NNI In Illustrious Company

NNI In Illustrious Company

Technology Friday, March 12, 2004 . This is a SciScoop post by Howard

A 2004 National Nanotechnology Initiative declaration:

“Such creatures do not exist and many scientists believe they never will, saying nanoscale materials are simply too small to manipulate for such purposes – and if someone wanted to create something destructive, there are many easier ways to do so.

“… Today–and as far as scientists can see–anything resembling nanobots remains in the realm of science fiction.”

An 1895 declaration by Lord Kelvin, president of the Royal Society:

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.”

2 Responses to NNI In Illustrious Company

apsmith

March 12th, 2004 at 1:54 pm

Just because somebody says something’s impossible doesn’t mean it isn’t!

But I do have a question here – are we funding nano-science too randomly, when what we really need is more focus? Specific technology goals in the area, rather than whatever the scientists and engineers feel like working on? What do you think the situation is here, in this case? Still too curiosity-driven rather than goal-driven?

Anonymous

March 13th, 2004 at 2:09 pm

Several years ago, IBM demonstrated a machine that had the ability to move individual atoms which was verified by a scanning electron microscope… a famous picture of the the letters “I B M” spelled out clearly and precisely. The hope was that the technology would eventually lead to the ability to assemble “designer molecules”. Thats fact, not fiction. We’ve also seen microscopic motors in the recent past… Seems to me the only real obstacle is a massive (apollo program sized) budget, the will, and a <u>purpose</u&gt

Comment Form

About

SciScoop Science News is a forum for news, views and controversial conjectures. please contact us to submit a guest blog post idea to become an author.

SciScoop Top Authors

David Bradley (414)
Bunyip (35)
Chad (85)
Drog (407)
DV8 2XL (25)
Wayne Goode (69)
Gpmap (27)
Ricky James (1367)
Mertero (22)
Mtigges (34)
AP Smith (171)
Sweetwind (64)