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It's not molecular manufacturing yet, but a company with the unlikely name of "Prior 2 Lever" is planning a shoe-printing service. You get your feet analyzed, and then in just a few hours, you get a custom-designed pair of shoes.
The news story is here.
Unfortunately I was unable to find the company with Google.
This may be the first consumer product to be built with rapid prototyping.
(Hat tip to Patrick Lin, one of our CRN Task Force members.)
"Nanofactories: Glimpsing the future of process technology" is the cover story in the current issue of CleanRooms magazine. Bruce Flickinger writes:
Nanofactories -- manufacturing systems that work on the atomic scale -- are gradually moving from science fiction to science fact and one day could be used to build all manner of items such as drugs, semiconductor chips and even cell-sized robots that patrol the human body. But researchers first need to learn how to build a nanofactory, which means learning how to build the molecular components that will power it. With mounting theoretical and experimental evidence, proponents say these goals are within reach and will usher in a revolution in high-technology manufacturing.
The well-written article goes into some depth about precise molecular components, mechanosynthesis, contamination issues, manufacturing throughput, and more, including an overview of the benefits. Ralph C. Merkle, professor of computer science in the College of Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology, Robert A. Freitas Jr., senior research fellow at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing, and CRN's Director of Research Chris Phoenix all are quoted at length.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
According to an announcement I received in the mail the other day, "molecular nanotechnology [is] the future of manufacturing."
Molecular nanotechnology and manufacturing, or using matter to build complex products and structures atom-by-atom like pieces of Legos, will soon lead us into the sixth industrial revolution. Like steam engines, electricity and transistors, nanotechnology is primed to completely disrupt markets, industries and business models worldwide. Similarly, it will replace our entire manufacturing base with a new, radically precise, less expensive, and more flexible way of making products. These pervasive changes in manufacturing will leave virtually no product, process or industry untouched.
That is the description of nanotech in the brochure for "Nanomanufacturing Conference & Exhibits" March 29 - 30, 2006, at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
They have a great lineup of speakers, including:
- Marc Lurie, the new president of Foresight Nanotech Institute
- Jim Von Ehr, CEO of Zyvex Corporation
- Mark Sims, president of Nanorex Inc.
And, as a keynote speaker, on the topic of "Engineering from the Bottom Up: Productive Nanosystems and the Future of Technology," K. Eric Drexler, PhD. Also appearing at the same event is Mihail C. Roco, PhD, Senior Advisor of Nanotechnology for the U.S. National Science Foundation.
Both Chris and I are committed elsewhere, which is too bad because we would love to attend this conference. So, if you are thinking of going to it, please take some notes and then give us a report that we can share with our blog audience.
Mike Treder
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
From InformationWeek:
A new research center opening this week at Arizona State University to study the societal impacts and potential benefits of nanotechnology shows progress, yet some voice concerns about whether nanotechnology is worth the cost--or the risk.
Congratulations to Ira Bennett and his group at ASU. Along with Gary Marchant's Center for Law, Science, and Technology, this university is showing the way toward useful research.
Mike Treder
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
CLICK PHOTOS TO ENLARGE
With at least 25 million inhabitants (many of them unrecorded by census), Mexico City ranks as one of the world's largest megalopolises. How will it, and other cities like it -- Bombay, Lagos, Shanghai, Jakarta, Sao Paulo, Karachi, Dakha, etc. -- be affected by molecular manufacturing? Will it be boon, bust, or a bit of both?
The photo above is from a remarkable online collection posted by a helicopter pilot working in Mexico City. Check it out. (Hat tip to Boing Boing.)
Mike Treder
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
CRN's biggest concern is that molecular manufacturing will be a source of immense military power. A medium-sized or larger nation that was the sole possessor of the technology would be a superpower, with a strong likelihood of becoming the superpower if they were sufficiently ruthless. This implies geopolitical instability in the form of accelerating arms races and preemptive strikes. For several reasons, a nanofactory-based arms race looks less stable than the nuclear arms race was.
Related to the military concern is a tangle of security concerns. If molecular manufacturing proliferates, it will become relatively easy to build a wide range of high-tech automated weaponry. Accountability may decrease even as destructive power increases. The Internet, with its viruses, spam, spyware, and phishing, provides a partial preview of what we might expect. It could be very difficult to police such a society without substantial weakening of civil rights and even human rights.
Economic disruption is a likely consequence of widespread use of molecular manufacturing. On the one hand, we would have an abundance of production capacity able to build high-performance products at minimal expense. On the other hand, this could threaten a lot of today's jobs, from manufacturing to transportation to mineral extraction.
Environmental damage could result from widespread use of inexpensive products. Although products filling today's purposes could be made more efficient with molecular manufacturing, future applications such as supersonic and ballistic transport may demand far more energy than we use today.
Another major risk associated with molecular manufacturing comes from not using it for positive purposes. Artificial scarcities — legal restrictions — have been applied to lifesaving medicines. Similar restrictions on molecular manufacturing, whether in the form of military classification, unnecessary safety regulations, or explicit intellectual property regulation, could allow millions of people to die unnecessarily.
Finally, although this is hard to quantify, the potential may exist for development of smarter-than-human artificial intelligence. If molecular manufacturing can build extremely tiny, extremely powerful networked supercomputers, and if software development reaches the point where a sophisticated computer program is able to design and produce improved versions of itself, then the stage may be set for rapidly and recursively self-improving entities. Used as a tool by tyrants, or even on their own, these 'products' could prove highly dangerous.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
We believe that advanced nanotechnology — molecular manufacturing — should be developed as fast as it can be done safely and responsibly. CRN favors responsible rapid development of the technology — not because we believe it is safe, but because we believe it is risky — and because the only realistic alternative to responsible development is irresponsible development.
So, what exactly does 'responsible' mean?
First, that we take effective precautions to forestall a new arms race.Second, that we do what is necessary to prevent a monopoly on the technology by one nation, one bloc of nations, or one multinational corporation.
Third, that we seek appropriate ways to share the tremendous benefits of the technology as widely as possible; we should not allow a 'nano-divide'.
Fourth, that we recognize the possibilities for both positive and negative impacts on the environment from molecular manufacturing, and that we adopt sensible global regulations on its use.
Fifth, that we understand and take precautions to avert the risk of severe economic disruption, social chaos, and consequent human suffering.
If CRN's work can contribute toward the achievement of those goals, we will be very happy.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
It's important to understand that molecular manufacturing implies exponential manufacturing—the ability to rapidly build as many desktop nanofactories as you have the resources for. Starting with one nanofactory, someone could build thousands of additional nanofactories in a day or less, at very low cost. This means that projects of almost any size can be accomplished quickly.
Those who have access to the technology could use it to build a surveillance system to track six billion people, weapons systems far more powerful than the world's combined conventional forces, construction on a planetary scale, or spaceflight as easy as airplane flight is today.
Massive projects aren't always bad. Rapid construction could allow us to build environmental remediation technologies on a huge scale. Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory are suggesting that equipment could be built to remove significant quantities of carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. With molecular manufacturing, this could be done far more quickly, easily, and inexpensively.
In addition to being powerful, the technology also will be deft and exquisite. Medical research and treatment will advance rapidly, given access to nearly unlimited numbers of medical robots and sensors that are smaller than a cell.
This only scratches the surface. Molecular manufacturing has as many implications as electricity, computers, and gasoline engines—combined.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
An in-depth interview with inventor, entrepreneur, and best-selling author Ray Kurzweil has been posted in a special new section on CRN's main website.
The interview was conducted by Sander Olson, one of the original developers of the NanoApex and NanoMagazine web sites. Since the acquisition of those sites in 2005 by the International Small Technology Network, many of Sander's previous interviews have not been available on the web. To correct this, CRN has begun publishing several of them here.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
A couple of handsome fellows made the cover of WorldChanging.com today. Well, okay, perhaps 'handsome' is in the eye of the beholder...but we're very pleased to have a long interview about CRN's work posted by Jamais Cascio at the WC site.
We hope you'll read the full interview, and then leave a comment expressing your thoughts about our thoughts.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
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