Here's a fascinating development, as found on KurzweilAI:
Pulickel Ajayan, professor of materials science and engineering at Rensselaer, and geobiologist Ronald Oremland reported that three different kinds of common bacteria “grow” the element selenium in the form of uniform nanospheres. The nanoscopic balls exhibit vastly different properties than selenium that is found as a trace mineral in topsoil.
The research could lead to the production of nanospheres, nanowires, nanorods, and other nanostructures with precise atomic arrangements for smaller, faster semiconductors and other electronic devices.
Well, this is rather awkward.
Do you suppose someone could have a talk with those bacteria and explain to them that the level of precision they're achieving is not possible?
Posted by Phil at February 11, 2004 11:39 AM | TrackBackSmalley would probably argue that this doesn't count as a step toward drexlerian nanotech because its "wet" nano - nanotech that takes place within fluids that support bacteria. Universal assemblers can't be wet, he would argue, because so many materials can't be worked with in that environment.
That argument doesn't hold, er, water because so many possibilities exist for fluid-based nano.
Every advance builds on the the last.
Posted by: Stephen Gordon at February 11, 2004 12:47 PMTee-hee-hee! Oh, I just LOVE stories like this one...
Posted by: Janessa Ravenwood at February 11, 2004 05:46 PM