

Claytronics or Gershenfeld: Why You’ll Be Able to Make Almost Anything - kkleiner
http://singularityhub.com/2009/07/23/claytronics-or-gershenfeld-why-youll-be-able-to-make-almost-anything/

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replicatorblog
This is a mindblowing concept, truly something that would change the world if
it could be made cost effectively (and trained not to become a T1000). I am
curious the predicted development time frame. They talk about sub-mm
resolution, but that is terrible. 3D printers have much higher resolution now,
and are constantly criticized for their rough finishes. That said, the ability
to program and interact with matter is fantastic and there would certainly be
useful applications where surface finish isn't a paramount concern, but that
car modeling demo seems to be a distant prediction.

The demo is really exciting and is a vision of tech that would be as
transformative or more than the internet.

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sili
This would be a change in line with the printing press, industrial revolution,
and the Internet; if not bigger. Question is how can those particles be made
in such massive amounts and at low enough price.

The article also touches on another interesting point: that given access to
appropriate tools, people can solve a lot of their problems. I personally know
how frustrating it is to get an idea and not being able to try it out just
because I have no means. Maybe providing such $20k shops to poor regions can
have as much impact as providing schools and education.

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zmimon
> Question is how can those particles be made in such massive amounts and at
> low enough price.

I'm more worried about how we stop them once they are successfully programmed
to self-replicate. I actually think that 'Gray Goo' is a far more likely
scenario for the demise of mankind than it is given credit for:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grey_goo>

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Gormo
I think the best argument against a "grey goo" apocalypse is that it hasn't
happened yet, despite the fact that the earth is already full of self-
replicating nano-machines.

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biohacker42
Or it HAS happened and WE are the goo! Seriously, there's more bacteria in the
human body then human cells. And it's not like the world is short on self
replicating nano-machines outside of our bodies. There's self replicating goo
_everywhere_!

------
mhb
Engines of Creation:
<http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/EOC/EOC_Table_of_Contents.html>

Nanosystems: <http://e-drexler.com/d/06/00/Nanosystems/toc.html>

