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Bush signs nanotechnology bill into law
Associated Press


WASHINGTON -- President Bush signed a bill today to invest $3.7 billion for work in nanotechnology, the science of building electronic circuits and devices from single atoms and molecules.

The bill, which authorizes the money over four years, puts into law programs for research and development aimed at finding ways that nanotechnology can detect and treat disease, monitor the environment, and produce and store energy. The legislation is designed to help develop breakthroughs in nanotechnology that will lead to new products, new businesses, new jobs and new industries.

Nanotechnology is the ability to work at the atomic and molecular levels -- at scales, for example, that are about 1/100,000th the diameter of a human hair.

Academics, industry executives and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham attended the Oval Office ceremony in which Bush signed the measure. The Senate passed the bill on Nov. 18; the House passed the Senate-amended version on Nov. 20.