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Nanite (nano) Technology

chigung

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C
Nanite (nano) Technology
This technology seems to be more fiction, than fact. Has anyone ever seen any concrete proof of there existence? Ive heard a lot of urban legends, such as the engineers at IBM that made the nanites assemble in the formation of the letters IBM.

Supposedly, these little man-made creatures have begun reproducing and colonizing.

Any thoughts?


Here is a link explaining nano technology.

Link

Dave
 
Perhaps you are right, The IBM story as i recall, was told at the water cooler here at work.

:)
 
Several years ago IBM used a AFM to move and image some atoms they had arranged into the letters IBM. This was done partially to show that atomic level manipulation was possible. Nowadays nanotech is the word that brings in the money, but the grant seekers are using it in its literal meaning (ie nanometer scale products, which can range from small gears/power supplies to things as prosaic as ultrafine pigments for paints) rather than meaning nanoscopic machines. The tech is certainly possible as all life is basically built of nanoscopic machines, but most predictions put us about a decade from the sort of things you might see in a movie or Star Trek.

Foresight Institute

Engines of Creation :The Coming Era of Nanotechnology
 
I have a feeling that the nano tech we hear about, macro-sized stuff assembled from nano-sized pieces, will be ready about the same time Tocomacs deliver commercial fusion power: right around the corner.
 
chigung said:
Supposedly, these little man-made creatures have begun reproducing and colonizing.
Click to expand...
That is the plot of Michael Crichton's latest book, Prey: A Novel. From the book jacket:
In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles -- micro-robots -- has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive.

It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour.

Every attempt to destroy it has failed.

And we are the prey.

As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton'smost compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute scientific fact, Prey takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence -- in a story of breathtaking suspense. Prey is a novel you can't put down.

Because time is running out.
Click to expand...
I'm almost done with it now. It's really not that good.
 
The last I heard was that they were still in the stage where they were about half way to nano tech. I haven't done a web search in a while. The biggest problem seems to be with molecular cohesion, ie things stick together on those small scales, so your tiny wheel gets stuck to it's tiny track.

Wow, would we know if we were invaded by a nano tech society? (They would be hard to see) ;)
Peace
dancing David
 
Re: Re: Nanite (nano) Technology

zakur said:
That is the plot of Michael Crichton's latest book, Prey: A Novel. From the book jacket:I'm almost done with it now. It's really not that good.
Click to expand...

Besides which, all of Crichton's books are, as far as I'm concerned, are disguised alarmist anti-technology warning tales.

It's his schtick. I vote by not buying them.
 
Neal Stephenson's the Diamond Age is a much better tale about a near-future world that makes use of matter at the molecular level. Cool and plausable sci-fi.
 
Re: Re: Re: Nanite (nano) Technology

jj said:


Besides which, all of Crichton's books are, as far as I'm concerned, are disguised alarmist anti-technology warning tales.

It's his schtick. I vote by not buying them.
Click to expand...

Interesting perspective. I've always loved his books, although his last 2 weren't that good. My favorite books of his are Sphere and Jurassic Park.
 
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