https://www.facebook.com/technologytiime Ralph Merkle, a leading expert in nanotechnology, gives a non-technical introduction to nanotechnology and the future of manufacturing at the atomic level. From the inaugural Executive Program at Singularity University A molecular assembler, as defined by K. Eric Drexler, is a "proposed device able to guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". A molecular assembler is a kind of molecular machine. Some biological molecules such as ribosomes fit this definition. This is because they receive instructions from messenger RNA and then assemble specific sequences of amino acids to construct protein molecules. However, the term "molecular assembler" usually refers to theoretical human-made devices. Likewise, the term "molecular assembler" has been used in science fiction and popular culture to refer to a wide range of fantastic atom-manipulating nanomachines, many of which may be physically impossible in reality. Much of the controversy regarding "molecular assemblers" results from the confusion in the use of the name for both technical concepts and popular fantasies. In 1992, Drexler introduced the related but better-understood term "molecular manufacturing," which he defined as the programmed "chemical synthesis of complex structures by mechanically positioning reactive molecules, not by manipulating individual atoms." This article mostly discusses "molecular assemblers" in the popular sense. These include hypothetical machines that manipulate individual atoms and machines with organism-like self-replicating abilities, mobility, ability to consume food, and so forth. These are quite different from devices that merely (as defined above) "guide chemical reactions by positioning reactive molecules with atomic precision". Because synthetic molecular assemblers have never been constructed and because of the confusion regarding the meaning of the term, there has been much controversy as to whether "molecular assemblers" are possible or simply science fiction. Confusion and controversy also stem from their classification as nanotechnology, which is an active area of laboratory research which has already been applied to the production of real products; however, there had been, until recently, no research efforts into the actual construction of "molecular assemblers". Nano assembler is a desktop size nano factory, which can practically produce virtually any physical objects, from any types of electronics, foods and beverages. This technique define as using bottom-up appoach to manufacture anything out of atoms and molecules to atomically precised products. Nanotechnology, "the manufacturing technology of the 21st century," is defined as the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers (billionths of a meter, or 10m.) A nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter, or a millionth of a millimeter - smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-thousandth the width of a human hair. At this scale, unique properties of materials emerge which can be applied to produce technologies and products with entirely new abilities and applications. At the nanoscale, physical, chemical, optical and electrical properties of materials differ from the properties of matter at either smaller scales, such as atoms, or at the larger scales of the "middle world" that we humans inhabit. Nanotechnology (NT) involves imaging, measuring, modeling, and manipulating matter only a few nanometers in size. Nanotechnology: The next technological revolution. According to futurist and inventor, Raymond Kurzweil, the Nanotech Age is expected to begin between 2025 and 2050, bringing an end to the current Information Age which began in 1990. Humankind is poised at the precipice of the single greatest innovation in the history of science and technology. Coming is a Nano Revolution that will be at least as transformative as the Industrial Revolution (perhaps much more so), but packed into just a few years. Well beyond present-day nanotech applications, mature "molecular manufacturing" or "molecular nanotechnology" will enable us to manifest our dreams (or nightmares). We are nearing the ability to build molecules out of atoms mechanochemically, and to use these molecular building blocks to construct virtually any substance or device we can conceive of. This most powerful technology of all will radically transform and extend the capabilities of practically every area of human endeavor by exploring the ultimate limits of fabrication. It is a potential answer to all of our problems, and it hands us the power to destroy ourselves and our home more easily than ever before. Of the three main predicted defining technologies of this century (genetics, nanotech and robotics), we believe that nanotechnology will ultimately be the most transformative of our way of life. Nanotech will have an enormous impact on us in the coming decades, spurring

• published: 06 Jan 2014
• views: 3