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.com

"COAL AND DIAMONDS, sand and

computer chips, cancer and healthy tissue:
throughout history, variations in the
arrangement of atoms have distinguished
the cheap from the cherished, the diseased
from the healthy. Arranged one way, atoms
make up soil, air, and water; arranged
another, they make up ripe strawberries.
Arranged one way, they make up homes
and fresh air; arranged another they make
up ash and smoke."
- K. Eric Drexler

THE
NANOTECHNOLOGY
AGE

ATOMIC PRECISION:
What is Nanotechnology?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
http://thenanoage.com/

INTRODUCTION
MEDICINE
COMPUTERS
MATERIALS
VIRTUAL REALITY
MILITARY
ENERGY
ECONOMICS
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8. DANGERS
9. THE FUTURE
10. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN
CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION
Definition: Nanotechnology, "the
manufacturing technology of the 21st century," is
defined as the understanding and control of matter at
dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers
(billionths of a meter, or 10 m.) A nanometer (nm)
is one-billionth of a meter, or a millionth of a
millimeter - smaller than the wavelength of visible
light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human
hair. At this scale, unique properties of materials
emerge which can be applied to produce technologies
and products with entirely new abilities and
applications. At the nanoscale, physical, chemical,
optical and electrical properties of materials differ
from the properties of matter at either smaller scales,
such as atoms, or at the larger scales of the "middle
world" that we humans inhabit. Nanotechnology
(NT) involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and
manipulating matter only a few nanometers in size.

The

Atom: To convey a sense of the infinitesimally

miniscule scale of an atom, consider that there are an
astonishing 6,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (that's
6 sextillion, or 6 billion trillion) atoms in just one
drop of water! Atoms are just fractions of a
nanometer across, ranging in size from the smallest,
helium with a diameter of 0.064 nm, to the largest,
cesium with a 0.450 nm diameter. But atoms are not
solid, hard, round balls, they are in fact vaguely
defined spheres that are almost completely empty.
Electrons orbit the central nucleus in a "probability
cloud" of possible locations while popping in and out
of existence. The bound together protons and
neutrons at the center of an atom are collectively
called the nucleus. The nucleus contains over 99.9%
of an atom's mass, but is just 1/23,000th to
1/145,000th the diameter of the atom itself. The rest
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of the space inside an atom is occupied by vacuum it is completely empty. We think of atoms as solid,
however even the sub-atomic particles that make up
the entire mass of the atom are not 'solid' in any
traditional sense of the word. Collectively, groups of
atoms fit together in various discrete ways to form
molecules. For the purpose of simplification when
dealing with individual atoms we can think of and
treat them as elementary spheres.
Atoms are the Lego blocks of the Universe,
out of which any physical thing can be built.
Nanotech will make feats that seem entirely
impossible to us today, become commonplace in the
world of tomorrow. Nature already uses
nanotechnology in the molecular machinery of every
living thing. Nature's designs are working examples
to us of what can be made. However, rather than
using trial and error, we can apply intelligent design
principles to our creations.

Nanotechnology: The next technological

revolution. According to futurist and inventor,
Raymond Kurzweil, the Nanotech Age is expected to
begin between 2025 and 2050, bringing an end to
the current Information Age which began in 1990.
Humankind is poised at the precipice of the single
greatest innovation in the history of science and
technology. Coming is a Nano Revolution that will
be at least as transformative as the Industrial
Revolution (perhaps much more so), but packed into
just a few years. Well beyond present-day nanotech
applications, mature "molecular manufacturing" or
"molecular nanotechnology" will enable us to
manifest our dreams (or nightmares). We are nearing
the ability to build molecules out of atoms
mechanochemically, and to use these molecular
building blocks to construct virtually any substance
or device we can conceive of. This most powerful
technology of all will radically transform and extend
the capabilities of practically every area of human
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endeavor by exploring the ultimate limits of

fabrication. It is a potential answer to all of our
problems, and it hands us the power to destroy
ourselves and our home more easily than ever before.

The Universe has been seeking complexity at

an ever faster rate since the Big Bang, or its
equivalent, began space and time. Once some level of
complexity has been achieved, this is used as the
basis for a bootstrapping effect into ever deeper
complexity. In some sense, it appears that this
progression is the very purpose of the cosmos. We
and our technologies are a part of this natural
mechanism, and the creations of our creations will be
its crowning achievement. It appears that this process
has taken on a life, mind, and intentionality of its
own, and that we are mere pawns in its game. This
process that transferred to us with the making of the
first stone tool, ultimately ends with molecular
nanotechnology, or perhaps something unimaginably
more advanced.
The Nano Age is beginning, as is an
exponential climb into a vastly different world.
Nanotechnology will become the most powerful tool
the human species has ever used. With it, we will
literally fashion the world of tomorrow into whatever
we so desire. This is an awesome responsibility, and
one that deserves extremely careful consideration
now so that we don't find ourselves unconsciously
moving in undesirable directions later. The character
of the nanotech-world we are beginning to create is
yet unknown, but we feel there is real cause for
rational optimism. This site attempts to show why we
should be excited by the prospect of an entirely
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improved world, both for us and the planet as a

whole, and outline some of the potential pitfalls we
must avoid as the technology gains momentum.
Presented herein is an attempt to unveil the possible
ramifications of (near and long-term) future
nanotechnology on our world, through a projection of
current technological trends. Our primary focus is on
the positive potential of this transformative
technology, with a separate section devoted to
possible dangers, misuse and downsides of NT. It is
not possible to predict with much precision what our
world, transfigured by the nanotech revolution, will
look and feel like, because much of what will shape
that character has not even been imagined yet. We
are standing at a time before the invention of the
automobile, trying to envision superhighways and
traffic jams. Though we cannot predict where we will
end up in exact detail, we can extrapolate trends in
computation and miniaturization and incorporate the
latest scientific breakthroughs to construct a
(hopefully) relatively accurate and vivid account of
our nano-enabled future. For the first time in our
history we have the power to literally design a future
of our choice. May we choose wisely.

MEDICINE
Medicine is probably one of the most exciting
areas for potential applications of nanoscience and
technology. Such current givens as disease and even
aging itself promise to be overturned. Disease and ill
health are caused largely by damage at the cellular
and molecular level. Today's finest surgical tools are,
at this scale, large and crude.
The medical nanorobot (nanobot for short) is
expected to become the ultimate tool of
nanomedicine. A nanobot is a still theoretical robot
the size of a bacterium, composed of molecular-size
parts, such as gears, bearings, and ratchets. "Medical
nanorobotics holds the greatest promise for curing
disease and extending health span. With diligent
effort, the first fruits of medical nanorobotics could
begin to appear in clinical treatment as early as the
2020s." - Robert A. Freitas Jr.
The human body and mind, though extremely
impressive, and still the most complex thing we
know of in the observable universe, in fact leave
considerable room for improvement. Evolution has
slowly but persistently worked for billions of years to
create creatures that are capable of carrying on its
legacy of incremental complexification. Artificial red
blood cells called respirocytes, for instance, could
store and transport 236 times more oxygen than a
natural red blood cell, and would be only a fraction
of the size. Computers can potentially be 1012 times
smaller and use 106 times less power than they do
today.
"Nanotechnology should let us
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economically build a broad range of

complex molecular machines
(including, not incidentally,
molecular computers). It will let us
build fleets of computer controlled
molecular tools much smaller than a
human cell and built with the
accuracy and precision of drug
molecules. Such tools will let
medicine, for the first time, intervene
in a sophisticated and controlled way
at the cellular and molecular level.
They could remove obstructions in the
circulatory system, kill cancer cells,
or take over the function of sub
cellular organelles. Just as today we
have the artificial heart, so in the
future we could have the artificial
mitochondrion.
Equally dramatic, nanotechnology
will give us new instruments to
examine tissue in unprecedented
detail. Sensors smaller than a cell
would give us an inside and
exquisitely precise look at ongoing
function. Tissue that was either
chemically fixed or flash frozen could
be analyzed literally down to the
molecular level, giving a completely
detailed "snapshot" of cellular, sub
cellular and molecular activities."
The field of cryonics depends upon the precise
control over molecular structures in order to repair
the delicate structures of cells damaged by both
storage at extremely low temperature, and the
reversal of toxcicity induced by the cryoprotectant
agents used. Advanced nanotechnology could make
this as routine a procedure as anesthetic in surgery is
today, and could even make manned long-distance
space travel more practical in the future.
Nanotechnology is expected to find application
(in concert with genetics and robotics) in medical
diagnostics, aging/life extension, engineered organ
(even cellular/sub cellular organelle) replacements,
disease treatments, advanced pharmacology and
many other areas.

COMPUTERS
"Nanotechnology will let us build computers that are
incredibly powerful. We'll have more power in the
volume of a sugar cube than exists in the entire world
today." - Ralph Merkle
Nanocomputers are expected to become the
logical successors to today's
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microcomputers/microprocessors. A supercomputer
today that takes up a large building and uses over 10
MW of power could potentially be shrunk down to
less than a cubic millimeter in volume and use less
than 2 W of power to do the same amount of
processing with maximally efficient molecular
nanocomputing. The oft-cited "Moore's Law," (which
states that the number of transistors that can
inexpensively be put in an integrated circuit doubles
roughly every 18-24 months,) and is expected to
continue its exponential progression for roughly 20
years longer until it reaches the fundamental barrier
(for now) of the atom, will lead us to the
nanocomputer.
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Data storage capacity is also headed directly for

the fundamental limit of the atom. It will one day

be possible to store at least 2 million

terabytes of data in a cubic millimeter of
space with molecular nanotechnology. A
computer nanoprocessor would have individual logic
units smaller than a cubic nanometer in volume. Most
objects in our environment will be imbued with
intelligence via microscopic nanocomputers. Almost
limitless nanocomputer processing power will enable
novel applications beyond our powers to imagine in
the early 21st century.

MATERIALS

Nanomaterials is a branch of the field of

materials science which deals with materials having
morphological features smaller than 100 nm in at
least one dimension. This classification includes thin
films, quantum dots, etc. When matter is reduced to
the nanoscale (1 - 100 nm,) the effects of increased
surface-area, in tandem with quantum effects, begin
to dominate material properties. As a particle's size
decreases, a greater proportion of its atoms are found
at the surface compared with those inside. Larger
surface area equals greater reactivity. Quantum
confinement results in size-dependent property
changes, meaning materials with nanoscale
dimensions (nanomaterials) can start to exhibit very
different optical, electrical and magnetic properties,
(especially as the structure or particle size approaches
the smaller end of the nanoscale) compared to what
they would on a macroscale. This effect has been
likened to an expansion of the entire periodic table of
the elements out into another dimension; as though
we now have access to many new primary elements
which did not exist before, enabling unique/novel
applications. For instance, when made into
nanoparticles, opaque substances may become
transparent (copper); inert materials attain catalytic
properties (platinum); stable materials turn
combustible (aluminum); solids become liquids at
room temperature (gold); insulators turn into
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conductors (silicon). Materials such as gold, which

are chemically inert at normal scales, can serve as a
potent chemical catalysts at the nanoscale. Much of
the fascination and potential of nanotechnology
stems from these unique surface area and quantum
phenomena exhibited by matter at the nanoscale.
Nanomaterials are not simply another step in the
miniaturization of materials. They often require very
different production approaches. There are several
processes to create nanomaterials, classified as "topdown" or "bottom-up." Although many
nanomaterials are currently at the laboratory stage of
manufacture, a few of them are being
commercialised.

VIRTUAL REALITY
In the short-term, the level of simulated realism
delivered through Head Mounted Displays (HMD)
will likely approach the point of visual believability.
Current technologies such as head-tracking and
haptic suits are round-about methods of achieving
simulated reality.
Audio: You may think that "surround sound"
audio technology is about as good as it can get,
however there is room for improvement. Holophony
(or holophonic sound) is an existing audio recording
technique that uses the principles of holographics but
applied to sound to recreate the impression of a
sound source 360 degrees around you as well as any
position above or below. Omnidirectional
microphones are used to enable the recreation of both
the shape and direction of sound wavefronts,
resulting in realistic, lifelike, three-dimensional
sounding audio recordings.
Current technological abilities lend themselves
well to simulating sight and sound with reasonably
high-fidelity, but they do nothing to address the other
three senses. In order to render a more believable
overall virtual environment, tactile (haptic) feedback
and simulated smells will be required. Virtual Taste
will require direct manipulation of the brain through
either invasive or non-invasive means. Touch, taste
and smell simulation will become much more
effective and economically viable for commercial
applications than today's crude approaches as a direct
result of nanotech advances.

Virtual Reality (VR) offers freedom

from the constraints of the laws of physical
reality. The laws of physics can be perfectly
simulated in a virtual environment, or they be
modified or even completely ignored. VR is the
ultimate tool to express the imagination, and it is
the only medium with which the imagination can
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potentially be expressed without limit. Technology

tends to blur the lines between real and virtual. We
have been moving toward VR since we started
changing our physical environments into something
'other' than the natural world. Cities are an example
of a virtual reality.
An ironic consequence of MNT - the ability to
construct almost anything out of atoms with absolute
precision - is that it may eventually lead us directly
away from the entire paradigm of building things out
of physical material. Virtual Reality will enable us to
build worlds not out of atoms, but out of light. Even
with god-like control over atoms, they are a finite
resource, but with 100% realistic VR there are no
limits to what we can do or the amount of it we can
create.

There are many possible applications of VR,

from entertainment and fantasy to therapeutic
applications, training, medical and engineering
visualizations. VR has come a long way in recent
years and is already being used in all of these areas.
Nanotechnology will create new applications for VR
and new methods of achieving virtual realities.
Besides a simply more advanced/finer resolution
nanotech HMD/haptic suit approach, nanobots inside
the brain could temporarily shut off normal sensory
data and replace it with data signals to construct a
virtual environment. Similarly, but less invasively,
ultrasonic waves of varying frequencies and patterns
beamed into the brain can recreate all five senses.
Another approach that most closely resembles the
sci-fi holodeck of Star-Trek is "utility fog" - a hi-tech
re-configurable arrangement of micro-scale,
atomically precise robots (foglets) capable of
creating temporary, simulated three-dimensional
structures.
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SecondLife (SL) is a 3D virtual world that

makes use of the connectivity of the Internet to
enable users (called Residents) to interact with one
another through virtual avatars. SL shares some
similarities with Massively Multiplayer Online Role
Playing Games, (MMORPG) however the biggest
difference is that Residents are able to help construct
the virtual world in which they interact. Residents
can socialize, explore, take part in various activities,
and travel by teleporting instantly to and from any
location they wish. SL represents an alternative way
to share information and interact with others over the
Internet, while bringing a social dimension to the
web that is currently missing from it in its 2D
incarnation. Internet-connected, interactive,
immersive, three-dimensional, computer-generated
environments incorporating the defining
characteristics of, and improving upon the
SecondLife model are slated to be the next big thing
in VR.

MILITARY
Faster, smaller, lighter computers produced
with nanocircuitry will enable a wide variety of novel
applications across all areas of military technology.
Complete electronic systems will fit into a cubic
millimeter or smaller volume making them extremely
portable. Sophisticated electronics are expected to be
implemented in almost every area of the military,
being integrated into pallets, boxes, transport
containers, and all equipment from rifles,
ammunition, glasses and even clothing. A
supercomputer by today's standards, built with
molecular electronics circuitry, could easily be fit
into a standard rifle bullet to intelligently guide it to
the target. Computing is expected to become
integrated into virtually every object, imbuing
intelligence and enabling intercommunication
between devices and soldiers.
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Continual improvement of computers, possibly

leading to quantum computers (if possible) in around
the 20 year time frame give or take, will have
increasing uses in communications, code breaking,
optimization problems, simulations, etc.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be increasingly
used on the battlefield directly, or to train soldiers. AI
may eventually approach, reach and ultimately
exceed human intelligence. It is uncertain how this
will be integrated into various military systems. It is
expected that AI/robotics systems will increasingly
be used in place of soldiers, likely using telepresence
to put distance between humans and increasingly
powerful nanotech weapons. AI will implemented in
large scale strategy planning, battle management, and
logistics systems. Unmanned, intelligent (able to
learn), distributed robotic systems of all sizes and
kinds will be routinely used.
Battery technology will not scale down quite as
rapidly or dramatically as computer systems are
expected to, however they will also see a large
reduction in volume thanks to NT. Portable power
generation from high efficiency and extremely light
weight nanocomposite collapsible or roll-up solar
panels would provide immediate power or recharging
capabilities. Combined with much improved batteries
utilizing thin-films technologies will deliver vastly
higher power to weight ratios in the field, while
improved efficiencies will make better use of
available power. Fuel cells with nano-structured
electrodes and membranes will likely be widely
employed in small, medium and large scale
applications. Flexible displays that are higher
resolution and better efficiency, much more rugged,
and easier to see in high light will be widely
employed.
NT will provide an extended array of materials
with new and improved properties. Composite
materials have a long history of military use, and
nanoscale composites promise significant
improvement over current material properties.
Nanomaterials will reduce weight requirements while
increasing functionality of supplies. Nanocomposite
magnets will allow stronger permanent magnets,
making smaller and lighter weight motors and
generators with higher energy density. Materials with
reduced flammability, better insulation/conduction of
heat/electricity etc., increased elastic modulus,
lighter, harder, improved tensile strength and higher
fracture toughness to name just a few are all expected
to lead to novel military uses from armor to aircraft
and far beyond.
Active materials that can exert a force, or
change shape under various conditions already find
wide use in military. NT will improve these
properties and lead to entirely new active materials
(for example, using contracting molecules to move
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an exoskeleton, or adjusting stiffness/form to vary

aerodynamic characteristics.) Integration with
sensors, power and processing can turn active
materials into 'smart' materials. Improved NTenabled materials will find uses throughout the
military, immediately to 20 years or more in the
future for various aspects.
Novel weapons are an almost inevitable
consequence of NT research. Existing weapons
systems will at first be enhanced by NT, then in
many instances replaced entirely.

ENERGY
Nanotech will work on several fronts to greatly
increase available power from sustainable generation
while lowering the cost per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
Much of the power generated today is wasted in
transmission from a centralized generation plant to
the end-user, or does not get used for the desired
purpose due to inefficiencies. NT again is able to
offer solutions to these issues. Decentralized energy
increases reliability and security, and perhaps most
significantly, puts land to better use.
Wind and solar power are perhaps the first
sustainable methods of generating power to come to
mind, however there are many others. Today's silicon
solar panels are crude, heavy, bulky, fragile,
inefficient and expensive. With NT addressing every
one of these issues, solar may become the top pick
for clean and sustainable worldwide power
generation. NT is also advancing battery technology
to allow much higher capacity, more durable cells to
be manufactured less expensively. Newer
technologies such as ultracapacitors may take over
completely from batteries because of their potential
for much higher discharge rates, decreased recharge
times and greater number of possible cycles. Current
ultracapacitors have an energy density that is only
about 1/10,000th the volumetric energy density of
gasoline, however they have the potential to be
greatly improved, whereas gasoline has a fixed
energy density and is non-renewable.
Cost steers the direction we take with regard to
energy generation and storage, and for most of the
history of transportation and industrial/domestic
energy use, oil and gas have been the #1 pick for
inexpensive and highly concentrated power. NT will
start to make better, alternative power sources cost
competitive and eventually much less expensive than
traditional oil/gas. Even before prices reach par,
many people and industries will make the switch out
of concern for the environment etc. Ultimately the
use of fossil fuels will be all but entirely phased out hopefully well before they run out.
Current-day battery technology tops out at an
energy density of ~360 Wh/kg. Gasoline, by
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comparison, has a very high energy density of

roughly 12,700 Wh/kg (45.7 MJ/kg). Through
nanotechnology, the energy density of batteries can
potentially be increased even beyond that of liquid
fuels. For use in vehicles, electric motors also have a
higher energy conversion efficiency and lower mass
than combustion engines. These factors combine to
allow for performance specifications that far exceed
current technology in every measurable way.

ECONOMICS
It is prudent to consider the possible economic
outcomes of the accelerated emergence of this very
advanced technology. Even partial realization of the
potentials of NT over the coming decades has the
potential to forever alter the structure of society,
business and economics. NT will affect all aspects of
economics: employment, wages, purchasing, etc.
Nanotechnology dismantles certainty so effectively
that not even death or taxes are safe.

Once nanotechnological developments reach a

critical mass of innovation, most vertical industries
(ones that are focused on a relatively narrow range of
goods and services) will be affected.
It can easily be seen that some nanotech
innovations would have a radical impact on the
current economic system. For instance, the cost of
manufacturing all physical goods will be greatly
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reduced. Nanochips may one day make possible

computers many times faster than today's best
supercomputers, that would fit comfortably in your
pocket. This would affect much more than just the
computer industry. The markets for plastics and steel
may be virtually eliminated thanks to super-strong
nanomaterials
Markets, industries and entire economies are
deeply interlinked. Large disruptions like those
expected to occur due to NT will have widespread
and far-reaching impact, both positive and negative.
The future economy is expected to be (re)shaped
in large part by nanotechnology. The risks of not
anticipating and preparing for the resulting changes
to the economy are too immense to consider. The
world is already being economically reshaped daily
due to current innovations. NT will put this situation
into overdrive.
Looking further into the future, advanced
technologies such as the molecular assembler
(replicator) will, if they become a reality, cause
drastic changes to the economic infrastructure.

DANGERS
Nanotechnologyposesmajorrisks
intermsofbothabuseandaccidents.It
grantsusthepowertoabsolutely
annihilateourselvesandourbeautiful
planet.Rightnow,whilethepaceofthis
technologicalingressionintoeverdeeper
complexityistheslowestitwilleveragain
be,wemustgetaheadofthereleaseof
newNTproductswitharegulatorysystem
thattrulyworksandstayaheadofit
permanently.Nowisthetimetobegin,
notafterthefirstcasualtiesof
unregulatedNTareseen.Wemustplan
todaytomeetthechallengesoftomorrow
orwemayfindourselvesplayinga
desperateanddifficultgameofcatchup.

THE FUTURE
The final frontier, it seems, will not be the
vastness of space, but the ultra-miniscule realm of the
atoms. As we approach the fundamental physical
limits of what can be done with the matter in the
Universe, truly magical opportunities await us. Ray
Kurzweil has shown that our technology now doubles
its capabilities every 12 months. This yearly
exponential (inverse of logarithmic) growth in the
form of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024,
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2048, 4096, 8192, 16384, 32768, 65536, 131072,

262144, 524288, 1048576... clearly shows that
though the pace begins slowly, there is a massive
increase packed into the last few years sampled. We
can expect computer processors to be 1000+ times
faster than they are today in just ten years, one
million times faster in 20 years, and a billion times
faster in 30 years. Not only will processing power
vastly increase in the coming years, but the volume
and mass of physical material required will also
shrink significantly. Carry these trends of more
power in less size forward at the same exponential
pace they have been going since before the first
electronic computer, and you eventually run hard up
against the atom.
If we continue to stay on the same track we have
been on for the past thousand+ years, we will make a
great transition into being a species that has full
control over atoms. The world will become a
molecular manufacturing power and barring self
annihilation, humanity will literally transcend itself.
It is hypothesised that this will lead us to ultimately
hand the baton of technological progress on to
artificially intelligent machines who will in turn
create generations of computers successively more
intelligent than themselves. This process will
continue with greater and greater (exponential)
speed, ultimately culminating in what is referred to as
a technological singularity. At this point, the human
era will be ended, either through obsolescence or a
merger with technology. This will give rise to a
change at least comparable in scope to the rise of
human life on this planet.
Bottom up approach - There's Plenty of Room at the
Bottom

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Transhumanism + Posthumanism
Transhumanism refers to a mind with perhaps
three or four times the cognitive (computational)
capacity of a human. Posthumanism refers to an
evolution beyond that of transhumanism.
The Environment
Technology in its early, imperfect form - the
only form we have seen so far - has been a mostly
negative force on the environment. Molecular
Nanotechnology (MNT) will produce effectively no
waste and not involve any cutting, grinding, sanding,
melting, forging, or herding of large numbers of
unruly atoms. Nanocomputers will ultimately control
the direct "printing" of any item via an assembler
straight from data using pure feedstock atoms or
molecules. MNT will make exactly what it is
expected to make - no more, no less - and
therefore no pollution. Matter will be used more
efficiently by this technology and put to much better
use; rather than just taking up mass and space,
objects will become multi-functional, intelligent and
atomically precice. Our burning of fossil fuels as a
crude source of energy has put enough carbon into
the atmosphere to be recycled into a vast number of
useful products. Atmospheric carbon scrubbing nanofilters could be inexpensively employed to harvest
the excess carbon from the air for use as a feedstock
material.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

In
50

years, people will look back on the present era with

the same viewpoint that we currently reserve for the
medieval times - when technology was primitive and
people lived short, impoverished lives. Technological
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progress around the world has been steadily refining

its methods to manufacture more precise, less
expensive products. Extrapolate these remarkably
regular trends forward a few more decades and it
becomes quite clear where we are headed: molecular
manufacturing.
NT cannot create matter or transmutate atoms
of one kind into atoms of another. NT will make
mining materials from earth/space a less expensive
and more automated process thereby decreasing the
cost of elemental materials across the board.
Presumably, the value of a relatively scarce element,
for example gold, will drop somewhat over the long
run, but not a lot (unless we can inexpensively mine
asteroids, or discover an economic way to make gold
atoms, etc.) Materials such as diamonds, which are
scarce only due to the way their atoms are arranged,
not the kind of atoms they are constructed from
(carbon in this case), are expected to plummet in
value. Current-day manufacturing techniques ensure
that costs rise rapidly as the required level of purity
of a material goes up. 100% purity is essentially
impossible to achieve today. NT should make purity
close to 100% the norm. With NT, existing elements
gain new uses and more plentiful elements can
replace expensive materials in many applications.
Iron and steel, for example, are heavy, weak,
expensive and prone to
corrosion. Nanotech
could make a very
inexpensive alternative
form of carbon fiber
from nanotubes that is
far lighter, stronger,
and longer-lasting than
steel.
Nanotechnology
is a uniquely
interdisciplinary
enabling technology.
Drawing on the resources and expertise of every
other field, nanotech will stretch the limits of what is
possible.
Challenges and Choices of the Last Technological
Revolution: Engines of Creation by K. ERIC
DREXLER

CONCLUSION
A Nanotech Future?
The extent to which molecular nanotechnology
has the potential to reshape our world, down to the
most fundamental levels of possibility is truly
revolutionary, in every sense of the word. Assuming
advanced molecular nanotechnology becomes a
reality, which it appears is a virtual certainty at this
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point, it will play a pivotal role in either the survival

or extinction of humanity. The power to arrange
atoms will ultimately prove far greater than even the
power to rip them apart or fuze them together. Based
on this conclusion, and the assumption that
nanotechnology has already gained an irrevocable
presence in every facet of our world, we postulate
that staying on top of all current nanoscience
breakthroughs and nanotech products should become
near priority #1 for all concerned
governmental/private powers alike. Ultimately, either
governments or private organizations will be relied
upon to protect the world against the threats of
nanotechnology. Today, national defense is the
responsibility of governments, but certain areas such
as protection against computer viruses for example,
may be more effectively managed privately. Which
level of society is charged with controlling such new
threats remains to be seen, however we suspect that it
will (and should be) somewhat of a division between
the two. It may even be necessary to create a new
world nanotech organization with the authority to
oversee both at an even higher level.
We hope that this website broadens your
awareness of the potential of this technology to
transform our world and lives, while serving as an
effective guide to our not-so-distant future. May we
choose to use our new found power for the
betterment of all!

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E-mail Steve
steve@nano.ms

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