Technology is advancing at an exponential rate often called the "Law of Accelerating Returns." If futurist predictions prove correct, we'll have advanced molecular manufacturing by around 2025, and possibly the replacement of humanity by vastly advanced machines a decade or two later.
This is a chronicle of our journey to that future, one advancing technology article at a time. I post the more significant and interesting articles as I come across them.
Monday, May 24, 2021
Incredible Microscope Sees Atoms at Record Resolution
One has to wonder if this is the last hurdle to being able to pattern atoms using electron microscopes. I'm pretty sure they got to less than like 30 nano-meters a few months ago. Just a year before, I had seen a team be able to 3d print with electron microscopes to about 30 nano-meters. That's pretty good progress.
As the article states, a little machine learning could help smooth up the algorithm. I have to wonder if they could use a Cerebra CS-1, or CS-2 if they got the money would do the trick?!
Well, if they're going to make nano-manufacturing happen through electron microscopes, they'd better hurry; because DNA and Proteins are making exciting progress as well!
I had been teasing some spaceX youtube enthusiasts that a nanotech revolution will happen before they land a man on Mars. I feel more and more confident of my prediction by the . . . weeks, maybe not days.
- What's remarkable about all these different ways to make Feynman/Drexler nanotech happen is, well two of them require some remarkable advances on their own right.
The electron microscopes needed to get past the diffraction limit. Natural law said it's not possible. Then scientists came up with these metamaterials which allows everything from getting past this diffraction limit to actual Star Trek cloaking devices.
The protein pathway required solving the protein folding problem. Some describe that as the quantum gravity of biology problem. It hasn't really been solved as a deductive theorem; but, it's been approximated very well!
I've read Kurzweil's "Age of Spiritual Machines" and another more or less proving general A.I is possible. I know there's a timeline in "Age of Spiritual Machines"; but, I don't recall if he predicts anything there about nano-manufacturing. It's stuffed in some shelves, and I don't feel like digging it out!
I thought I'd show some of the recent DNA-nanotech that has me excited. I'm tempted to argue, just with these, we're in the nano-manufacturing era!
Integrated computer-aided engineering and design for DNA assemblies - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-021-00978-5 - this allows them to make DNA-nano-mechanical parts from days and weeks, to hours, and minutes.
Shortly after the DNA software above, this team did the same for RNA-nanotech. RNA can do nano-chemistry. DNA needs to be functionalized.
Then, maybe second to most recent DNA-nanotech news - Strategies for Constructing and Operating DNA Origami Linear Actuators - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202007704
YEAH, SCIENTISTS JUST WENT THERE AND CAME UP WITH A FASTER WAY TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL DNA - https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/scientists-came-up-with-a-faster-way-artificial-dna
One of the team members who came up with the RNA design and construction software was Paul Rothemund. I'm thinking he thought to turn to RNA instead because DNA appeared to be to expensive. That problem has been solved with the last breakthrough noted above!
Hello Derek - should prove interesting. I don't think they can make your house or automobile; they could make a computer I think, and they could bootstrap themselves to a more robust nano-manufacturing system!
- I got a youtube like this morning from someone who made a video about the recent deepmind A.I ability to approximate the protein folding problem pretty reliably. I had posted about using this to make Drexlerian nanotechnology happen. I can only hope this like is saying their making good progress!
There was a recent foresight institute youtube interview of David Baker, who has been one of the main protein folding guys; he reveals that a team member had created protein gears and axles and other nano-mechanical parts. I emailed him about the alphafold, and to say the least, he knows and some of his team is working on trying to make the nano-future happen!
-I thought I'd note that practically every research University has a dna-origami research team(including China and Russia, and probably Iran, and maybe even North Korea; to say the least, the future is just going to be a nano version of the way things are today with nuclear weapons . . .)
Yes, the potential is exciting. And potentially disastrous. I’m not so much worried about nukes as I am about much more subtle nanotechnology-based terror weapons. Like gray goo.
I can just see Putin now, "we now have grey goo weapons; if you do not ruin yourselves and allow us to put in our pro-Russian puppet rulers, we will turn the entire Earth into diamond dust!"
Something I'm surprised I don't hear a lot of people noting is that DNA, and really non-Diamondoid nanotech can be burned. The only way to break down diamondoid nanotech is to . . . nuke it.
- I've always felt the only way to overcome the geo-politics of a nanotech WWIII is to go out to space.
9 comments:
One has to wonder if this is the last hurdle to being able to pattern atoms using electron microscopes. I'm pretty sure they got to less than like 30 nano-meters a few months ago. Just a year before, I had seen a team be able to 3d print with electron microscopes to about 30 nano-meters. That's pretty good progress.
As the article states, a little machine learning could help smooth up the algorithm. I have to wonder if they could use a Cerebra CS-1, or CS-2 if they got the money would do the trick?!
Well, if they're going to make nano-manufacturing happen through electron microscopes, they'd better hurry; because DNA and Proteins are making exciting progress as well!
Indeed. I’m enjoying watching the race between different technologies.
I had been teasing some spaceX youtube enthusiasts that a nanotech revolution will happen before they land a man on Mars. I feel more and more confident of my prediction by the . . . weeks, maybe not days.
- What's remarkable about all these different ways to make Feynman/Drexler nanotech happen is, well two of them require some remarkable advances on their own right.
The electron microscopes needed to get past the diffraction limit. Natural law said it's not possible. Then scientists came up with these metamaterials which allows everything from getting past this diffraction limit to actual Star Trek cloaking devices.
The protein pathway required solving the protein folding problem. Some describe that as the quantum gravity of biology problem. It hasn't really been solved as a deductive theorem; but, it's been approximated very well!
I had hoped Kurzweil's prediction for mature nanotech by 2025 would be accurate, but it's looking too optimistic at this point.
I've read Kurzweil's "Age of Spiritual Machines" and another more or less proving general A.I is possible. I know there's a timeline in "Age of Spiritual Machines"; but, I don't recall if he predicts anything there about nano-manufacturing. It's stuffed in some shelves, and I don't feel like digging it out!
I thought I'd show some of the recent DNA-nanotech that has me excited. I'm tempted to argue, just with these, we're in the nano-manufacturing era!
Integrated computer-aided engineering and design for DNA assemblies - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41563-021-00978-5 - this allows them to make DNA-nano-mechanical parts from days and weeks, to hours, and minutes.
RNA origami design tools enable cotranscriptional folding of kilobase-sized nanoscaffolds - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-021-00679-1?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Shortly after the DNA software above, this team did the same for RNA-nanotech. RNA can do nano-chemistry. DNA needs to be functionalized.
Then, maybe second to most recent DNA-nanotech news - Strategies for Constructing and Operating DNA Origami Linear Actuators - https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smll.202007704
YEAH, SCIENTISTS JUST WENT THERE AND CAME UP WITH A FASTER WAY TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL DNA - https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/scientists-came-up-with-a-faster-way-artificial-dna
One of the team members who came up with the RNA design and construction software was Paul Rothemund. I'm thinking he thought to turn to RNA instead because DNA appeared to be to expensive. That problem has been solved with the last breakthrough noted above!
Thanks. I checked them out and added a couple to the blog.
Hello Derek - should prove interesting. I don't think they can make your house or automobile; they could make a computer I think, and they could bootstrap themselves to a more robust nano-manufacturing system!
- I got a youtube like this morning from someone who made a video about the recent deepmind A.I ability to approximate the protein folding problem pretty reliably. I had posted about using this to make Drexlerian nanotechnology happen. I can only hope this like is saying their making good progress!
There was a recent foresight institute youtube interview of David Baker, who has been one of the main protein folding guys; he reveals that a team member had created protein gears and axles and other nano-mechanical parts. I emailed him about the alphafold, and to say the least, he knows and some of his team is working on trying to make the nano-future happen!
-I thought I'd note that practically every research University has a dna-origami research team(including China and Russia, and probably Iran, and maybe even North Korea; to say the least, the future is just going to be a nano version of the way things are today with nuclear weapons . . .)
Yes, the potential is exciting. And potentially disastrous. I’m not so much worried about nukes as I am about much more subtle nanotechnology-based terror weapons. Like gray goo.
I can just see Putin now, "we now have grey goo weapons; if you do not ruin yourselves and allow us to put in our pro-Russian puppet rulers, we will turn the entire Earth into diamond dust!"
Something I'm surprised I don't hear a lot of people noting is that DNA, and really non-Diamondoid nanotech can be burned. The only way to break down diamondoid nanotech is to . . . nuke it.
- I've always felt the only way to overcome the geo-politics of a nanotech WWIII is to go out to space.
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