Nanotechnology is one of the most interesting topics to me. For the past few years I have been looking into its potential and most of my school projects have used nanotechnology as the main topic. For instance, my last speech was a persuasive speech trying to get people to agree with the potential of Nanotechnology over the side effects. This past speech is where my want to make this thread began.
For those of you who don't know what Nanotechnology is, a quick explanation. Nanotechnology is the study of and working with matter on a ultra small scale. The most prominent application is the use of small machines to do work at the molecular level. This work can be building almost anything, hundreds of medical uses like helping rid us of cancer, and making food. Sounds like science fiction, but it isn't.
What I want to know is what people think of this? I plan on going into the research field, but I have no one to talk to about this. What do all of you think? What potentials do you think there are? What do you guys even thing of the negatives to Nanotechnology and whether we should continue the research? Thanks for posting.
Just like any technological advancement, there are always drawbacks to every situation. We've talked about it quite a bit (I bet you thought I wasn't listening!), and there is always room for somebody to take that same technology and use it in the further advancement of weaponry. Nanotechnology is on such a small scope, yet so powerful, it wouldn't take much to use it for any form of mechanical warfare. Granted, I am no expert, so feel free to elaborate on those.
It definately does hold many wonderful opportunities. Nano bots can go places we cannot, and are small enough to be used for medical purposes that regular technology cannot. I know you have specific details on how things like this are done. I hope you'll share it with us.
Visitor's View Point: According to Nissen, of Denmark:
"Nanotechnology is going to mean very much for the modern medicine industry. Specifically on the subject of designer enzymes, nanotech can be used to fold proteins into any configuration necessary to accomplish [task]. I'm mostly talking drug delivery systems here.
Consider cancer, probably the most pressing problem facing modern science. Chemo therapy is a powerful poison, and damages much of the body. If the necessary poison could, instead, be folded into a protein that only opens in the presence of cancer, we could deliver much more poison to the cancer cell, with much less damage to surrounding tissue.
What we're not talking about, for many years, is stuff like the speedheal nanosurgeons of CP2020, or tiny robots crawling out of your fingers and turning into claws. We don't have the necessary miniaturization of computing power to do this. Tiny robots are, in fact, probably not going to appear for a long long time, if ever.
Now, negative effects are to be expected. Like many other technologies, this is hard to catch in advance but we do have a few ideas for what to look out for.
Firstly, like other chemical drugs, nanotechnologically designed drugs must be rigorously tested, because they're new and unique.
Point the second is size: The smallest particles we can work with are a few Å across their largest dimension. This is fantastically tiny. It's so tiny you cannot even see it with electron microscopes, but need even more specialized equipment. Like asbestos fibre, we may one day find that nano particles are absorbed into the body and cause much damage, because we did not evolve in an environment where our bodies had to defend itself against such small particles. To compare, the HIV virus is approximately 800 Å across, 400 times larger.
On the last subject: Yes, I believe we should continue research."
ADDRESS NANOTECHNOLOGY CONCERNS, EXPERTS URGE
Urgent research into the potential dangers of nanotechnology needs to be carried out in order to convince the public of its future value in fields such as medicine and computing, scientists have urged.
Ref. https://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,93498~3863143a28~,00.html
1867 NANOMACHINE NOW REALITY
Nearly 150 years ago it was no more than a concept by a visionary scientist, but researchers have now created a minuscule motor that could lead to the creation of microscopic nanomachines.
Ref. https://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/02/01/nanomac...reut/index.html
UNKNOWN IMPACT OF NANOTECH WORRIES SOME
Nanotechnology has been hailed as the science of the future, with micro-particles already powering innovations that remove lines from faces, strengthen beer bottles and clean clothing without water.
Ref. https://www.stuff.co.nz/hlc/1,,93498~4274091a28~,00.html