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.
http://nanozine.com/