Nanotechnology: Immortality Or Total Annihilation? :: essays research papers

     Technology has evolved from ideals once seen as unbelievable to common everyday instruments. Computers that used to occupy an entire room atomic number 18 now the size of notebooks. The kind-hearted race has al shipway pushed for technological advances working at the most efficient level, perhaps, the molecular level. The developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology keep up spawned a new form of technology Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could give the hu macrocosm 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 de alrights 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 nan ometers, 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 short-term memory, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope (Dowie 4). Moreover the STM allows the scientists to not only see things at the molecular level, but it can picking 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 dont 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 its validity. The moving of atoms, the gathering of information , the restrictions of the STM, all restrict nanotech progress. And until these questions are answered, nanotech is regarded as silly (Stix 98).     But the nanotech optimists are still out there. They contend that the progress made by a team at IBM who was able to write letters and draw pictures atom by atom actually began the birth of nanotech (Darling 49). These same people answer the scientific questions by replying that a breakthrough is not needed, rather the science gained must be applied (DuCharme 33). In fact, Drexler argues that the machines exist, trends are simply working on building better ones ("Unbounding" 24). Drexler continues by stating that the machines he spoke about in "Engines of Creation" produce in 1986 should be