Each month, the C-R-Newsletter features a brief article by Chris Phoenix, CRN's Director of Research, explaining technical aspects of advanced nanotechnology.
Chris's subject this month is "Advantages of Engineered Nanosystems":
Today, biology implements by far the most advanced nanomachines on the planet. It is tempting to think that biology must be efficient, and that we can't hope to design nanomachines with higher performance. But we already know some techniques that biology has never been able to try. This month's essay discusses several of them and explains why biology could not use them, but manufactured nanomachines will be able to.
Topics covered are:
Low Friction Via Superlubricity
Electric Currents
Deterministic Machines
Digital Logic
Rapid Transport and Motion
The complete essay is available here.
Regarding the use of electronic conduction, rather than ionic conduction, in nerve cells... It's been a while, but I think the primary problem is actually similar to the speed limitations on CMOS circuitry; Nerve cells are effectively capacitors, and in order to transmit an impulse, you have to charge up and discharge that capacitance, which involves a significant energy consumption. Faster charging rates imply higher charging currents, and higher power consumption, and the brain already consumes a comparatively large portion of the body's resting energy budget.
Though the real limit on long range nerve impulse speeds is the gaps in the insulation, due to each segment of it being a separate cell...
This is not to say that there aren't more energy efficient ways to accomplish what the brain does, just that the limitations on processing speed aren't just due to the use of ions.
Posted by: Brett Bellmore | January 04, 2005 at 04:46 AM
There are several things that make nerve cells slow. I think we're both right.
Chris
Posted by: Chris Phoenix, CRN | January 08, 2005 at 02:10 PM