My talk will focus on the latest developments in the field of nanotechnology
and mesoscopic physics. There are three areas that I will address. The first
is the continuing effort to develop and explore the electrical properties of
nanotubes. The most promising advances have been in their manufacture process
as well as the Kondo effect as it pertains to the enhancements in its
electrical properties. Second, I will discuss the developments made in zero
dimensional structures, specifically quantum dots. They are interesting
because they display electronic orbital structure similar to atoms, hence the
term 'artificial atoms'. They will become more important as they are more
fully developed as electronic components. The present research efforts are
primarily focussed on producing and characterizing these structures, although
Bawendi of MIT has been developing some practical applications for them as
chemical reaction sensors. Lastly, I will discuss the advances in the
measurement of nanomechanical energy using instrumentation similar in
principle to a laser interferometer. As nanomechanical structures become more
prevalent, as we have seen in nanocrystals, measurements of vibration and
translation will be very useful in characterizing their state and
functionality in engineering applications. I will end my discussion by
digressing into the scary world domination efforts of those unknown agents
using 'brainwaves' to control the public! This talk is based on the testimony
of the 'man' outside the APS meeting, and serves to extend his call to arms.
 

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