Wednesday, November 4, 2026Updated every morning at 5:30 AM ET
NanotechProgress
Get the brief

Status, never a rating

We don't judge whether a technology is good, safe or worth investing in. We report how far it has got, from dated sources anyone can check, by rules written down here.

The stages

Five steps, one ladder

Every technology, from a cancer drug to a chip transistor, sits on the same ladder. Its stage is worked out from its dated milestones each time the site updates; the highest rule it meets places it.

  1. Step 1Lab discoveryShown in a lab or a computer model, in a published paper or preprint, with nothing on record beyond it yet.
  2. Step 2Working prototypeWorks beyond the first experiment: tested in animals, built as a device prototype, or made on a pilot production line.
  3. Step 3Real-world testingTested in people in a clinical trial, in real conditions in a field or road trial, or delivered as samples to named customers.
  4. Step 4Approved or on saleA regulator approved or cleared it where approval applies (the FDA, the EMA, a CE mark), or it is sold to the public or to customers beyond a trial.
  5. Step 5Everyday lifeWidely used: in products or treatments that reach millions of people, or sold in ordinary shops.

Company-reported. When every milestone behind a stage comes from the company itself, the stage carries a flag saying so, until a regulator, customer or independent report backs it.

Not a rating. A stage says how far a technology has got, not how well it works or whether it is safe. Safety findings have their own section on each page.

The nano check

Is it really nano?

“Nano” sells, so the word turns up on things that have little to do with it. Every technology we follow carries one of three flags, each backed by a quoted source.

  1. FlagTruly nanoIts nanoscale structure is what makes it work.
  2. FlagPartly nanoIt uses nanomaterials, but they are one ingredient among others.
  3. FlagNano in name"Nano" is in the name or the marketing; our sources don't show nanoscale engineering behind it.

Sources

Public records first

We read free public records and research first, then makers' own news, then trusted outlets. Records can move a stage; company news is flagged until something independent backs it.

Research
Papers in PubMed and new preprints on arXiv that name a technology we track. Lab results are step 1, however exciting the headline.
ClinicalTrials.gov
The US register of clinical trials, for nanomedicines tested in people. A registered trial in people is step 3.
Regulators
Approvals, safety reviews and rulings from bodies such as the FDA, the European Commission and its scientific committees, and food safety agencies.
Company filings
Customer, product and revenue figures that listed companies state in their annual reports and other filings.
Makers' newsrooms
Announcements, always flagged company-reported until something independent backs them.
Trusted outlets
Phys.org, Nanowerk, ScienceDaily, MIT News, Nature Nanotechnology, IEEE Spectrum, Semiconductor Engineering, STAT, Fierce Biotech, pv magazine, Electrek, Ars Technica and others, for news and verbatim expert quotes.

Editorial rules

What we never do

  1. 01Never inventNo number, date, price, quote or person appears unless a source we link to says it. An empty field beats a guess.
  2. 02Every passage checkedEach fact is backed by a passage copied word for word from its source, and our checker fetches the page to confirm the words are there.
  3. 03No opinions, no rankingsWe don't say what is good, safe or worth buying. Lists are ordered by stage, date or name, never by preference.
  4. 04Experts in their own wordsExpert views are quoted word for word, with their name, role and source.
  5. 05Promises kept apartDates a company or researcher has promised are listed as promises, with who made them, and marked when the date passes.

Corrections

When we get it wrong

Tell us through the contact page, with a link to a source. We check it against the source, fix the record and date the change on the technology's page. A correction that moves a stage is noted beside the stage.

Advertising

Money never touches the record

Sponsors never change stages, flags, quotes, the order of lists or what we cover. Sponsored items and affiliate links, such as book links, are labelled where they appear. We may decline any sponsor, and anything connected to the owner carries a disclosure.