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It's one of the most intriguing aspects of nanotechnology:
Commonplace materials assume unpredictable and incredible
characteristics at the molecular level. Tiny rolled-up
"nanotubes" of carbon graphite suddenly turn superstrong and
highly conductive, inert materials become highly reactive, and
particles that once emitted red light appear blue on the
nanoscale. As more and more nano-based consumer products arrive,
scientists are beginning to worry that these unpredictable
particles are holding back a few surprises -- ones that could
harm human health or the environment. Researchers have conducted
only a handful of studies on the health implications of
nanotechnology. "We absolutely know how [these materials] behave
when they are larger," says Karluss Thomas, of the nonprofit
Health & Environmental Sciences Institute (HESI). "But when you
engineer something that small, it changes all the fundamentals.
Some are so new we don't even have adequate testi