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Curtis Shephard

Nanotechnology: Immortality or total annihilation?





Technology has evolved from ideals once seen as unbelievable to common everyday instruments.

Computers that used to occupy an entire room are now the size of notebooks. The human race has always

pushed for technological advances working at the most efficient level, perhaps, the molecular level. The

developments and progress in artificial intelligence and molecular technology have spawned a new form

of technology; Nanotechnology. Nanotechnology could give the human race eternal life, or it could cause

total annihilation.

The idea of nanotech was conceived by a man named K. Eric Drexler (Stix 94), which he defines

as "Technology based on the manipulation of individual atoms and molecules to build structures to

complex atomic specifications (Drexler, "Engines" 288)." The technology which Drexler speaks of will be

undoubtedly small, in fact, nano- structures will only measure 100 nanometers, or a billionth of a meter

(Stix 94).

Being as small as they are, nanostructures require fine particles that can only be seen with the

STM, or Scanning Tunneling Microscope (Dowie 4). Moreover the STM allows the scientists to not only

see things at the molecular level, but it can pick up and move atoms as well (Port 128). Unfortunately the

one device that is giving nanoscientists something to work with is also one of the many obstacles

restricting the development of nanotech. The STM has been regarded as too big to ever produce nanotech

structures (Port 128). Other scientists have stated that the manipulation of atoms, which nanotech relies

on, ignores atomic reality. Atoms simply don't fit together...