This is the third book in the series that included 'The Theory of Nothing' the "The Universe Revealed.' My purpose in this new book is to more fully explain how science is actually done and how science fits into our culture along with religion and p...
I've used this idea in some of my stories. Essentially, a nano-bot or nanorobot is a tiny molecular machine that could be used to change the human body from the inside. And, it could also be used in nefarious plots.
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First of all, nano-sized molecular machines have already been created, but their use in the human body has not been adequately studied for obvious reasons. The most often proposed use for nano-bots is to identify and destroy cancer cells in the body by traveling through the circulatory system to arrive at the infection location.
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Nano-size is down at the nanometer or 10 to the -9 power meters. A typical nanobot would be in the 0.1 to 10 micrometer (10 to the -6 power meters) size range. This would require the use of molecular chemistry. A nanorobotic machine would have tools (arms or needles) to manipulate things and some sort of optical system to find its target. It would need a processor and propulsion or maneuvering systems. It could also carry a payload to destroy things. The payload could be a toxic chemical or chemo drug.
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How might these nano-sized machines be created? The obvious answer is nano-sized 3D printing. Such a system would have to involve tiny nano-sized delivery system. Another method would employ microprocessor circuit fabrication techniques to do this amazing trick. Otherwise what's needed is a nano-electronic method to create a machine on the molecular level or a chemical synthetic process that would assemble it atom by atom.
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A single-molecular car was created using Buckyball chemistry and the use of a scanning tunneling microscope. These methods are currently available for this type of micro construction.
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I'm sure that the military knows how to do this by now.
What could a nanobot be programmed to do? That's a question that's probably hidden from the public because of the ethical problems and classified status of this technology. However, if these methods could be fully utilized, a nano-sized molecular machine could be developed with a tiny micro processor that would allow the device to be programmed to do all sorts of crazy things, including finding mistakes in our DNA and fixing them. This would be the ultimate medical miracle and would also allow fixing genetic diseases in infants before they're born. Think of the scale of that idea.
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Unfortunately, there is the possibility that this technology could be employed to create super humans. The military would love to have this technology to build an army of super heroes. This is the reason the idea is problematic and involves ethical questions.
I personally believe that this idea will be the ultimate intelligence or IT apocalypse, especially if the concept is weaponized. All I can say is: God help us all!
