‘Nano’ is derived from the Greek word ‘nannos’, which means ‘dwarf’. Everything that starts with the word ‘nano’ is usually diminutive. Nano-robots are not bigger than a thousandth of a millimetre and can be even smaller. For instance, 1 nano-metre is a thousandth of a thousandth of a millimetre. Nano-robots help doctors in difficult operations. The research that is being carried out on magnetic nano-robots suggests that they can be released in the blood and can attach themselves to cancerous growths. If a rotating magnetic field is applied to the body of the cancer patient, the small magnetic robots in the cancerous tissue would start rotating. As a result, the cancerous growth would heat up and die.
