Nanotech researchers report big breakthrough that may lead to the creation of artificial muscles, superstrong electric cars and wallpaper-thin electronics, researchers report.

An advance in nanotechnology may lead to the creation of artificial muscles, superstrong electric cars and wallpaper-thin electronics, researchers report.

Nanotechnology has tantalized researchers for decades, promising a new era in stronger and lighter electronic materials. Nanotechnology is the science of engineering such properties at the molecular, or nanometer, scale. For all its promise, the technology has mostly been locked in laboratories.

In Friday’s edition of the journal Science, however, scientists from the University of Texas and Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization report the creation of industry-ready sheets of materials made from nanotubes. Nanotubes are tiny carbon tubes with remarkable strength that are only a few times wider than atoms. They can also act as the semiconductors found in modern electronics.

By Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/nano/2005-08-18-nanotube-breakthrough_x.htm