Nanotechnology in the Age of Posthuman Engineering: Science Fiction as Science
2002; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 10; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/con.2003.0017
ISSN1080-6520
Autores Tópico(s)Molecular Communication and Nanonetworks
ResumoK. Eric Drexler, pioneer and popularizer of the emerging science of nanotechnology, has summarized the ultimate goal of his field as "thorough and inexpensive control of the structure of matter." 1 Nanotechnology is the practical manipulation of atoms; it is engineering conducted on the molecular scale. Many scientists involved in this ambitious program envision building nanoscopic machines, often called "assemblers" or "nanobots," that will be used to construct objects on an atom-by-atom basis. Modeled largely after biological "machines" like enzymes, ribosomes, and mitochondria—even the cell —these nanomachines will have specific purposes such as binding two chemical elements together or taking certain compounds apart, and will also be designed to replicate themselves so that the speed and scale of molecular manufacturing may be increased. Several different [End Page 261] types of assemblers, or assemblers with multiple functions, will act together to engineer complex objects precise and reproducible down to every atomic variable. With its bold scheme to completely dominate materiality itself, nanotechnology has been prophesied to accomplish almost anything called for by human desires.
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