Nanotechnology is any technology that has at least one dimension in the range of 1nm to 100nm. Nanotechnology is very old dating at least to the use of stained glass windows in medieval times (around 1100 AD) and probably earlier. This was a use of nanotechnology by serendipity.
Recently nanotechnology has grown because of the discovery (1985) and eventual production of buckyball (buckminsterfullerene, C60). A buckyball is a truncated icosahedron and looks like a football (soccer ball - in particular the Telstar). Its diameter is actually only 0.7 nm but any practical application would be greater than that diameter pushing into the nanotechnology definition.
This is still under construction, however I have links below that are pretty cool.
Lecture module for Introductory Engineering:
Introduction to Nanotechnology
Interactive tools for understanding materials (and nanotechnology):
Materials Science Excelets
Molecular Workbench
Links:
Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology
Partnership for Research and Education in Materials -- Howard, PGCC, John Hopkins
Howard Nanoscale Science and Engineering Facility & NanoExpress
Johns Hopkins MRSEC
The Greater Washingtion Nanotech Alliance
Maruyama's site - gif animations of nanotubes and other cool things
exploring the nanoworld
exploring the nanoworld: Forms of Carbon - very nice Jmol page on "Forms of Carbon" including nanotubes
Virginia Nanotech Initiative
Center for Nanophase Materials Science
National Nanotechnology Initiative
The Nanotechnology Institute
nanotechweb.org
nanoHub - online simulation and more
Institute of nanoTechnology
NanoScienceWorks.org (CRC site)
http://www.nanotechproject.org/consumerproducts
Keck Center for the Design of Nanoscale Materials for Molecular Recognition (Howard University)
Nanobiotechnology Center (NBTC)
Cornell Nanoscale Science and Technology Facility (CNF)
Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS)
Maryland Nanocenter
Foresight Nanotech Institute
International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation, and Engineering
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
IEEE Virtual Museum: What is Nanotechnology?
Science Museum (London)
The Opensource Handbook of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology and Nanoscience -- Honolulu, HI
Nanoink, Inc. -- Interesting use of Nanotechnology
Agilent Technologies Nanotechnology Instruments
NSF's Materials Research Science & Engineering Centers (MRSEC)
MRSEC national website
The PREM program
Biology Sites which have nanotechnology concepts:
Bionanotechnology
DNA Nanotechnology in Ned Seeman's Laboratory - very technical
Biology Nanotechnology Articles, Abstracts, or database search engines (to find articles):
PubMed - Public database
Nano World: DNA meets Nanotechnology - not too technical
DNA Nanotechnology - technical
DNA Nanotechnology - University of Oxford - pictures and references
Demonstrations of tools for Nanotechnology:
TEM demo
More Microscope demos - Pretty neat
Different crystal structures:
Crystal structure
Zincblende structure
Zincblende structure using JMOL - need JMOL (it's free)
Wurtzite structure
Wurtzite structure using JMOL - Pretty neat
Nanotechnology Policy:
Wilson Center's Nanotechnology Area - Discussions
Project on Emerging Nanotechnology - Discussions
Overview from the government with policy implications - PDF
Committee on Science and Technology (US House of Representatives) - Discussions about all technology; including nanotechnology
Materials Science Sites that may have some nanotechnology:
Center for Computational Materials Science
The PREM program
And an education game if you wish: http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/antenna/nano/nanoland/nanoworld.asp