The smaller the better.Ron Bailey's look at nanotechnology ("The Smaller the Better" December) takes both its most ardent cheerleaders Notable cheerleaders
A Hungarian-born mathematician who did pioneering work in quantum physics, game theory, and computer science. He contributed to the USA's Manhattan Project that built the first atomic bomb. laid the groundwork for nanotechnology by showing that a machine can always be designed to build any describable device, including itself. In Profiles of the Future (1963),Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE (born 16 December 1917) is a British science-fiction author and inventor, most famous for his novel , and for collaborating with director Stanley Kubrick on the . wrote at length of the "replicator See port replicator. replicator - Any construct that acts to produce copies of itself; this could be a living organism, an idea (see meme), a program (see quine, worm, wabbit, fork bomb, and virus), a pattern in a cellular automaton (see life), or (speculatively) a robot or ," which would solve all problems of material demand by producing any desired product on request--including beefsteaks and cheese omelets. Eric Drexler's "assemblers," described in his book Engines of Creation, are similar. In recent years, the term nanotechnology has become merely a fashionable buzzword A term that refers to the latest technology or a term that sounds catchy. If not a flash in the pan, new technologies become mainstream. For example, Java was a hot buzzword in the 1990s, but should remain a major topic for decades. for work with thin films, microscopic fibers, and fine powders. Examples include the self-cleaning windows and spill-resistant pants that Bailey mentions. Their manufacturing processes in no way resemble those imagined by Clarke and Drexler, which call for precise atom-by-atom assembly of products. No one knows how to do this. Even if it becomes feasible, it may well take too long to be of practical interest. For instance, coral polyps Polyps A tumor with a small flap that attaches itself to the wall of various vascular organs such as the nose, uterus and rectum. Polyps bleed easily, and if they are suspected to be cancerous they should be surgically removed. amount to natural assemblers as they build their reefs. Engineers might use them to build a dam. Still, even under the best conditions, coral reefs grow at only three inches per year. At that rate, it would take 3,000 years to build the Hoover Dam. On the other hand, the Precautionary Principle has little if any legal standing in the U.S. Regulators are not free to impose sweeping bans or moratoria on new technologies merely because they stir poorly defined fears. Instead, the laws governing federal agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and and the Food and Drug Administration call for science-based regulation, with a focus on specific, well-defined measures of hazard and risk. Thus, if yon Neumann machines indeed become feasible, they will not be outlawed; they will merely be regulated. T.A. Heppenheimer Fountain Valley, CA |
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