It was a beautiful day. The Trike had been in the shop for 20,000 mile service and it was a pleasure to pick it up and go for a ride. It had been running very rough — now it purrs like a kitten. The mechanic told me the problem was that the spark plugs were badly “fouled“. The fouling was not caused by software or engineering design. It was caused by an accumulation of materials on the plug resulting from improper fuel burn or perhaps just from thousands of miles of the engine running. I don’t know much about spark plugs but I have a hunch that they will be different in the future as nanotechnology changes virtually everything — make that every thing. 
The field of materials science has been studying and applying the properties of matter for decades. The advances of nanotechnology have enabled scientists to investigate the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and develop materials not previously dreamed of. For example, the Los Angeles Times posted a story about a new material that is so lightweight that a block of it can sit  on top of a fluffy dandelion without even bending the delicate little seeds (See Scientists invent lightest material on Earth). The new nanomaterial is incredibly light — styrofoam is 100 times heavier. The  November 18 issue of Science reported that the new material is the lightest material on Earth. The offical name of the material is “ultralight metallic microlattice” — it is 99.99% air. The “microlattice” cellular architecture  includes interconnected hollow tubes with a wall thickness 1,000 times thinner than a human hair. So far, the new material is a solution looking for a problem, but the researchers believe it could be used for impact protection, aerospace applications, acoustic dampening, or battery applications.
Virtually all  products will be enhanced with nanotechnology. Many have already reached the consumer market including tennis balls that last longer, golf balls that fly straighter, and bowling balls that have a harder surface. Trousers and socks have been infused with nanotechnology that makes them last longer and keep bodies cooler in the summer. Whatever room you may be in, just look around and imagine how many materials there are. All of them will be transformed. While there is potential harm from nanotechnology, the potential benefits are huge. Yesterday, I was imagining spark plugs that are impervious to fouling and oil that has an additive that prevents the oil from sticking to anything it is not supposed to stick to.