Nanotechnology

[Jona]

I don't know if anyone is interested in science as much as I am, but I've done a lot of reading and studying on Nanotechnology, and I find this soon-to-happen quantum-leap extremely fascinating. If you used to think making 3,000 red-cross tents within an hour that has stereo systems, appliances, a button that makes it automatically fold/unfold, and can change color on command, you were wrong! With nanotechnology, it will be possible to live on other planets, cure absolutely any disease - weather contagious or hereditary - within a few weeks, change the color or design of your clothes on command, have self-heating and self-cooling clothes, turn sand, water and air into a potato, and many more things. In Japan, they already sell special bumpers that, though NanoTech, go back into shape if they are hit by another car! I really find this interesting, and I was wondering what thoughts/questions you guys might have on it. :D

[More on Nanotech (http://www.sciam.com/nanotech/)]

[steelersfan88]

I'm glad to have stuck with programming :D

[Jona]

lol. I find this extremely interesting, and I'm glad to be alive (yet young, lol) to see it progress from its very beginning stages. It's like the industrial revolution at a much, much faster pace!

[steelersfan88]

reading thru the post, however, inclined me to click the link, so I'll read that and then repost :)

[Ben Rogers]

I doubt it's going to happen to the extent your speaking of in the near future, Jona, and if it does, it'll be expensive as hell.

And, I'm not a science nut, but yeah stuff like this is pretty cool. If you're into genetics, by the way, you must read Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton. It's a damn good book even if you're not into Science, but it's even better if you are.

[Jona]

Originally posted by omega
I doubt it's going to happen to the extent your speaking of in the near future, Jona, and if it does, it'll be expensive as hell.

Developing the technology to do so may be expensive, but by programming the sub-microscopic machines to replicate themselves with carbon atoms, which is what is used for nanomachines, the machines can do all the things mentioned, and more. No, Nanotechnology may not be exactly as projected, but it will be very similar. It is scientifically proven to be possible.

In the future, there won't be as many thieves because you can talk to your computer and tell it to make you a car, and it will make it within the hour; plus, there will be no need for gas or oil, the car will run off of solar energy during the day, and material energy ("food") during the night.

[Paul Jr]

Originally posted by Jona
[In the future, there won't be as many thieves because you can talk to your computer and tell it to make you a car, and it will make it within the hour; plus, there will be no need for gas or oil, the car will run off of solar energy during the day, and material energy ("food") during the night.
*Dreams of saying, "Hmmm... I want a chocolate bar." And having the chocolate bar appear in his hand...* :D

[Jona]

Originally posted by Paul Jr
*Dreams of saying, "Hmmm... I want a chocolate bar." And having the chocolate bar appear in his hand...* :D

All you have to do is supply the right atoms (for a potato, you just have sand, air, and water, and it'd probably be the same for most plants, as they all come from the ground, require water and sunglight to grow). And just think, there wouldn't be much of a need for weightloss programs either, when all you have to do is spray some nanomachines (in liquid form) in your mouth and they'll go through the body and modify the excess fat cells (it will calculate how much fat your body should have, based on your size, age, etc.) to pass through the digestive system.

[Ben Rogers]

*hums Jetson's theme*

That'd be cool, but there has to be some raw material to use, otherwise it'd take months to get something actual, and it'd be incredibly complex to get anything other than a raw material as an end product.

[Jona]

Originally posted by omega
That'd be cool, but there has to be some raw material to use, otherwise it'd take months to get something actual, and it'd be incredibly complex to get anything other than a raw material as an end product.

Of course, the only requirement for nanotechnology is a replicating and self-managing nanomachine, and raw materials (atoms) necessary to create whatever product is desired.

[Ben Rogers]

But, really, think of time. How long would it take for a few microscopic machines to replicate into trillions of cells in an exact order in an exact way?

[Jona]

Originally posted by omega
But, really, think of time. How long would it take for a few microscopic machines to replicate into trillions of cells in an exact order in an exact way?

Minutes, I believe. The nanomachine finds an atom, or molecule with carbon in it, and takes as many carbons as necessary to build another machine and makes it, then the other one goes and does the same thing - thus, self-replicating. Once there are enough, it will do whatever it's programmed to do. By the way, they're sub-microscopic - it's a millionth of a micrometer (nanometer), not a millionth of a millimeter (which is a micrometer).

[Ben Rogers]

When I try to picture this, I pictue hours.. either that's BS, or I'm paranoid.

[Jona]

Another awesome thing about it is, the machines will never wear out. The large gadgets and guages we have today will eventually wear out from friction, but nanomachines have virtually no friction whatsoever, therefore they will basically never wear out; yet they can be deconstructed by other nanomachines to be turned into something else - recycling. They can be as hard as diamond, the hardest natural substance on earth, because the way the carbons are fasioned in nanotubes. Enough nanotubes together, about an inch thick, can hold up an entire bridge, in replacement of the large steel pillars we have today. An average desktop computer, in the future, will have many terabytes (1,000 GB) of memory, and will be able to outcompute every computer put together in the world today.

[Jona]

Originally posted by omega
When I try to picture this, I pictue hours.. either that's BS, or I'm paranoid.

Well, it may be hours but definitely not days. It's not BS, it's technology in action. The GAP clothes company uses nanotechnology to create stain-proof clothes, and as already mentioned there is a company in Japan who makes bumpers for cars that bend back into shape automatically if they are broken.

[steelersfan88]

you caught my attentio nwith the chocolate bar :) so as long as we get this all working while I am alive :D

[Jona]

On December 3, President George W. Bush signed the 21st Century Nanotechnology Research and Development Act. Bush's signature authored funding for nanotechnology research and development to the tune of $3.7 billion over the next four years. The National Science Foundation estimates that there will be a $1 trillion global market for nanotechnology in 2015.

[Jona]

Originally posted by steelersfan88
you caught my attentio nwith the chocolate bar :) so as long as we get this all working while I am alive :D

Wait about thirty to fourty years. ;)

Also, I thought you might be interested in the (US) National Nanotechnology Initiative (http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/whatIsNano.html).

[steelersfan88]

and here i thought i was a republican because they are good in office, but it was really all about the chocolate :)

[sciguyryan]

Originally posted by Jona
Wait about thirty to fourty years. ;)

Also, I thought you might be interested in the (US) National Nanotechnology Initiative (http://www.nano.gov/html/facts/whatIsNano.html).

An intereting topic I must say. There was a show an about this the other night - a good one too.

[Jona]

Kind of makes you not want to have to wait for it; every time I think about what I use, I think about how it can be better, faster, more sophisticated, and last longer because of Nanotechnology. Maybe I'm just obsessed. :D

[steelersfan88]

you could say that, but it could be worse. You could be obsessed with with other science topics, like learning about the mating processes of ants, that would be a bad thing :)

[Jona]

Originally posted by steelersfan88
you could say that, but it could be worse. You could be obsessed with with other science topics, like learning about the mating processes of ants, that would be a bad thing :)

...Mating process of ants!? :eek: That would be a bad thing, I'd much rather study humans. I mean, the human, err, brain! :D

[steelersfan88]

you called it an obsession, so i made it look like it was not a bad obsession.

[Jona]

Originally posted by steelersfan88
so i made it look like it was not a bad obsession.

Oh yes, I forgot you work for M$. ;) lol, just kidding. :D

[steelersfan88]

I do not work for them. I do things for them, as an affiliator, not a worker.

[Jona]

Originally posted by steelersfan88
I do not work for them. I do things for them, as an affiliator, not a worker.

Yeah I know, but it was kind of supposed to be a joke, and it's not as funny if you put it that way. ;)

[steelersfan88]

sorry that I ruined the joke, I'll do my best not to next joke :)