Nanotechnology - What Changes Can We
Expect?
Source: NanoTechnology Magazine
A Chapter Contribution from Bill Spence, NTM for French Science
Writer Daniel Ichbiah and Pascal Rosier's Next Book: Interviews About the 21st
Century
What objects we commonly know should disappear because of
nanotechnology?
People living before and through the transition - at first and
because of prejudice for things we know and because people have not imagined the
variety and super rich realm of new possibilities -- the objects failure to
everyday life will be sought by the public and reproduced by assembler
technology. People will still want cotton beach towels, although the cotton
farmer will no longer be needed when fibers can be manufactured atom by atom
from carbon in the air or from limestone. Lots of familiar items will appear
"traditional" on the outside, yet posses a multitude of new tricks and
functionality made possible with MNT -- cars with Utility Fog crash protection
for instance. Of course, MNT Smart Materials can look like anything, yet perform
"magic".
Now, the next generation and generations to follow, born into the
age of nanotechnology will a "clean slate" without concrete historical
prejudices, will design objects and lifestyles that take advantage of the new
wealth of possibilities and I should expect design objects and "environments"
that would appear bizarrely alien, extraordinarily novel to even the most
advanced nano tinker today. The general concept is familiar in science fiction,
only now we have a clear engineering path to make real, the stunning constructs
of uninhibited imaginations and those yet to be born.
The wild card to consider and the reason that frankly, it is
ludicrous to project past a few decades -- or more than say, one generation or
so, is the effect nanotechnology will have on intelligence enhancement efforts.
Once these efforts are even mildly successful, the the "experimenters" will
spend much of their time amplifying intelligence enhancement efforts and the
valve controlling what is imaginable and what can be engineered opens at a
geometric rate. By definition, what can and will be is unimaginable now, and I'm
not even addressing the issue of machine intelligence in the equation. The curve
approaches vertical.
What new objects should appear because of nanotechnology?
Perhaps the big story -- with mature nanotechnology, any object
can morph into any other imaginable object... truly a concept requiring personal
exposure to fully understand the significance and possibilities, but to get a
grip on the idea, consider this:
The age of digital matter -- multi-purpose, programmable machines,
change the software, and something completely different happens.
A simple can opener or a complex asphalt paver are both, single
purpose machines. Ask them to clean your floor or build a radio tower and they
"stare" back blankly. A computer is different, it is a multi purpose machine --
one machine that can do unlimited tasks by changing software... but only in the
world of bits and information.
I'm involved with a company developing Fractal Shape Shifting
Robots. Fractal Robots are programmable machines that can do unlimited tasks in
the physical world, the world of matter. Load the right software and the same
"machines" can take out the garbage, paint your car, or construct an office
building and later, wash that building's windows. In large groups, these devices
exhibit what may be termed as macro (hold in your hand) sized "nanobots ",
possessing AND performing many of the desirable features of mature nanomachines
(as described in Drexler's, Engines of Creation, Unbounding the Future,
Nanosystems, etc.). This is the beginning of "Digital Matter".
These Robots look like "Rubic's Cubes" that can "slide" over each
other on command, changing and moving in any overall shape desired for a
particular task. These cubes communicate with each other and share power through
simple internal induction coils, have batteries, a small computer and various
kinds of internal magnetic and electric inductive motors (depending on size)
used to move over other cubes (details here). When sufficiently miniaturized
(below 0.1mm) and fabricated using photolithography methods, cubes can also be
programmed to assemble other cubes of smaller or larger size. This
"self-assembly" is an important feature that will drop cost dramatically.
The point is -- if you have enough of the cubes of small enough
dimension, they can slide over each other, or "morph" into any object with just
about any function, one can imagine and program for such behavior. Cubes of
sufficiently miniaturized size could be programed to behave like the "T-2"
Terminator Robot in the Arnold Schwartznegger movie, or a lawn chair... Just
about any animate or inanimate object.
Fractal Shape Shifting Robots have been in prototype for the last
two years and I rather expect this form of "digital matter" to hit the
commercial seen very soon. In the near future, if you gaze out your window and
see something vaguely resembling an amoeba constructing an office building,
you'll know what "IT" is.
This is not to say individual purpose objects will not be
desirable... Back to cotton -- although Cubes could mimic the exact appearance
of a fuzzy down comforter (a blanket), if made out of cubes, it would be heavy
and not have the same thermal properties. Although through a heroic engineering
effort, such a "blanket" could be made to insulate and pipe gasses like a
comforter and even "levitate" slightly to mimic the weight and mass, why bother
when the real thing can be manufactured atom by atom, on site, at about a meter
a second (depending on thermal considerations).
Also, "single purpose" components of larger machines will be built
to take advantage of fantastic structural properties of diamondoid-Buckytube
composites for such things as thin, super strong aircraft parts. Today, using
the theoretical properties of such materials, we can design an efficient, quiet,
super safe personal vertical takeoff airocar. This vehicle of science fiction is
probably science future.
Which industries should disappear because of nano-technology?
Everything -- but software, everything will run on software, and
general engineering, as it relates to this new power over matter... and the
entertainment industry. Unfortunately, there will still be insurance salesmen
and lawyers, although not in my solar orbiting city state. If as Drexler
suggest, we can pave streets with self assembling solar cells, I would tend to
avoid energy stocks. Mature nanites could mine any material from the earth,
landfills or asteroids at very low cost and in great abundance. The mineral
business is about to change. Traditional manufacturing will not be able to
compete with assembler technology and what happens to all those jobs and the
financial markets is a big, big issue that needs to be addressed now. I intend
to start or expand organizations addressing these issues and cover progress in
the pages of NanoTechnology Magazine.
We will have a lot of obsolete mental baggage and programming to
throw out of our heads... Traditional pursuits of money will need to be
reevaluated when a personal assembler can manufacture a fleet of Porche, that
run circles around todays models. As Drexler so intuitively points out, the best
thing to do, is to get the whole world's society educated and understanding what
will and can happen with this technology. This will help people make the
transition and keep mental, and financial meltdowns to a minimum.
Which new industries should appear because of nanotechnology?
Future generations are laughing as they read these words...
Laughing at the utter inadequacy and closed imagination of this writing... So
consider this a comically inadequate list. However, if they are laughing, I am
satisfied and at peace, as this means we made it through the transition
(although I fear it shall not be the last).
Mega engineering for space habitation and transport in the Solar
System will have a serious future. People will be surprised at how fast space
develops, because right now, a very bright core of nano-space enthusiasts have
engineering plans, awaiting the arrival of the molecular assembler. People like
Forrest Bishop have wonderful plans for space transport and development, capable
of being implemented in surprisingly short time frames. This is artificial life,
programmed to "grow" faster than natural systems. I think Mars will be
teraformed in less time than it takes to build a nuclear power plant in the
later half of the good old, backward 20th century.
An explosion in the arts and service industries are to be expected
when no fields need to be plowed for our daily bread, similar to the explosion
when agriculture became mechanized and efficient and the sons and daughters of
farmers migrated to cities. This explosion will be exponentially greater.
Leisure time, much more leisure time, more diversions... · What professions
should disappear because of nano-technology ?
Ditch digger, tugboat captain -- most professions where humans are
now used as "smart brawn", or as "the best available computer", including jet
fighter pilot, truck driver, surgeon, pyramid builder, steel worker, gold
miner... not that there will not be people doing these jobs, just for fun.
Charming libation venders have a good future, until the A.I. people make some
really scary breakthroughs (grin). I do expect "the best available computer" to
be important for novel situations for quite a while... and we are just on the
verge for finding out how frequent and varied novel situations can be.
I have a friend who has reading and math impairments and is thus
-- "poorly" educated, yet a brilliant self taught mechanic. Molecular machines
are just small machines. With the right visualization tools (VR with tactile
feedback), I think my friend could become a competent molecular machine designer
and trouble shooter. We all have our talents to contribute. Perhaps this may be
the greatest opportunity in history to express talents.
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