17 replies to this topic

[RighteousReason]

Watch this video about a desktop general manufacturing device.

Damn... imagine if we had an enormous macroscale facility of these things. Like a kilometer long factory optimized down to the atomic level throughout.

Just one of these desktop manufacturers can produce a nanocomputer with approximately equivalent computer power to that of the human brain (in what appears to be a fairly short time frame and minimal resources).

[RighteousReason]

From e-drexler.com

Early-generation productive nanosystems

Biology provides an existence proof for productive nanosystems, showing that they can produce an enormous tonnage of atomically precise products cleanly and at low cost. Early generation productive nanosystems, enabled by current research in nanotechnologies and the molecular sciences, may follow the biological model, building small machines from self-assembled polymeric components. Design and analysis, however, show that longer-term capabilities can grow far beyond this biological model. The history of technology revolves around the use of tools to build better tools; early-generation productive nanosystems will open the door to advanced systems.

[Mind]

Looks so simple in the video. lol. A lot of work yet to do.

[Live Forever]

I want one.

[caston]

What's going to happen to capitalism?

[vortexentity]

I think the question is; what is going to happed to any industry that does not adopt this technology?

[caston]

Could this device manufacture food?

Could it produce ethanol and hydrocarbons?

Edited by caston, 14 July 2006 - 03:53 PM.

[RighteousReason]

Could this device manufacture food?

Could it produce ethanol and hydrocarbons?

A general manufacturing device could theoretically produce ... well to my knowledge pretty much anything. It's basically a system that constructs macroscale objects from the atoms up. And of course, nanocomputers are a self-accelerating technology (think about it... better computers help scientist produce useful results and perform simulations/experiments more quickly, to produce better nanocomputers, which is why I'm inclined to think Moore's Law will be totally be blown out of the water with the first paradigm of circuit construction using nanotech).

The difference from an early nanocomputer and a mature stage of nanomachinery is probably going to be quite a short time period. You might also want to check out Eric Drexler's presentation info. from the Singularity Summit at Stanford last May.

Obviously, in this capacity, artificial intelligence systems such as neural networks will develop some really immense abilities, whether harnessed for general intelligence or not (at some point though, it's inevitable that our exploding computer power will be harnessed for direct general intelligent processesing at some point (i.e. Singularity)).

Exactly how direct general intelligent processesing merges with the accelerating computing industry is basically the most important issue humanity has ever faced, and it is quite obvious that virtually everyone is totally unaware/unprepared and in grave danger.

[caston]

I do think AGI or certain types of AI are important for controlling nanobots but we should also consider swarm. http://en.wikipedia....rm_intelligence

Now what about physics and thermodynamics?

Would this box basically be a very efficent (or not so) way of using thorium to power the manufacture petrol?

[RighteousReason]

I do think AGI or certain types of AI are important for controlling nanobots but we should also consider swarm.

Honestly, swarm intelligence is just one tiny subset of AI technology (and "controlling nanobots" is only one tiny subset of the applications of AI technology) that can be made dramatically more useful with enormous computer power. See note at bottom.

Now what about physics and thermodynamics?

What about it? Physics modelling software is bound by computer power. The more power you have, the more useful your models, the better foundational reasearch/development capabilities you have to improve computer power (and all the infinite other applications of complex modelling software).

Would this box basically be a very efficent (or not so) way of using thorium to power the manufacture petrol?

I don't know the chemistry of this process, and I don't know why you pick this single application to ask about out of the infinite possibility offered by atomically precise manufacturing.

It seems like you only have a very narrow view about the vast fields of AI and molecular manufacturing in general, and by brushing off AGI and instead hilighting "swarm intelligence" is indicative of a massive misunderstanding of what I mean when I say "AGI"...

I suggest you hit up Google, at least.

[caston]

I suggest it because I'm starting to come of the view that there might be extremely pressing issues facing society that investing solutions for them could accelerate technologies that could have a dual use of helping us reach immortality.

[bgwowk]

caston asked:

What's going to happen to capitalism?

Economics and money will remain as long as there are tradeable commodities. Tradeable commodities that will always be valued are energy, raw materials, real estate, and information.

Roman soldiers used to be paid with salt. Perhaps they too would have naively thought that money would disappear if salt became sufficiently cheap. Exactly what future economies will trade, and the massive scales they will trade it in, we can barely imagine today. But trade they will.

[caston]

Would it be defeating the purpose* of nanotech to start using it to churn out more cheap oil? especially considering what the world economy would do with it if given the chance.

* ie creating hightech and efficient means of transport using non-poluteing fuels

Edited by caston, 16 July 2006 - 11:19 AM.

[bgwowk]

Would it be defeating the purpose* of nanotech to start using it to churn out more cheap oil? especially considering what the world economy would do with it if given the chance.

You don't need nanotechnology to make oil. You can do that with ordinary organic chemistry. The same goes for food, ethanol, hydrogen, etc. The problem is energy. What makes oil valuable is its energy content. If you had mature nanotechnology tomorrow, you would still have the problem of what kind of power plants to build to make the energy to feed into your assemblers to make all those wonderful products.

[caston]

Which is why a lot of people are touting nuclear fuels as the key to our energy future.

[lunarsolarpower]

Then there's the idea in my username

[RighteousReason]

If you had mature nanotechnology tomorrow, you would still have the problem of what kind of power plants to build to make the energy to feed into your assemblers to make all those wonderful products.

Uh.. WHY?

That's crazy. Nanotechnology is actively revolutionizing solar power, just to think of something off the top of my head. The desktop assembler theroetically runs from the wall outlet. What happens when all the computers are dramatically more powerful than the one's of today, and dramatically more energy efficient? Nuclear energy is an obvious solution, too. It can be done.

[Live Forever]

Looks like the video finally made it to the front page of digg:
http://www.digg.com/...otech_Assembler