By ANN FERNHOLM, San Francisco Chronicle

When temperatures soar past the century mark around in California and other coastal areas, people head for the beach with all of the usual gear in tow. Think towels, Frisbees, coolers, umbrellas. And sunscreen.

Oceans of it.

Americans will spend more than $1.1 billion on sun protection products this year, a market that's grown by an annual rate of 10 percent since 2004.

Two Stanford University engineers have developed a nanotechnology that could be used to mass-produce semiconductors that are much faster than today's chips while using less energy.

The key: functional carbon nanotube transistors.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Windows cleaned by raindrops, white sofas immune to red wine spills, tiles protected from limescale buildup -- new products created from minute substances called nanoparticles are making such domestic dreams come true.