{"id":13308,"date":"2014-01-06T14:57:38","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T14:57:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science\/"},"modified":"2017-01-25T16:39:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-25T16:39:54","slug":"nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science","status":"publish","type":"definition","link":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic","title":{"rendered":"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span id=\"what_does_nanotechnology_biotechnology_information_technology_cognitive_science_mean\">What Does Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science Mean?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC) are a set of technologies sometimes referred to as &#8220;converging technologies for improving human performance.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>They are considered to be interrelated fields of study that often overlap and impact each other.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"techopedia_explains_nanotechnology_biotechnology_information_technology_cognitive_science\">Techopedia Explains Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Various research groups look at the implications of developing these technologies in tandem. For example, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Commerce have looked at combining these four fields in order to improve the application of technology to human cognition, human health, and even community and social applications.<\/p>\n<p>Each type of technology involved in NBIC plays a role in the bigger picture:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Nanotechnology is important because organic structures develop from the nanoscale.<\/li>\n<li>Biotechnology involves the application of advanced technology to biological organisms.<\/li>\n<li>Information technology represents a specific sector of these types of applications.<\/li>\n<li>Cognitive science applies in various ways to IT-related research and the pursuit of items such as technologies that map the brain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Proponents of this kind of development argue that using converging technologies, or NBIC principles, can enable the human populations of the future to be stronger, healthier and more capable overall. These ideas often relate to the idea of &#8220;singularity&#8221; which posits the emergence of artificial intelligence, and a point where technologies approach the human mind in terms of simulation, collaboration or other outcomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Does Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science Mean? Nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and cognitive science (NBIC) are a set of technologies sometimes referred to as &#8220;converging technologies for improving human performance.&#8221; They are considered to be interrelated fields of study that often overlap and impact each other. Techopedia Explains Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7813,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"definitioncat":[243,224,256],"class_list":["post-13308","definition","type-definition","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","definitioncat-artificial-intelligence","definitioncat-containers-virtualization","definitioncat-emerging-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.2 (Yoast SEO v24.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>What is Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science (NBIC)? - Definition from Techopedia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Techopedia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@techopedia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\"},\"headline\":\"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-06T14:57:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\"},\"wordCount\":243,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#respond\"]}],\"articleSection\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\",\"name\":\"What is Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science (NBIC)? - Definition from Techopedia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-06T14:57:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00\",\"description\":\"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Emerging Technology\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/topic\/225\/emerging-technology\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Containers &amp; Virtualization\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/topic\/11\/containers-virtualization\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Term\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":5,\"name\":\"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\",\"name\":\"Techopedia\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Techopedia\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg\",\"caption\":\"Techopedia\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/techopedia\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/techopedia\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Techopedia\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\/editorial-policy\",\"ownershipFundingInfo\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5\",\"name\":\"Margaret Rouse\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Margaret Rouse\"},\"description\":\"Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other\u2019s highly specialized languages.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/margaretrouse\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/@techdefinitions\"],\"knowsAbout\":[\"Technology Expert\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/contributors\/margaret-rouse\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science (NBIC)? - Definition from Techopedia","description":"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science","og_description":"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic","og_site_name":"Techopedia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/","article_modified_time":"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@techopedia","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic"},"author":{"name":"Margaret Rouse","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5"},"headline":"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science","datePublished":"2014-01-06T14:57:38+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic"},"wordCount":243,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#respond"]}],"articleSection":""},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic","name":"What is Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science (NBIC)? - Definition from Techopedia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-01-06T14:57:38+00:00","dateModified":"2017-01-25T16:39:54+00:00","description":"This definition explains the meaning of Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science and why it matters.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition\/29894\/nanotechnology-biotechnology-information-technology-cognitive-science-nbic#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Emerging Technology","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/topic\/225\/emerging-technology"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Containers &amp; Virtualization","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/topic\/11\/containers-virtualization"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Term","item":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/definition"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":5,"name":"Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology, Cognitive Science"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/","name":"Techopedia","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#organization","name":"Techopedia","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/techopedia-light-logo.svg","caption":"Techopedia"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/techopedia\/","https:\/\/x.com\/techopedia","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/techopedia\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Techopedia"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about\/editorial-policy","ownershipFundingInfo":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/about"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5dd538e31ee352d105b8af36c4268a5","name":"Margaret Rouse","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/margaret-rouse-headshot.jpeg","caption":"Margaret Rouse"},"description":"Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other\u2019s highly specialized languages.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/margaretrouse\/","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/@techdefinitions"],"knowsAbout":["Technology Expert"],"url":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/contributors\/margaret-rouse"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition\/13308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/definition"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7813"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definition\/13308\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"definitioncat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.techopedia.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/definitioncat?post=13308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}