Nanotech: Money Pit or Moneymaker?

Can nanotechnology deliver on its promise, or is it just a black hole in which investors and governments have poured tens of billions of dollars with little in return?

According to Cientifica, a research firm focused on the market, various governments have spent $18 billion in nanotech research and development. Add in the $6 billion budgeted to be spent in 2006, and nanotech research funding will have reached the same amount in absolute dollar terms as the entire Apollo space program.

But after eight years of public funding, nanotechnology has little more to show the markets than stain-free pants. Terrific as this may be for slobs who want their clothes to look nice, it's not exactly the stuff of history. Yes, chemical giants such as BASF (BF Quote) and Dow Chemical are producing nanomaterials in bulk, but they make up a small fragment of their overall sales. ...