CNTs are tiny. Though they can have several wall configurations, they can be as thin as one molecule thick. Tailored sizes allow for use in various applications, like microscopic drug ferries or even functioning radios using just a single tube.

CNTs are conductive. The tiny tubes have very little resistance and make great conductors for microelectronics. They've been used in engineering everything from Field Emission Display televisions to tiny CMOS circuits.

CNTs are strong. The unassuming molecules are actually pint-sized heavyweights. Though nanotube materials are about as heavy as aluminum, they can be twenty times stronger than steel. CNT composite materials could conceivably revolutionize many industries where lightweight but high-strength materials are desired, like avionics and automotive safety structures.

To further explore the properties of nanomaterials, CNT-based and otherwise, a consortium of 11 institutions has convened in Europe, coordinated by the GKSS Research Centre in Geesthact, Germany. The project, dubbed HARCANA for High Aspect Ratio for Carbon-based Nanocomposites, seeks to plumb the depths of nanomaterials, uncovering their properties and examining the ways they can be put to use.

One small facet of the HARCANA research is the production of CNT composites. While CNTs themselves are easy to produce, in bulk they tend to come out in a mostly unusable mess. Several techniques have been pioneered for creating sheets of CNTs, but very little is known about how to make functional composites using the structures.

With some of the most prestigious institutions in Europe involved in the HARCANA project, it may not be long before many breakthroughs in nanotechnology, nanoengineering and nanomaterials are produced. Though difficult to work with, and largely unexplored, the field of the ultra-small is probably the next step in human scientific progress in terms of mechanical science.