Transcript presentation

Programmable Matter
Questions

Programmable Matter (PM): What is it, and
what does that have to do with
nanotechnology?
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What are some real examples?
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What are some proposed examples?
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Why should I care?
Definition
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Programmable Matter: A smart material which
has some physical properties adjustable in a
programmable fashion; material with inherent
memory or processing.
What it isn't
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water
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movie screen
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changing states in response to temperature
isn't programmable.
appears to have adjustable optical properties
based on optical inputs, but it's just reflecting.
quartz
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really does have electrically adjustable shape,
but no memory or processing.
Is this Nanotech?
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First define nanotech
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Weak definition: nanoscale features. (<100nm)
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"made of molecules" isn't enough to qualify!
chemistry, surface physics, thin films, ultrafine
powders, advanced microscopy
Original definition: "we can arrange the atoms
the way we want; the very atoms, all the way
down!"

Feynman
Hall's Stages of Nanotech
I merely nanoscale features and microscopy.
II bottom-up self assembly. (in labs today)
III nanoscale assemblers using expensive
precursor molecules. (like ribosomes/amino
acids)
IV assemblers make the precursor molecules from
common molecules. (much cheaper)
V general capability; the very atoms, all the way
down!
Shape Memory Materials
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Shapes are programmable; Has inherent
memory.
examples
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Nitinol
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Polymers
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engine
thermal
optical
electric
Nanotechnology
Programmable
Materials
Electronic Visual Displays
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Active (emitters)
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cathodoluminescence
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CRT, FED, VFD,
SED
Passive (modulators)
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LCD
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E-ink
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electroluminescence
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Electrophoresis
Electrowetting
EL, LED, OLED,
GDD
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Electrochromism
photoluminescence
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Mechanical
modulation
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PDP
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DMD, IMOD
Artificial Atoms
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bypass the island of stability
new branch of chemistry
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2d periodic table for flat atoms
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ideal example
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clearly programmable matter
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clearly nanotech
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in labs today!
Stable natural elements are
limited to 92 electron
states.
Artificial atoms can have
hundreds, even thousands,
making today's periodic
table look puny.
--Wil McCarthy,
Ultimate Alchemy
Clarke's Laws
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When a distinguished but elderly scientist states
that something is possible, he is almost
certainly right; when he states that something is
impossible, he is probably wrong.
The only way of discovering the limits of the
possible is to venture a little way past them into
the impossible.
Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic.
The Drexler/Smalley Debate
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Are assemblers
possible? mechanosynthesis
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strawman
parallelism
Self-replication
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broadcast
debate
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no water
required
Miss the target
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Not in a million years!
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Smalley’s dilemma
Fat and sticky fingers
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diamondoid
You're scaring our
children!
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And you're lying
to them!
Phased-array Optics (PAO)
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Phased array radar exists today.
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so no doubt this works in principle.
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PAO is scaled down for visible wavelengths.
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Applications
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Realistic animated holograms
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Ultra-high bandwidth communications
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Super-accurate laser weapons
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fusion power
Quantum Wellstone Fiber
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A proposed application of artificial atoms.
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stud nanofibers with these wells, so the
artificial atoms can better interact.
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stage II nanotech, minimum.
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fibers have high surface area ratio.
colloidal dots could self-attach
full dimension tuning (size, shape, number)
takes addressable elements, probably stage III.
Bonds are weak, so mechanical properties are
probably uninteresting
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optical, magnetic, and electrical properties are
another story.
Claytronics
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Solid-state "catoms"
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3D catom simulation
prototypes are in labs today, but are either
bulky or only 2-dimentional.
Discovery feature
high resolution (small) catoms will be nanotech.
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crude 3-D claytronics are expected within the
decade, but will improve quickly due to
miniaturization trends (Moore's Law).
Utility Fog
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Similar function to claytronics, but far more
powerful
Foglets have are more complex than catoms
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stage IV. Maybe 20 years away.
Blurs the line separating virtual reality from
reality.
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a fog-avatar isn't a real person
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but a fog-chair really is a chair...
Applications and Implications
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nanoforge: the ultimate PM
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if assemblers are possible, they are inevitable.
you're scaring our children!
"You [Drexler]
and people around
you have scared
our children."
--Richard E.
Smalley
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stage IV+ nanotech is more dangerous than
nuclear weapons.
ninja fleas, case in point. Gray goo is not even
required.
and you're lying to them!
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allegory of the B-29
"The resulting abilities
will be so powerful that,
in a competitive world,
failure to develop molecular
manufacturing would be
equivalent to unilateral
disarmament."
--K. Eric Drexler