Nanotech making Willy Wonka candy and self healing robots

Russian author Boris Zhitkov wrote the 1931 short story Microhands, in which the narrator creates miniature hands to carry out intricate surgeries. And while that was nearly 100 years ago, the tale illustrates the real fundamentals of the nanoscience researchers are working on today. Nanoscience is the study of molecules that are one billionth of a metre in size. Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has made millions of mouths water over the years, thanks to the author's vivid descriptions of quirky tastes and inventive sweets. In reality, there aren't chewing gums that taste like a three-course dinner just yet, but food manufacturers have been working on ways to change tastes and textures using molecular tech To put this into perspective, a human hair is between 50,000 and 100,000 nanometres thick.