Top 10 Least Expected Products to use Nano-Technology

It probably wouldn't surprise owners of ultrathin cell phones or tiny iPod Nanos to discover that these miniature electronic miracles take advantage of the latest advances in nanotechnology, the science of rearranging atoms to create new materials and products. But would you expect to find tiny technology at work in the paint on your walls? In your perfumed night cream? In the seat of your pants?

Though you can't see it, nanotechnology is everywhere now, expanding the utility and appeal of basic products from cosmetics to all types of clothing. Below is a Top 10 list of the products you might least expect to employ this advanced technology.

But first, what exactly is nanotechnology? Scientists explain it as the process of manipulating atoms, the building blocks of everything on earth, by using microscopic machines to do extraordinarily small-scale work. If a human hair was sliced into 50,000 pieces, each would be a nanometer wide. A single sheet of paper is 100,000 nanometers thick.

In the future, nanotechnology may be used to make bulletproof vests as thin as silk, and nano-robots that can enter your bloodstream to treat disease. But sci-fi inventions like these are still at least a decade in the future, according to nanotech scientist James Tour, who works on building nano-cars at Rice University in Houston.

For now, Tour said, the makers of consumer goods are mostly using the technology to enhance commonplace products. "This type of nanotechnology is upon us now," he said. "You can revolutionize industries that haven't changed much in the last 30 years by adding certain nano-materials" to products to make them more durable or multifunctional.

The technology is not very expensive, and getting cheaper, Tour said, so consumers can expect to encounter it at work more often in everyday products. For now, here are ten places to look: