while the dose passing through healthy tissue stays the same.
How far from your life. You can get it now, though it may not be common yet.
The full story
What happened. Merck and Moderna said their phase 3 trial in people whose high-risk melanoma had been removed met its main goal: with Keytruda, the vaccine lowered the risk of the cancer returning. The ASCO Post, 21 Aug 2026
Why it matters. Given with the immunotherapy drug Keytruda after surgery for high-risk melanoma, it cut the risk of the cancer coming back, or death, by 42% in a large trial.
How far from your life. Could reach you in a few years if the tests go well.
The full story
What happened. A LONGi tandem cell reached 35.5% efficiency, a world record, certified by the European Solar Test Installation. PV Tech, 16 July 2026
Why it matters. Oxford PV says its first panels produce up to 20% more energy than a standard silicon panel of the same size.
How far from your life. You can get it now, though it may not be common yet.
The full story
What happened. Batteries containing OCSiAl's nanotubes were powering about a million electric vehicles, and Volkswagen's battery company PowerCo picked OCSiAl as a supplier for its Unified Cell. electrive, 26 June 2026
How far from your life. It is probably already in your life.
The full story

All the news

Lit by Morpho blueThe Morpho butterfly has no blue pigment. Nanoscale ridges on its wings bend light into this blue.

Start here

How small is nano?

A nanometer is a billionth of a meter. A ball one nanometer wide is to a softball as a softball is to the Earth. nano.gov Watch the microscope dive from a hair to a single atom, or step through it yourself.

01 / 06

A human hair

About 80,000 to 100,000 nanometers wide

Everything that follows fits inside this width.

National Nanotechnology Initiative (nano.gov)

Lit by electronsBelow about 200 nanometers, light is too coarse to see by. Microscopes use electrons instead, which is why pictures of this world come out black and white.

From lab to your life

Where everything really stands.

Every technology we track sits on one of five steps, worked out from dated evidence, never from hype. The further along it is, the warmer it glows.

Stage 1Lab discoveryShown in a lab or a computer model, in a published paper or preprint.

Stage 2Working prototypeWorks beyond the first experiment: in animal studies, as a device prototype or on a pilot production line.

Stage 3Real-world testingTested in people, in the field, or with named customers.

Stage 4Approved or on saleCleared by a regulator where that applies (such as the FDA or EMA), or sold to the public.

Stage 5Everyday lifeWidely used, often without people knowing nano is involved.

Every placement is computed from dated, sourced milestones by published rules, and each technology’s page says which rule placed it.

Lit by quantum dotsSpecks of the same crystal glow a different color depending only on their size: the smallest blue, the biggest red. Here those colors mark how far along things are.

Already in your life

You use nanotech every day.

Most of it is invisible. Pick a place to see where it already is and what it does there.

EUV lithography
Used to make the most advanced chips in phones, computers and AI data centers since 2019.
In everyday use
Silicon anodes
In many new flagship Android phones, such as the OnePlus 13, and in some wearables.
In everyday use
Nanosheet transistors
In the newest phone, laptop and AI chips, starting in 2025 and 2026.
On sale or approved

Everything you can use today

Lit by silverCut to about 10 nanometers, silver turns yellow. It also kills germs, which is why it's in some bandages and sports socks.

Topics

Eight places nano is changing things.

Pick the part of life you care about. Each topic shows everything we track there, how far it has got, and the latest news.

Medicine and healthTiny carriers that take drugs exactly where they're needed, and tests that spot disease earlier.12 tracked Chips and computingSwitches a few dozen atoms wide that make phones faster and AI possible.5 tracked Energy and batteriesBatteries that charge faster and last longer, and cheaper, stronger solar.5 tracked Wonder materialsGraphene, nanotubes and aerogels: lighter, stronger, stranger stuff.9 tracked Everyday productsSunscreen, screens, clothing and cosmetics, and what "nano" on a label means.5 tracked Water, air and climateFilters that clean water and materials that pull carbon from the air.3 tracked Food and farmingSmarter fertilizers, crop protection and packaging that senses spoilage.2 tracked Tiny machinesMolecular motors, DNA structures and the real story behind nanobots.4 tracked

Lit by aerogelA solid that is mostly air, held up by a web of nano-sized strands of silica. It looks pale blue for the same reason the sky does.

Nanobots: real or sci-fi?

The movie version, and what’s actually been built.

Nanobots are the most famous idea in nanotech and the most misunderstood. Here is each popular claim next to what has really been built, and how far it has got.

The claim“Tiny robots will hunt down cancer cells and destroy them.”
What existsA sheet of DNA origami rolled into a tube carries a blood-clotting enzyme. Arizona State University, 12 Feb 2018 More
Working prototype
The claim“Nanobots will swim through your blood and treat disease from the inside.”
What existsA tiny gel capsule loaded with medicine and iron oxide nanoparticles is steered through blood vessels with magnets. ETH Zurich via EurekAlert, 13 Nov 2025 More
Working prototype
The claim“Machines made of single molecules will do work inside our bodies.”
What existsChemists can build single molecules with parts that move relative to each other when energy is added: rings that slide along rods, and motors that spin in one direction. Nobel Prize press release, 5 Oct 2016 More
Lab discovery
The claim“We will build things to order, molecule by molecule.”
What existsDNA origami folds a long strand of DNA into chosen shapes and patterns a few nanometers in size, held in place by short DNA strands, like a pegboard on which other molecules can be placed exactly. Caltech, 10 Mar 2016 More
Lab discovery

What has really been built

Lit by goldAt about 20 nanometers, gold looks ruby red. It also draws the red line on many home pregnancy and COVID tests.

What’s coming, and when

Promises, with a date on them.

Companies and labs say when things will arrive. We write the date down, then check back. Kept, delayed or missed, it’s all on the record.

Within five yearsMax Shulaker, MIT · ChipsCommercial carbon nanotube microprocessors could be available in less than five years.Target date passed
2025Sila (CEO Gene Berdichevsky) · EnergySila's silicon anode material would be in cars by around 2025.Target date passed
Today
By 2030Svante · ClimateBuild filter manufacturing up to multimillion-tonne capacity and put hundreds of large carbon capture and storage plants in place by 2030.Still to come

Each promise names who made it and links the dated statement. Every promise we track.

Lit by buckyballsDissolved, the soccer-ball-shaped C60 molecule turns a liquid deep purple. Its discovery in 1985 won a Nobel Prize in 1996.

What to watch out for

Before you believe it, check it.

Is it safe?

What regulators have actually ruled, with the date and the source. We never give our own safety verdict.

E171 · European Commission · Jan 2022The EU withdrew titanium dioxide's approval as a food additive (Regulation 2022/63), with six months for food makers to phase it out.
E171 · European Food Safety Authority · 6 May 2021The European Food Safety Authority concluded that titanium dioxide can no longer be considered safe as a food additive, because it could not rule out damage to DNA (genotoxicity) after the particles are eaten.
Mineral sunscreen · European Commission · May 2016The European Commission added nano zinc oxide to the list of UV filters allowed in cosmetics, at up to 25%, after the committee's review.

Every safety finding we track

Nano or just marketing?

“Nano” sells. Our nano check asks one question of everything we track: does it really depend on engineering at the nanoscale? The number is how many carry each flag.

Truly nano 28Its nanoscale structure is what makes it work.

Partly nano 6It uses nanomaterials, but they are one ingredient among others.

Nano in name 0"Nano" is in the name or the marketing; our sources don't show nanoscale engineering behind it.

Popular claims, checked

Lit like the Lycurgus CupThis Roman glass looks green with light in front of it and glows red with light behind it, thanks to nano-sized gold and silver. Like a claim, it depends how you light it.

Stocks and companies

Who is turning lab results into businesses.

Nanotech isn’t only in labs. A growing group of companies is selling it, from the giants that make every advanced chip to startups betting everything on one material. See who they are, how much of their business is really nano, and how far their products have got.

Pure play: nano is the business
Major line: a large, named part of what it makes or sells
One of many: a big company with a nano program among many other lines

Making the chips

TSMCTSM NYSEBegan volume production of N2, its first process with nanosheet transistors, in late 2025.
Samsung Electronics005930 KRXBegan making chips with gate-all-around transistors in 2022, and sells quantum dot TVs.
IntelINTC NasdaqIts Core Ultra Series 3 laptop chips, launched in January 2026, are its first built on the Intel 18A process.

The tools that make nano possible

ASMLASML NasdaqThe only maker of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines, used to print the smallest features on advanced chips.
Canon7751 TSEThe first company to sell a nanoimprint lithography machine for making chips.

Nanomedicine

PfizerPFE NYSEMarkets Comirnaty, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine it developed with BioNTech.
BioNTechBNTX NasdaqDeveloped the Comirnaty mRNA vaccine with Pfizer; more than a billion doses were supplied by July 2021.
ModernaMRNA NasdaqDevelops mRNA medicines carried in lipid nanoparticles, including a personalized cancer vaccine with Merck.

Batteries and energy

Amprius TechnologiesAMPX NYSEMakes lithium-ion batteries with silicon nanowire anodes, used mostly in aviation.Pure play
LONGi Green Energy601012 SSEA Chinese solar panel maker; reported a 35.5% efficient silicon-perovskite tandem cell in July 2026.

Each exposure flag is set from the company’s own filings, with the passage quoted on its page. Every company we follow, with live share prices.

Information, not investment advice. We never say what to buy or sell.

Lit by copperThe wiring inside a modern chip is mostly copper, and its finest lines are thinner than a virus.

Coming soonThe first videos arrive with the morning update.

On video

See it to believe it.

New videos from the channels of the companies and science outlets we follow, kept only when they name a technology we track.

All videos

Lit by VantablackA forest of carbon nanotubes standing on end that traps almost all the light that hits it. It was first made for instruments on satellites.

Books

Go deeper.

Readable books on nanotechnology and its neighbors, from where to start to the big arguments about where it goes.

The whole shelf

Lit by titanium whiteTitanium dioxide ground to about 250 nanometers scatters light so well it's the white in most white paint. Ground much finer it turns clear, which is why nano sunscreens look less white.

Nanotechnology: A Very Short IntroductionPhilip Moriarty · 2022A short guide from Oxford's Very Short Introductions series that starts from the question of what nanotechnology is and how it will affect us, and sorts the real science from the talk of nanobots and nanoswarms.
Chip WarChris Miller · 2022The history of the fight to control microchips, the scarce resource the modern world runs on, from the first transistors to today's nanometer-scale factories.
GrapheneLes Johnson and Joseph E. Meany · 2018A popular account of graphene, the sheet of carbon one atom thick made from the same element as pencil lead, and what it might be used for.
Soft Machines: Nanotechnology and LifeRichard A. L. Jones · 2007A physicist asks whether the dream of tiny machines that rebuild matter is realistic, and argues that the best guide to working at the nanoscale is the way living cells already do it.