Nanoscale Fluid Mechanics (NFM) is concerned with the phenomenology and description of the behavior of fluids (gas, liquid) around and inside nanoscale systems. NFM is a complex and still pristine research subject, mainly because it cannot be tackled with conventional experimental means and also because no model equations have ever been laid down for fluid phenomena at nanoscales. Yet, nanoscale fluid phenomena are ubiquitous. As a start, biology evolves in an environment that is mostly water. Any high school biology textbook starts with a description of the chemical composition of biological organisms. While the percentage of water in human bodies is about 65% water, it is generally higher in plants (about 90%), and even more so in week-old human embryos (up to 97%)! Where is the water? In human beings, 1/3 of it can be found in the extra-cellular medium, while 2/3 of it lies within the intracellular medium, a confined environment that is typically a few microns in diameter. From the words of Alberts et al. (``Molecular Biology of the Cell'' 1998):
``Water accounts for about 70% of a cell's weight, and most intracellular reactions occur in an aqueous environment. Life on Earth began in the ocean, and the conditions in that primeval environment put a permanent stamp on the chemistry of living things. Life therefore hinges on the properties of water.''
Since Life on Earth started in water, it is natural to try to explore the elementary fluid machinery from which complex living systems have emerged after millions of years of evolution. If Nature managed to design robust systems from these elemental fluidic systems, it is important that we discover the paradigms associated with these nanoscale fluidic elements in order to hope one day use the same design principles to build complex systems for life in space. While the present work is aimed at developing the fundamental tools to achieve this long-term vision, several short-term by-products will benefit NASA directly, in the form, for instance, of miniature devices for monitoring crew health or searching for Life.