Lesson 9 nanotechnology: dream or reality?

The Nanoscale

Ordinary objects are absolutely huge measured on what scientists call the nanoscale:

• 
  Atom: ~0.1 nanometers.
  
• 
  Atoms in a molecule: ~0.15 nanometers apart.
  
• 
  DNA double-helix: ~2 nanometers in diameter.
  
• 
  Typical protein: ~10 nanometers long.
  
• 
  Computer transistor (switch): ~100-200 nanometers wide.
  
• 
  Typical bacteria: ~200 nanometers long.
  
• 
  Human hair: 50,000–100,000 nanometers in diameter.
  
• 
  One piece of paper: ~100,000 nanometers thick.
  
• 
  Girl 1.2 m (4ft) tall: ~1200 million nanometers tall.
  
• 
  Man 2m (6.5 ft) tall ~ 2000 million nanometers tall.
  
• 
  Empire State Building: 381m (1250 ft) tall: ~381,000 million nanometers tall.
  

Can you figure out how tall you are in nanometers?

Photo: Zooming in on the nanoscale: IBM scientists have measured the charges on individual atoms using an atomic force microscope, an extremely powerful microscope that works down to nanoscale dimensions (more about this in a moment). By courtesy of IBM Research–Zurich published on Flickr in 2018 under a Creative Commons Licence (CC BY-ND 2.0).
too / either so am I / neither do I etc.


too and either

We use too and either at the end of a sentence.

We use too after a positive verb: A: I'm happy. B: I'm happy too. A: I enjoyed the film. B: I enjoyed it too. Mary is a doctor. Her husband is a doctor too.

We use either after a negative verb: A: I'm not happy. B: I'm not happy either. (not 'I'm not ... too') A: I can't cook. B: I can't either. (not 'I can't too') Bill doesn't watch TV. He doesn't read newspapers either.