Free Ways to Educate Yourself About Nanotechnology and Help Protect Human Freedom

YOUR Understanding of Nanotechnology Can Lead to Progress for Everyone.

A free online course in nanotechnology led to a lightbulb moment for me and helped me gain insight I needed to better interpret research results. I’d seen Brownian Motion increase in blood after people had been exposed to various kinds of external stimuli, such as: Kambo, sound frequencies; and a hands-on energy technique. Previously, I had assumed that particles exhibiting Brownian Motion were natural and, thus, had nothing to do with nanotechnology. But, that theory got blown wide open one afternoon when an online course instructor mentioned Brownian Motion’s impact at the nanoscale.

The mere mention of Brownian Motion in that context sent me down a research rabbit hole that yielded information on how Brownian Motion could be used to facilitate self-assembly (Wood, Stephen, et. al., 2003; and the development of Brownian Motors (Johnson, Dexter, 2018). A tiny amount of study on my part led to a breakthrough that had big implications. I learned that the proliferation of particles in Brownian Motion I’d been witnessing might be a good thing, but then again, maybe not. I won’t ignore it anymore - that’s for sure.

By increasing your understanding of nanotechnology, how it is developed, and how it functions, YOU can contribute to nanotechnology research even if you don’t have a microscope, and aren’t doing experiments yourself. Your comments on articles and videos posted by others could hold the key to answers no one has yet considered.

Don’t worry if Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and all of that stuff is hard for you. All you need are glimmers of understanding here and there to help make a difference.

I was good at math and science in school until Algebra set off a bomb in my brain and blew my quantitative circuits to bits. I took and failed Algebra in high school, and then again in college. If it hadn’t been for an insecure graduate student teacher, who made everything easy so he could pass us, and keep his job, I might never have graduated.

The idea of learning how various nanostructures are developed and function, brought back all my Algebra anxiety and then some. “I can’t do it!” I thought. “I’m stupid about that stuff. I just am!”

Luckily, that feeling was quickly overcome by a wave of determination to figure ‘this darn thing out, i.e.: what they did, and are doing, specifically, and how it might be disabled.

These freaks, who put all of this machinery into everybody, are just assuming we’re all too stupid to figure this stuff out. That’s when the rage kicked in! Who do they think they are? This cowgirl’s not in! If they think they can hide their dirty work from me, I’ll tell them who’s stupid!

We all know the saying: “To ‘ass-u-me’ is to make an ‘a-s’ out of ‘u’ and ‘me'. That’s what they did. They assumed nobody would figure it out, and if they did, they wouldn’t be able to find an off switch or an antidote. Well I’m not having it! You’re not having it either, of course, which is why you’re here reading this.

One thing I know for sure is that lots and lots of you - probably most - are way smarter than I am about the things taught in courses on nanotechnology. Lots of you didn’t flunk Algebra, and some went onto to Geometry. Heck, I’ll bet some of you even finished Calculus or Physics! Okay, then, we’re good! Let’s do this thing!

Introductory nanotechnology courses go over things like size, color, temperature, magnetism, chemistry, light, and other properties and forces that affect the activity of nanoparticles. They explain how these things can be used to create and operate nanotechnology for specific purposes, and discuss the superpowers of various kinds of nanostructures. Risks are sometimes mentioned, but when they are, they’re usually followed by a string of words, akin to: ‘further study is needed,’ leaving the impression that no one is planning to study risks any further.

I guess the important study is up to us! The more people that are armed with vital information on nanotechnology, the better. Let’s ditch the self-proclaimed experts and figure out how to save ourselves.

Here are some great ways to educate yourself about what’s going on with this tiny stuff that’s busy manipulating things everywhere:

I like Dr. Pervaiz Ahmad’s video course on YouTube. Here is a link to the first video in his 58-video course. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDnzI05vvSc&list=PLMlC7Vx5awsenMs5y02xcW6i5NmdEIRGx

I like Dr. Ahmad’s course because it goes slow enough for me. He has a strong accent, though, so it might not be for everyone. There are some other free nanotechnology courses on YouTube, as well. Here are links to some others:

Professor Ashok K. Gonguli of IIT Delhi has a 40-lecture course posted on YouTube. He speaks even more slowly than Dr. Ahmad and may, thus, be easier for some people to follow. The main drawback of his course is that it was posted 10 years ago, so some of the information may be out-of-date. Here is a link to his first lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebO38bbq0_4&list=PPSV&t=102s

Perhaps the most entertaining Nanotechnology Lectures I’ve found online are taught by Dr. James Tour. He goes way off topic - A LOT, but it’s refreshing and keeps you listening. He seems to have a lot more videos on Christianity than any other subject, but interspersed in the mix are educational videos on various nanotechnology topics. Just type ‘Nanotechnology’ into the search bar on his home page to find nanotechnology videos. Here’s a link to one that opens with a discussion on Jerry Seinfeld. (I warned you - he goes off topic, but it’s entertaining.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijO69lyTeYw&t=43s

If you already have an advanced understanding of science and mathematics, and want exposure to more advanced information, you might want to check out Instructor Gang Chen’s 25-Lesson Graduate Course, entitled: “Nano-to-Micro Transport Processes” on MIT OpenCourseWare. Here is a link to his first course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jisTDmIk3Nw&t=3339s

There are currently two free nanotechnology courses available at Coursera at: https://www.coursera.org The first time I looked into this, you could sign up for a 7-day free trial which is, theoretically, enough time to go through a course. (Some of their courses work this way). I found the tests excruciatingly difficult, but you can get through the course without doing the tests or getting a certificate.

I recommend starting with “Nanotechnology and Nanosensors, Part 1” taught by Professor Hossam Haick.

Articles cited above:

Johnson, Dexter, “Rocking” Brownian Motor Pushes Nanoparticles Around: “IBM’s nanomotor can sort and separate nanoparticles, could be lab-on-a-chip game-changer.” IEEE Spectrum, 5 April 2018, https://spectrum.ieee.org/nanomotors-swimming-without-fluid-flow-revolutionizes-nanofluidics#:~:text=Now%20researchers%20at%20IBM%20Zurich,on%20again%20for%20another%20duration.

Wood, Stephen, et. al., “Physics at the Nanoscale, and Nanotechnology Production Methods with Special Focus on Biology,” AZO Nano, 21 April 2005, https://www.azonano.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=1207#:~:text=Although%20the%20combination%20of%20Brownian,many%20molecules%20are

Have fun discovering!

Daisy