But still: “Nano” does not mean “small,” guys!
Shelly’s working on a speech for her speech class about nanotechnology. For the speech, she’s trying to get across the idea about just how small nanoscale objects really are.
So I’ve put together an image of what one might expect from a real iPod nano:
Well, nano comes from the ancient greek for dwarf, and I’d say that the iPod nano is dwarf-sized compared to the standard iPod. Not all uses of nano refer to the nanometer.
Yep on the Greek roots, though today “nano” is an SI measurement meaning “on the scale of 10-9 meters.” The iPod nano is small, but it ain’t THAT small. 🙂
Well, nano comes from the ancient greek for dwarf, and I’d say that the iPod nano is dwarf-sized compared to the standard iPod. Not all uses of nano refer to the nanometer.
i’ve seen (light) nanosecond used as a length measure– it’s about a foot.
Well, that’s a bit better; on that scale, the size of the iPod nano is only wrong by about one order of magnitude, as opposed to nine orders of magnitude…
That’s in the right ballpark. I had just checked how big nanoparsecs and nanolight-years would be…
i’ve seen (light) nanosecond used as a length measure– it’s about a foot.
Damn. Just… damn.
Damn. Just… damn.
Isn’t Nano actually Svensk for “dwarf”?
I seem to remember that Nano, Atto and Femto are all Scandie pixies or dwarfs…
You’re close; i’s Greek for “dwarf.” Atto and Femto are Norse, Atto meaning “eighteen” and Femto meaning “fifteen.”
In modern English, “nano” is an SI term used for anything on a nanometer scale; which is to say, anything whose size is on the scale of six carbon atoms stuck together. Unfortunately, Madison Avenue has latched onto it as the new, hip, trendy way to say “really small” (as in the billboards around here advertising the Hummer H3 as “The Hummer, nanosized”–meaning that the ads are off by twelve orders of magnitude.
Since nanotech is promising to be the Next Big Thing, with implications even more far-reaching than the development of solid-state electronics, everyone wants on the bandwagon. Hell, there’s a company that makes an additive you put in your socks to kill fungus that’s calling itself a “nanotech” firm, because their product is a powder made of particles that are really small.
Isn’t Nano actually Svensk for “dwarf”?
I seem to remember that Nano, Atto and Femto are all Scandie pixies or dwarfs…
You’re close; i’s Greek for “dwarf.” Atto and Femto are Norse, Atto meaning “eighteen” and Femto meaning “fifteen.”
In modern English, “nano” is an SI term used for anything on a nanometer scale; which is to say, anything whose size is on the scale of six carbon atoms stuck together. Unfortunately, Madison Avenue has latched onto it as the new, hip, trendy way to say “really small” (as in the billboards around here advertising the Hummer H3 as “The Hummer, nanosized”–meaning that the ads are off by twelve orders of magnitude.
Since nanotech is promising to be the Next Big Thing, with implications even more far-reaching than the development of solid-state electronics, everyone wants on the bandwagon. Hell, there’s a company that makes an additive you put in your socks to kill fungus that’s calling itself a “nanotech” firm, because their product is a powder made of particles that are really small.
Yep on the Greek roots, though today “nano” is an SI measurement meaning “on the scale of 10-9 meters.” The iPod nano is small, but it ain’t THAT small. 🙂
Well, that’s a bit better; on that scale, the size of the iPod nano is only wrong by about one order of magnitude, as opposed to nine orders of magnitude…
There’s a chance we’re all just mispronouncing the greeting “Nanoo”, as in “Hello, that’s a small stereo” in the Orkian language. Perhaps if they would call it by its name twice; then we would understand.
There’s a chance we’re all just mispronouncing the greeting “Nanoo”, as in “Hello, that’s a small stereo” in the Orkian language. Perhaps if they would call it by its name twice; then we would understand.
That’s in the right ballpark. I had just checked how big nanoparsecs and nanolight-years would be…