If you're waiting for nanotechnology to bring you immortality, cure cancer, or fuel the next mission to Mars, then maybe this year's "nanotechnology product of the year" will bring you back down to earth. It is (drumroll, please) a hockey stick.

A hockey stick? That's right; for all the hype and all the billions of dollars invested in research, the nanotech product of the year for 2006 is a hockey stick.

Not just any hockey stick, of course. The Nitro Hybtonite Nano by Montreal Sports stick has 60% better impact resistant than the traditional composite stick. This durability is possible because Montreal Hybtonite Nano Epoxy is not a blend of nanoparticles and Epoxy but a reacted Hybrid carbon nanotube epoxy matrix.

Nanotechnology has made it possible to produce a more flexible shaft, which helps the handling of the puck and improves the feel for the game. The most important benefits are the improved manageability and durability.

The vote was made by the NanoVIP committee at the world's biggest nanotechnology fair, held in Tokyo earlier this year.

The sporting goods industry has been an early adopter of nanotechnology, and nanotech-enabled tennis rackets and balls, golf clubs and balls, and baseball bats are already on the market. Carbon nanotube bike frames have been in use in the Tour de France since 2005.

But cool as these products are, if next year's nanotech product of the year can't do better than an improved hockey stick, this technology is in trouble. (photo Montreal Sports)