Nanotechnology: Immortality or Total Annihilation?
Technology has evolved from ideals once seen as unbelievable to common everyday instruments.
Computers that used to occupy an entire room are now the size of notebooks. The human race has always pushed for technological advances working at the most efficient level, perhaps, the molecular level. The developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology have spawned a new form of technology; Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could give the human race eternal life, or it could cause total annihilation. The idea of nanotech was conceived by a man named K. Eric Drexler (Stix 94), which he defines as "Technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex atomic specifications (Drexler, "Engines" 288)." The technology which Drexler speaks of will be undoubtedly small, in fact, nano- structures will only measure 100 nanometers, or a billionth of a meter
(Stix 94). Being as small as they are, nanostructures require fine particles that can only be seen with the
STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope (Dowie 4). Moreover the STM allows the scientists to not only see things at the molecular level, but it can pick up and move atoms as well (Port 128). Unfortunately the one device that is giving nanoscientists something to work with is also one of the many obstacles restricting the development of nanotech. The STM has been regarded as too big to ever produce nanotech structures (Port 128). Other scientists have stated that the manipulation of atoms, which nanotech relies on, ignores atomic reality. Atoms simply don't fit together in ways which nanotech intends to use them
(Garfinkel 105). The problems plaguing the progress of nanotech has raised many questions among the scientific community concerning it's validity. The moving of atoms, the gathering of information, the restrictions of the STM, all restrict nanotech progress. And until these questions are
Computers that used to occupy an entire room are now the size of notebooks. The human race has always pushed for technological advances working at the most efficient level, perhaps, the molecular level. The developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology have spawned a new form of technology; Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could give the human race eternal life, or it could cause total annihilation. The idea of nanotech was conceived by a man named K. Eric Drexler (Stix 94), which he defines as "Technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex atomic specifications (Drexler, "Engines" 288)." The technology which Drexler speaks of will be undoubtedly small, in fact, nano- structures will only measure 100 nanometers, or a billionth of a meter
(Stix 94). Being as small as they are, nanostructures require fine particles that can only be seen with the
STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope (Dowie 4). Moreover the STM allows the scientists to not only see things at the molecular level, but it can pick up and move atoms as well (Port 128). Unfortunately the one device that is giving nanoscientists something to work with is also one of the many obstacles restricting the development of nanotech. The STM has been regarded as too big to ever produce nanotech structures (Port 128). Other scientists have stated that the manipulation of atoms, which nanotech relies on, ignores atomic reality. Atoms simply don't fit together in ways which nanotech intends to use them
(Garfinkel 105). The problems plaguing the progress of nanotech has raised many questions among the scientific community concerning it's validity. The moving of atoms, the gathering of information, the restrictions of the STM, all restrict nanotech progress. And until these questions are