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Nanotechnology

This is a PAST event. See "Meeting Notes" section for audio, video, documents and other information.

Original event date/time: Friday April 27th, 2007, 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

This month we have an open-ended discussion on the wonders and risks of nanotechnology.

Abstract:

So I've been trying to think, how can I explain, to mere mortals (i.e. non-physicists) what is nanotechnology? And why should you care?

As it turns out, the man who coined the term "Nanotechnology" had the same problem. So he wrote a book. The book is called "Engines of Creation" and was published by K. Eric Drexler in 1986. In the book, Mr. Drexler made a lot of outrageous claims, such as:

• That tiny nanobots would be able to go through your blood, fixing the molecules of your cells, fixing health problems, perhaps even reversing the ageing process itself.

• That nanobots could be released into toxic waste, cleaning up environmental damage

• That nanotechnology could be used to build computing machines millions of times more powerful than today's computers

• That nanotechnology would make possible to build a nanofactory that could manufacture (almost) anything, including copies of itself -- so you could manufacture anything you want with your own nanofactory.

• And so on...

Drexler also mentioned a few downsides. For example, you may have heard the term "grey goo". This comes from the very same book. The idea was that self-replicating nanobots could run amok, and eat up the entire biosphere of the earth!

So that pretty much answers the question of why you should care. If nanotechnology is really going to happen, it's going to completely change life on this planet.

Naturally, Drexler was ridiclued as a lunatic. That's why, in 1992, he wrote his second book, Nanosystems, which explained the science behind nanotechnology, and how all of his outrageous claims from Engines of Creation were indeed possible. Today, nanotechnology is no longer considered a lunatic concept -- it is mainstream.

You can read the original text of Engines of Creation on Drexler's website:

Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology

And a few sample chapters of Nanosystems are available, too:

Nanosystems

Drexler also has a video on YouTube:

Productive Nanosystems

Anyway, even though Drexler coined the word "nanotechnology", the concept is much older -- it goes back to a speech by Richard Feynman, the famous physicist, in 1959. The speech is called "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom". You can read the full text of Feynman's legendary speech on Caltech's website:

Plenty of Room at the Bottom
Richard P. Feynman, December 1959

The Foresight Institute, an organization dedicated to guiding the development of nanotechnology towards positive results and away from hazards, gives out an various "Feynman Prizes", in Richard Feynman's honor:

Nanotechnology Prizes and Awards

Here's a video I thought I'd send out, just in case any of you have a chance to watch it before the meeting:

Nanowires and Nanocrystals for Nanotechnology

Paralyzed Mice Walk Again
Scientists Use Nanotechnology to Mend Broken Spinal Cords

What it means is that the spinal column is, indeed, healing itself, and without the aid of drugs.

But what happens to those nanostructures after they've done their work? One of the concerns in the field of nanotechnology is that scientists might create tiny machines that could be used for great mischief.

This is a past event.

Meeting Notes:

Here are the 3D animations that Christopher Hassel demonstrated at the meeting.

"These 3D animations show what appears to be the best-designed fluid-filled/self-structured nano-fabrication system that we've ever seen.

Non-narrated version (3 minutes).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_H1S9d5h-Ps

Chemical/Organelle narrated version (9 minutes or so).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjexZ88wIno