scott wrote:
>> Fabric protectors (like Scotchgard) and water repellants have been 
>> available
>> for ages (that's why people wax their cars), nothing "nano", just regular
>> technology marketed under a hype branding. Also, not all (red) liquids 
>> are
>> adhesive - depends on surface tension and cohesivity (mercury won't 
>> "stick",
>> for instance).
> 
> Yep, it really does depend on what liquid they used.  I used to have a 
> set of marker pens for measuring the stickyness of surfaces (I forget 
> what the scale was, but they were numbered 1-50 or something).  The 1 
> was like mercury, it would stick to nothing (not even normal paper) and 
> would always form blobs.  The 20-30 would mark and stick to pretty much 
> anything (like a permanent marker).  We were using them when we had 
> problems with print not sticking very well to plastic wrap.  They could 
> have easily used a liquid like I had in my marker pen #1 and it would 
> pretty much "run off" of anything you put in it.
> 
> One of the most interesting uses of "nanotech" would be to keep your car 
> windscreen clean, without the need for wipers or a cloth to get off 
> splatted flies.

Indeed, and such coatings already exist in certain applications.  For 
example, the application of TiO2 (titanium dioxide) on glass to create a 
surface that is "self cleaning".  It's described as nano technology 
because of the scale of the reaction that takes place and the thickness of 
the coating, even though it's not nano technology in the sci fi 
tiny-machines sense that most people think of.

Lance.

thezone - thezone.firewave.com.au

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