Re: The Nanotech Rapture


Tim Tyler wrote:

Rupturing The Nanotech Rapture - By Richard A.L. Jones

- http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/jun08/6271

Sceptical article - mostly misguided, IMHO.

My analysis:

He doubts nano-scale gears will work. It seems like silly
scepticism to me: there are bound to be some pretty tiny
molecularly-precise gears that do work - so why attempt
to debate this point?

He talks about how the dominance of frictional forces at small
scales means that you can't just scale things down. That's true,
but it's also pretty obvious, and isn't a valid objection
to molecular manufacturing.

He says that some nano-machines may get damaged. That's true,
but it's also pretty obvious, and isn't a valid objection
to molecular manufacturing.

He writes:

``Put all these complications together and what they suggest,
to me, is that the range of environments in which rigid
nanomachines could operate, if they operate at all,
would be quite limited. If, for example, such devices
can function only at low temperatures and in a vacuum,
their impact and economic importance would be virtually nil.''

This seems unlikely to be true, no matter what silly
straw-man definition is given of "rigid nanomachine".

My summary: this guy doesn't seem to know much about what
he's criticising. Unfortunate - if he is a senior nanotechnology
advisor for the UK government=92s physical sciences and
engineering funding agency :-(
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