Difference between revisions of "Mechadense's Wiki about Atomically Precise Manufacturing"

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'''Atomically precise manufacturing (APM)''' is a prospective '''method of production for material goods''' of all sizes. <br>
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__NOTOC__
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The products of this manufacturing method consist out of atomically precise [[diamondoid molecular elements|parts]]. These constituent parts like e.g. bearings gears springs and housing structures have the smallest possible physical size that allows for their functioning. When assembled the systems they create strikingly resemble conventional factory-equipment that one finds at the meter scale but on the meter scale those new kind of clearly non biological products may well be designed to be smooth elastic and seamless a trait only biological matter illustrates today. In contrast to atomic scale biological systems those artificial atomically precise systems do not rely on [//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownian_motion thermal movement] for their function, instead they operate in the [[machine phase]]. Out of [[diamondoid|various reasons]] diamond and [[diamondoid|diamond like]] substances are good building materials. All of the [[diamondoid molecular elements|parts]] have their surfaces chemically plugged (passivated). Passivated surfaces do not bind to one another (not covalently to be exact). When they are aligned such that their atomic roughness can't intermesh they slide on each other [[superlubrication|wear free and superlubricating]].<br>
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{{PatreonBanner}}
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= The far term target =
  
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With [[exploratory engineering]] it was shown <ref name="nasy">Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation - by K. Eric Drexler</ref> that [[further improvement at technology level III|AP products]] of the [[technology level III|targeted type]] will perform better than most products out of materials known today and due to the decentral (at home / locally) and direct (raw material to product in one step) characteristics of the manufacturing process there is also reason to assume that AP products will be cheap in production. Combined those two properties may lead to drastic changes in human civilization over a short period of time giving us an [[opportunities|opportunity]] to rapidly solve yet untacklable global problems but also presenting us to new kinds of [[dangers]].
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{{Template:Nanofactory introduction}}
  
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The technical details about the [[technology level III|targeted kind of technology]] can be found in the book Nanosystems <ref name="nasy"/>. It contains details about math physics and chemistry behind those machines. Among other things there is explained why quantum uncertainty is not really a problem, why thermal movement is a solvable challenge and why knowledge about natural solution phase chemistry is not directly applicable to chemical synthesis in the machine phase ([[mechanosynthesis]]). <br>
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The existence of a personal fabricator will have profound impact human society on a global scale. <br>
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The basis for such a personal fabricator - the '''atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology''' - is beginning to be figured out today.
  
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== What this site is for?  ==
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= Dodge the trapdoors =
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[[File:Assemblies-gears-srg-iii.gif |300px|thumb|right|Gear-train (cut open). Author: Mark Sims – '''Don't be fooled by the [[stroboscopic illusion in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements]].''' The proposed average operation speeds in [[gem-gum factories]] are quite slow actually. Nowhere near the speed of sound.]]
  
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This is a place to gather information specifically relevant for the attainment of the capability to manufacture goods with [[atomic precision]] and [[technology level III|almost single atomic control]]. <br> '''Please read the guidlines on the [[community portal|community portal]] before contributing.'''  
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First off: Let's get the major obstacles out of the way.
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* '''There are no "nanobots" here!''' <br>Check the info pages "[[Prime distractions]]" and "[[No nanobots]]".
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* '''Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale?!''' (machinery like [[example crystolecules|this]])<br> It's well known, that there are several severe concerns regarding this idea. And for very good reasons.<br> Less known is, that all of those major concerns have been considered in quite some detail with rather surprising results. <br>Check out the main article discussing the concerns here: <br>[[Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale]]
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* '''No, macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale does not behave like jelly.''' <br>It's an arifact of simulations being run hundred thousand times faster than proposed speeds. Reasons for this and more details are on page: [[Misleading aspects in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements]]
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* '''Yes, lifes nanomachinery (molecular biology) does NOT constitute a feasibility proof of the targeted kind of technology.''' <br>But it does not constitute an infeasibility proof either. For details see: "[[Nature does it differently]]". <br>What does provide the very high confidence in feasibility is low level [[exploratory engineering]] applied without compromises. <br>Additionally there are successful experimental demonstrations of manipulation of single atoms. Repeatable, precise, with strong covalent bonds, and at decently high temperatures ("decently high" meaning: no liquid helium involved). Plus there's a clear path how to speed this up to the necessary operations frequencies. Namely by scaling down the placement mechanisms.
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* '''No, making every structure permitted by physical law is NOT the goal here.''' Quite the contrary actually. What we want is to cheat and make it seem as if we could. It's even encoded in the name that this wiki uses to refer to the far term target. Specifically in the "gem" and "gum" parts in "gem-gum-tec". For details check out: "[[The defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]" and "[[Every structure permissible by physical law]]".
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* '''No, using soft nanomachinery to bootstrap stiff nanomachinery is not an abandonment of principles.''' <br>It just might be a more practical approach to get to the target faster. See: "[[Pathways]]".
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* '''No, nanoscale physics and [[quantum mechanics]] is not inherently incomprehensible.''' <br>It is very possible, satisfying, and useful to develop an [[intuitive feel]] for these things.
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* '''No, the in [[Nanosystems]] found to be feasible uber enormous electromechanical power densities of ~1MW/mm³ are not to be taken naively at face value.''' While indeed possible for nanoscale volumes or very brief bursts of big volumes (result of running the numbers), there are nontrivial limits of cooling to consider that effectively limit it to much lower values when running macroscale volumes at steady state. Values still high from today's perspective. For details see page: [[Limits of power density imposed by limits of cooling]]
  
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What we have today is a puzzle of technological fragments. There are fragments of todays technology as well as fragments of future technology. Those fragments of future technology are to a certain degree credible since they are quite well accessible for theoretical investigation. The objective is to find and locate all the ends of the fragments that are located at the beginning of the timeline and to find out what work needs to be done to tie them together with the beginning of the fragments later in the timeline.<br>
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== What APM is not ==
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[[File:The_Inner_Life_of_the_Cell.jpg |300px|thumb|right|Source: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Inner_Life_of_the_Cell Animation video: "The Inner Life of the Cell"] – '''Recreating the molecular machinery of life is NOT the far term goal of atomically precise manufacturing.''' It is one goal of [[synthetic biology]] which goes in a very different direction. The molecular machinery of life though is a valuable resource for (1) [[bootstrapping]] towards [[gem-gum]] systems and (2) learning lower level concepts like e.g. the [[coordination geometries]] in active sites of enzymes).]]
  
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Other closely related topics are also welcome but are not the main objective of this site. E.g.:
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While early APM may have overlap with these areas the far term goals are very different.
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* concise explanations (understandable by average technological interested people but not inaccurate) of the already known facts about [[atomic precision|AP]] technology AP manufacturing and AP products
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* discussion of near and  far [[dangers]] and [[opportunities]].
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'''Note:''' When contributing here please '''avoid''' using the term '''nanotechnology''' and use more precise and specific terms ([[APM related terms|APM related terms]]) instead.<br>[[history|History]] has led to the fact that "nanotechnology" now (2013) almost exclusively links to '''non''' atomically precise technologies.
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* [[Soft nanomachines]]: APM is all about targeting [[stiffness]] / stiff nanomachines / "hard" nanomachines. <br>Nonetheless soft nanomachines can be very useful in the bootstrapping process. <br><small>Note though, that self assembly (useful in bootstrapping) does not essentially rely on a lack of stiffness aka softness. <br>There are experiments with hierarchical self assembly of structural DNA nanotechnology that have clearly demonstrated this <br>{{wikitodo|add reference}}.</small>
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* [[Molecular biology]]: One main far term target in molecular biology is a complete reverse engineering of natures nanomachinery for grand improvements in medicine. This is strongly unrelated to the far term target of APM. A particular example where the interests diverge: The very difficult folding problem for natural proteins versus the relatively simple de-novo-protein-design for artificial nanomachinery.
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* [[Synthetic biology]]: The far term targets of this research is the recreation and expansion of the nanomachinery of life. It goes pretty much 180° in the opposite direction of APM. <br><small>(Not to say that this research is not valuable in its own right. Its far term targets are just maximally unrelated to R&D efforts targeting APM)</small>
  
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== Why do we need APM?  ==
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Main article: "[[Brownian technology path]]"
  
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The [[further improvement at technology level III|prospective products of AP technology]] are a [[opportunities|chance]] to solve the global problems of human civilization and to further enrich our world.
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== What APM actually is ==
  
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It is worrying that nonetheless public interest is declining ([http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=google+public+data#q=molecular%20nanotechnology%2C%20eric%20drexler%2C%20advanced%20nanotechnology%2C%20nano%20robotics%2C%20scanning%20tunneling%20microscopy&cmpt=q number of searches]; [https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/sci.nanotech newsgroup activity]). Also in wide parts of the world APM is as good as unknow.
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APM is basically the capability of manufacturing products such that the atoms they are constituted of link (bind) to each other in "exactly" the way one desires them to. Since "absolute exactness" in other words "making no errors ever" is a fundamental physical impossibility one just aims for extremely low error rates. On the long run error rates comparable to the bit-error-rates one can find in todays digital data processing systems.
  
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The reason for that development could be:
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== Why should the far term target of APM (gemstone metamaterial technology) even work? ==
  
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*The rapid increase of non atomically precise nanotechnology was drawing all attention away. See [[history]].
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Because there is exceptional theoretical and good experimental evidence that it will: <br>
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*A lack of a place where the importance of AP Technology is explained, exciting but not so near motivational examples are given and at the same time grounded technical aspects are shown. (This site here could be that place.)<br>
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For details see: [[Why gemstone metamaterial technology should work in brief]] <br>
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[[Gemstone metamaterial technology]] is the far term target of APM. More on that further down.
  
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== One Proposed Pathway: ==
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For theoretical evidence (including some not covered in [[Nanosystems]]) see:
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* [[Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale]]
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* [[How macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale outperforms its native scale]]
  
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In Appendix II of the book "Radical Abundance" <ref name="RA">Radical Abundance: How a Revolution in Nanotechnology Will Change Civilization - by K. Eric Drexler</ref> it is proposed to go through several levels of technology to reach advanced APM. These layers will serve as a rough guideline for the structuring of this Wiki. <br>
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= APM in the near term and APM in the far term =
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'''[[technology level 0]]''' >> [[technology level I]] >> [[technology level II]] >> '''[[technology level III]]''' >> <br>
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[[further improvement at technology level III]] >> [[most speculative potential applications]] <br>
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The recently developed self assembling structural DNA nanotechnology and similar reliably designable structures might be a good starting point from [[technology level 0]].
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See main article: [[Near term and far term]].
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By introducing robotic (more precisely stereotactic) control one could reach something like a "''block precise robotic technology''"&nbsp;[[technology level I]] from there in a first step.
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In a second step one could change to e.g. Pyrite or Silica [[technology level II]] as building material to increase structural stiffness, reduce vibration amplitudes and get thus more placing accuracy.
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And finally in a third step one could switch from fluid phase to vacuum so that carbon and silicon can be assembled [[technology level III]].
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This very crude temporal outline is by no means the only possible way to go. There may be shortcuts or other paths. <br>
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== The (two) killer features of APM ==
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"APM" is often used for [[technology level III]] exclusively but actually parts of t.level 0 and t.level I & II could in some sense too be counted to be [[atomic precision|atomically precise]].
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Note that the behavior of mobile electrons at the nanoscale is not as easily predictable as the behavior of mechanics at the same scale thus there's less [[exploratory engineering]] for nanoelectronics than nanomechanics.
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'''See main page: [[The killer features of APM]]'''<br>
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Basically two things:
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* [[Digital control over matter]]
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* Emulation of complex (mechanical) properties from simple base materials: <br>[[mechanical metamaterial]]s & [[metamaterial]]s
  
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== External links ==
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== Nearer term targets ==
  
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On this wiki "atomically precise manufacturing" (or APM) will be interpreted in a wider sense. <br>
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Including both earlier precursor systems in the near term and the targeted later systems in the far term. <br>
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Specifically this may include:
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* [[Modular molecular composite nanosystems]] (MMCNs)
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* [[Foldamer printer]]s
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* Technology level: [[Technology level 0|0]], [[Technology level I|I]], (and maybe [[Technology level II|II]])
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* [[Early diamondoid nanosystem pixel (direct path)]]
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== Far term target ==
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[[File:ProductiveNanosystemsMainScreencap.jpg|400px|thumb|right|Screen capture from the concept animation video: "[[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]" showing several proposed processing stages compressed into just one single image. This is conceptual.]]
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[[File:NanofactoryChipTheVision.jpg|400px|thumb|right|From atoms/molecules to products via [[convergent assembly]].]]
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On this wiki the shorthand '''"gem-gum technology"''' (or "gem based APM") will be used to refer to the '''far term target'''.<br>
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=== Development target more concretely ===
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'''The development target are "[[gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories]]".''' <br>
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The associated technology (what they are made out of and what they make) is "[[gemstone metamaterial technology]]". <br>
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=== Visualization of target ===
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The best visualization of the proposed internal workings of a [[gem-gum factory]] in existence so far is<br>
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'''the concept animation video: [[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]'''<br>
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This features concrete example geometries.
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=== Block diagram ===
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Not specifying any concrete geometries a good overview over the necessary innards of a [[gem-gum factory]] can be found here:<br>
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'''[[Block diagram of a gem-gum on-chip factory]]'''
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=== Choice of terminology ===
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<small>''A technically accurate but unwieldy long description of the far term target of APM combining all of the above would be:</small> <br>
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<small>"atomically resolving gemstone based metamaterial manufacturing and technology"''</small>
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Splitting it up gives two still quite precise descriptions of the far term target:
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* "gemstone based atomically precise manufacturing and technology"
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* "gemstone metamaterial technology" <br>
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Shortening these to make much more usable terminology:
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* '''"gem based APM"'''
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* '''"gem-gum-tec"'''
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'''Use one of these!'''
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Why "gem-gum" you ask? See: [[Defining traits of gem-gum-tec]]. In brief:
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* The '''"gem"''' stands stands for gemstone being the base material
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* The '''"gum"''' stands for rubber like flexibility – one of many possible properties that the gemstone base material attains by nano-structuring it into an advanced [[mechanical metamaterial]]. See: [[Elasticity emulation]]
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=== Microcomponent recomposers ===
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[[Microcomponent recomposer]]s also belong to [[gemstone metamaterial technology]]. <br>
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These would be kind of deliberately incomplete [[gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories]]. <br>
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They will only recompose [[microcomponents]] which already have been pre-produced. <br>
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Not produce new ones from primary resources,
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Benefits of microcomponent recomposers are
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* massively increased speed
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* significantly increased energy efficiency, and perhaps
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* some advantages regarding [[Safety towards and with gem based APM|security]].
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=== Scope of "gemstone metamaterial technology" (or "gem-gum-tech" for short) ===
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On this wiki to "[[gemstone metamaterial technology]]" is sometimes referred to with:
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* technology level [[Technology level III|III]] – (gemstones that can only be synthesized in under [[practically perfect vacuum]]) <br>
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* technology level [[Technology level II|II]] – (solution phase synthesizable gemstones) may or may not be included.
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= Safety towards and with gem based APM =
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Now with having established <br>
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– what APM in general is supposed to mean and <br>
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– what far term target gem based APM is supposed to mean and <br>
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– with having presented arguments for it's feasibility (non necessarily meaning it'll be here anytime soon though) <br>
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It's kind of mandatory to talk a bit about safety.
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Safety in a world with AP manufacturing and technology <br>
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is a lot about about [[governance and related software technology]] rather than physical technology. <br>
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There are some physical technology aspects too, yes, but these alone can't suffice.
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Note that:
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* Discussion of runaway replication accidents is massively over-represented. And risk are typically overestimated.
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* Discussion of specialized weaponry is massively under-represented. And risk are typically underestimated.
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* '''Early misdirected overregulation can increase risk rather than mitigating it.'''
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See main page: [[Safety towards and with gem based APM]] <br>
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Related pages: [[Self limitation for safety]], [[dangers]] & [[opportunities]]
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= Take a tour =
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Take a guided tour: <small>(Work in progress. Please excuse the links dangling into construction sites.)</small><br>
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* [[Tour by topic]]
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* [[Tour by map]]
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Or take a shortcut directly from here:
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== What, Why, How, When ==
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{|style="background-color:#ccccff;" cellpadding="5"
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|DEFINITION:
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|'''[[About APM]]'''
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|'''What''' APM is not and what it is.
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|-
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|MOTIVATION:
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|[[Reasons for APM]]
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| '''Why''' we need APM.
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|-
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|OBSTACLES:
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|[[conceptual challenges]] and [[institutional challenges]]
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| '''What''' impedes progress towards APM.
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|-
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|APPROACH:
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|[[Pathways to advanced APM systems|Pathways to advanced APM]]
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|'''How''' we get to advanced APM.
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|-
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|PROGRESSION:
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|[[Time till advanced APM]]
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|'''When''' we will get to advanced APM?
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|}
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----
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Also there are:
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* the '''[[goals of this wiki]]'''
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* this wiki's [[APM:About|impressum]]
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* related 3D printing projects: [[The DAPMAT demo project|educational illustration of various principles]]; [[ReChain project]]; [[RepRec project]]
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Misc:
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* '''[[General Introduction to atomically precise manufacturing|Intro:]]''' Here is an old version of the landing page. Containing a detailed introduction to atomically precise manufacturing as a whole. (warning, lots of text)
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= What needs to be done to make it happen =
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'''See: [[Where to start targeted development]] for some suggestions.'''
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= Exciting super far term visions =
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See: '''[[Exciting super far term visions for gemstone metamaterial technology]]'''
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= Links =
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=== Technical feasibility analysis ===
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There is (after 29 years and counting) still only one focused and aggregated technical feasibility analysis of advanced APM (referring to gemstone metamaterial APM here) available as of the day of writing (2020-11-08).
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This is Eric Drexlers 1991 MIT Dissertation and the book "[[Nanosystems]]" which basically is a cleaned up version of the dissertation.
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* via MIT libraries: [https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/27999]
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* via academia.edu [https://www.academia.edu/7789003/Drexler_MIT_dissertation]
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* via internet archive of the authors former homepage: [https://web.archive.org/web/20160409095424/http://e-drexler.com/d/09/00/Drexler_MIT_dissertation.pdf]
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This analysis is still the most important technical work in this field alone simply because it is still the only one. If the reader is not afraid of a bit more technical reading and want's to get well past a mere superficial understanding then this is a highly suggested read. Note that the topics tackled in the analysis are of timeless nature so the analysis hasn't gone outdated in these past 29 (and counting) years.
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== Webpages ==
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* [http://www.sci-nanotech.com Forum]
 
* [http://www.foresight.org/ Foresight Institute: Nanotechnology]
 
* [http://www.foresight.org/ Foresight Institute: Nanotechnology]
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* [http://www.imm.org/ Institute for Molecular Manufacturing]
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* [http://www.molecularassembler.com/Nanofactory/ Nanofactory Collaboration]
 
* [http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/201310Nano_Solutions.pdf Disquisition 2013 "Nano-solutions for the 21st century: Unleashing the fourth technological revolution"]
 
* [http://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/201310Nano_Solutions.pdf Disquisition 2013 "Nano-solutions for the 21st century: Unleashing the fourth technological revolution"]
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* [http://www.zyvexlabs.com/Publications2010/WhitePapers/APM_Q_and_A.html Zyvex's definition of APM]
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* [[Other sites]]
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·
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== Brief introduction videos ==
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* '''[[Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts]]''' ~ A concept video visualizing the results found in the book [[Nanosystems]]
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* [https://vimeo.com/186020435 Nanotube TV (von Nanotechnology Industries)] (2016-10)
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* [https://youtu.be/lvUFNp-TWbg?t=23m5s Nanotechnology: the big picture with Dr Eric Drexler and Dr Sonia Trigueros] (2016-01-28)
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9RiB_o7Szs&t=903s Transforming the Material Basis of Civilization | Eric Drexler | TEDxISTAlameda] (2015-11-16)
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* Chris Phoenix on Molecular Manufacturing (2014-09?) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tCa0MxtgFI (alternative 2)][http://tsf.njit.edu/2006/spring/phoenix.php (alternative1)] [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eEzD_FVCmk Nanotechnologist (older dead link)]
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG-CQ-ZKh80 Dr Eric Drexler - Remaking the 21st Century] (2014-01-23) '''long! 1h 14min'''
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* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bw6Zi17DBI Video of oxford talk] (2014-01-22): Eric K. Drexler speaks about his new book "[[Radical Abundance]]"
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* [https://vimeo.com/62119582 John Randall: "Atomically Precise Manufacturing" at Foresight Technical Conference 2013] <br> '''[https://vimeo.com/album/2331977 Illuminating Atomic Precision: Foresight Technical Conference January 2013]'''
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* [http://vimeo.com/12768578 Fully Printed] (2010-06) - Note: '''[[Diamondoid]] nanofactories will look and work differently and [[misconceptions#no food|won't produce food]]'''.
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----
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdKyf8fsH6w Ralph Merkle - An introduction to Molecular Nanotechnology] (2009-11)
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* presentation by Phillip Moriarty (2009-09): <br> SENS4 - Molecular Nanotechnology in the Real World: How Feasible is a Nanofactory? <br> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XPE07QIFBM (1/4)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R687ErdGGOU (2/4)] - '''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBrltpO8mXE (3/4)]''' - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3U44vsY28o (4/4)]
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* Nottingham Nanotechnology debate (2005-08-24):<br>[https://vimeo.com/227341986 (recording of the whole debate)]<br> Unfortunately videos got deleted :( <br> [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQxTOqvZ9j8 (1/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8UyvPbyqz0 (2/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCZyc4MfwVQ (3/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVP4fBnirxo (4/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn1i7R-0kzQ (5/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uITrLJeiZg (6/7)] - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWWzgiqMfNs (7/7)] -- repaired links [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x31uo9s (7/7)]
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----
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbWwN93YyE BBC Horizon Nanoutopia (1995)][http://www.disclose.tv/action/viewvideo/154610/BBC_Horizon__Nanoutopia_1995/  (broken link#2)] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaSgP_KyZiY (older broken link)] - Note: '''The term "nanotechnology" turned out to be to unspecific and the assembler concept is now superseded by the nanofactory concept.''' The complexity of a nanofactory will be akin to modern day computer chips.
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----
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* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eRCygdW--c#t=13 Richard Feynman Nanotechnology Lecture - Tiny Machines] (1984-10-25)
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·
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== Related ==
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* [[Gem-gum on-chip factories]]
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* [[Gemstone metamaterial technology]]
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* [[Terminology]], [[APM related terms]]
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·
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== Wikipedia pages ==
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomically_precise_manufacturing Atomically precise manufacturing]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Productive_nanosystems Productive nanosystems]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_nanotechnology Molecular nanotechnology]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molecular_assembler#Nanofactories Molecular assembler -> Nanofactories]
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* [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanosynthesis#Diamond_mechanosynthesis Mechanosynthesis -> Diamond mechanosynthesis]
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·
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== Locally hosted files ==
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*  <span style="color:#FF0000">'''Slides from [//cfp.linuxwochen.at/de/LWW14/public/events/115 the talk] the [[APM:About|apm-wiki site admin]] gave at the austrian "linuxwochen" event: [http://apm.bplaced.net/public/APM-Talk-12-2slidesproseite_de.pdf slides-pdf-file]'''</span>
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[[Category:Contents]]
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[[Category:General]]

Latest revision as of 11:53, 15 September 2024

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The far term target

A personal desktop gem-gum factory fabblet with dynamically deployed protective hood.

The personal gem gum factory is:

  • Your personal device that can push out virtually every thing* of your daily use.
    (* at least every inedible thing)

The personal gem gum factory makes:

  • Your products that are as cheap as the abundant mining-free raw materials that it processes.
  • Your products that are far superior to today's best and ridiculously expensive high tech products.
  • Your products potentially in an environmentally friendly effluent free way
    (also advanced recycling is faster than producing from scratch)
Graphical Infosheets: [1] (work in progress)

The existence of a personal fabricator will have profound impact human society on a global scale.
The basis for such a personal fabricator - the atomically precise manufacturing (APM) technology - is beginning to be figured out today.

Dodge the trapdoors

Gear-train (cut open). Author: Mark Sims – Don't be fooled by the stroboscopic illusion in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements. The proposed average operation speeds in gem-gum factories are quite slow actually. Nowhere near the speed of sound.

First off: Let's get the major obstacles out of the way.

  • There are no "nanobots" here!
    Check the info pages "Prime distractions" and "No nanobots".
  • Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale?! (machinery like this)
    It's well known, that there are several severe concerns regarding this idea. And for very good reasons.
    Less known is, that all of those major concerns have been considered in quite some detail with rather surprising results.
    Check out the main article discussing the concerns here:
    Macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale
  • No, macroscale style machinery at the nanoscale does not behave like jelly.
    It's an arifact of simulations being run hundred thousand times faster than proposed speeds. Reasons for this and more details are on page: Misleading aspects in animations of diamondoid molecular machine elements
  • Yes, lifes nanomachinery (molecular biology) does NOT constitute a feasibility proof of the targeted kind of technology.
    But it does not constitute an infeasibility proof either. For details see: "Nature does it differently".
    What does provide the very high confidence in feasibility is low level exploratory engineering applied without compromises.
    Additionally there are successful experimental demonstrations of manipulation of single atoms. Repeatable, precise, with strong covalent bonds, and at decently high temperatures ("decently high" meaning: no liquid helium involved). Plus there's a clear path how to speed this up to the necessary operations frequencies. Namely by scaling down the placement mechanisms.
  • No, making every structure permitted by physical law is NOT the goal here. Quite the contrary actually. What we want is to cheat and make it seem as if we could. It's even encoded in the name that this wiki uses to refer to the far term target. Specifically in the "gem" and "gum" parts in "gem-gum-tec". For details check out: "The defining traits of gem-gum-tec" and "Every structure permissible by physical law".
  • No, using soft nanomachinery to bootstrap stiff nanomachinery is not an abandonment of principles.
    It just might be a more practical approach to get to the target faster. See: "Pathways".
  • No, nanoscale physics and quantum mechanics is not inherently incomprehensible.
    It is very possible, satisfying, and useful to develop an intuitive feel for these things.
  • No, the in Nanosystems found to be feasible uber enormous electromechanical power densities of ~1MW/mm³ are not to be taken naively at face value. While indeed possible for nanoscale volumes or very brief bursts of big volumes (result of running the numbers), there are nontrivial limits of cooling to consider that effectively limit it to much lower values when running macroscale volumes at steady state. Values still high from today's perspective. For details see page: Limits of power density imposed by limits of cooling

What APM is not

Source: Animation video: "The Inner Life of the Cell" – Recreating the molecular machinery of life is NOT the far term goal of atomically precise manufacturing. It is one goal of synthetic biology which goes in a very different direction. The molecular machinery of life though is a valuable resource for (1) bootstrapping towards gem-gum systems and (2) learning lower level concepts like e.g. the coordination geometries in active sites of enzymes).

While early APM may have overlap with these areas the far term goals are very different.

  • Soft nanomachines: APM is all about targeting stiffness / stiff nanomachines / "hard" nanomachines.
    Nonetheless soft nanomachines can be very useful in the bootstrapping process.
    Note though, that self assembly (useful in bootstrapping) does not essentially rely on a lack of stiffness aka softness.
    There are experiments with hierarchical self assembly of structural DNA nanotechnology that have clearly demonstrated this
    (wiki-TODO: add reference).
  • Molecular biology: One main far term target in molecular biology is a complete reverse engineering of natures nanomachinery for grand improvements in medicine. This is strongly unrelated to the far term target of APM. A particular example where the interests diverge: The very difficult folding problem for natural proteins versus the relatively simple de-novo-protein-design for artificial nanomachinery.
  • Synthetic biology: The far term targets of this research is the recreation and expansion of the nanomachinery of life. It goes pretty much 180° in the opposite direction of APM.
    (Not to say that this research is not valuable in its own right. Its far term targets are just maximally unrelated to R&D efforts targeting APM)

Main article: "Brownian technology path"

What APM actually is

APM is basically the capability of manufacturing products such that the atoms they are constituted of link (bind) to each other in "exactly" the way one desires them to. Since "absolute exactness" in other words "making no errors ever" is a fundamental physical impossibility one just aims for extremely low error rates. On the long run error rates comparable to the bit-error-rates one can find in todays digital data processing systems.

Why should the far term target of APM (gemstone metamaterial technology) even work?

Because there is exceptional theoretical and good experimental evidence that it will:
For details see: Why gemstone metamaterial technology should work in brief
Gemstone metamaterial technology is the far term target of APM. More on that further down.

For theoretical evidence (including some not covered in Nanosystems) see:

APM in the near term and APM in the far term

See main article: Near term and far term.

The (two) killer features of APM

See main page: The killer features of APM
Basically two things:

Nearer term targets

On this wiki "atomically precise manufacturing" (or APM) will be interpreted in a wider sense.
Including both earlier precursor systems in the near term and the targeted later systems in the far term.
Specifically this may include:

Far term target

Screen capture from the concept animation video: "Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts" showing several proposed processing stages compressed into just one single image. This is conceptual.
From atoms/molecules to products via convergent assembly.

On this wiki the shorthand "gem-gum technology" (or "gem based APM") will be used to refer to the far term target.

Development target more concretely

The development target are "gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories".
The associated technology (what they are made out of and what they make) is "gemstone metamaterial technology".

Visualization of target

The best visualization of the proposed internal workings of a gem-gum factory in existence so far is
the concept animation video: Productive Nanosystems From molecules to superproducts
This features concrete example geometries.

Block diagram

Not specifying any concrete geometries a good overview over the necessary innards of a gem-gum factory can be found here:
Block diagram of a gem-gum on-chip factory

Choice of terminology

A technically accurate but unwieldy long description of the far term target of APM combining all of the above would be:
"atomically resolving gemstone based metamaterial manufacturing and technology"

Splitting it up gives two still quite precise descriptions of the far term target:

  • "gemstone based atomically precise manufacturing and technology"
  • "gemstone metamaterial technology"

Shortening these to make much more usable terminology:

  • "gem based APM"
  • "gem-gum-tec"

Use one of these!

Why "gem-gum" you ask? See: Defining traits of gem-gum-tec. In brief:

  • The "gem" stands stands for gemstone being the base material
  • The "gum" stands for rubber like flexibility – one of many possible properties that the gemstone base material attains by nano-structuring it into an advanced mechanical metamaterial. See: Elasticity emulation

Microcomponent recomposers

Microcomponent recomposers also belong to gemstone metamaterial technology.
These would be kind of deliberately incomplete gemstone metamaterial on-chip factories.
They will only recompose microcomponents which already have been pre-produced.
Not produce new ones from primary resources,

Benefits of microcomponent recomposers are

  • massively increased speed
  • significantly increased energy efficiency, and perhaps
  • some advantages regarding security.

Scope of "gemstone metamaterial technology" (or "gem-gum-tech" for short)

On this wiki to "gemstone metamaterial technology" is sometimes referred to with:

  • technology level III – (gemstones that can only be synthesized in under practically perfect vacuum)
  • technology level II – (solution phase synthesizable gemstones) may or may not be included.

Safety towards and with gem based APM

Now with having established
– what APM in general is supposed to mean and
– what far term target gem based APM is supposed to mean and
– with having presented arguments for it's feasibility (non necessarily meaning it'll be here anytime soon though)
It's kind of mandatory to talk a bit about safety.

Safety in a world with AP manufacturing and technology
is a lot about about governance and related software technology rather than physical technology.
There are some physical technology aspects too, yes, but these alone can't suffice.

Note that:

  • Discussion of runaway replication accidents is massively over-represented. And risk are typically overestimated.
  • Discussion of specialized weaponry is massively under-represented. And risk are typically underestimated.
  • Early misdirected overregulation can increase risk rather than mitigating it.

See main page: Safety towards and with gem based APM
Related pages: Self limitation for safety, dangers & opportunities

Take a tour

Take a guided tour: (Work in progress. Please excuse the links dangling into construction sites.)

Or take a shortcut directly from here:

What, Why, How, When

DEFINITION: About APM What APM is not and what it is.
MOTIVATION: Reasons for APM Why we need APM.
OBSTACLES: conceptual challenges and institutional challenges What impedes progress towards APM.
APPROACH: Pathways to advanced APM How we get to advanced APM.
PROGRESSION: Time till advanced APM When we will get to advanced APM?

Also there are:

Misc:

  • Intro: Here is an old version of the landing page. Containing a detailed introduction to atomically precise manufacturing as a whole. (warning, lots of text)

What needs to be done to make it happen

See: Where to start targeted development for some suggestions.

Exciting super far term visions

See: Exciting super far term visions for gemstone metamaterial technology

Links

Technical feasibility analysis

There is (after 29 years and counting) still only one focused and aggregated technical feasibility analysis of advanced APM (referring to gemstone metamaterial APM here) available as of the day of writing (2020-11-08). This is Eric Drexlers 1991 MIT Dissertation and the book "Nanosystems" which basically is a cleaned up version of the dissertation.

  • via MIT libraries: [2]
  • via academia.edu [3]
  • via internet archive of the authors former homepage: [4]

This analysis is still the most important technical work in this field alone simply because it is still the only one. If the reader is not afraid of a bit more technical reading and want's to get well past a mere superficial understanding then this is a highly suggested read. Note that the topics tackled in the analysis are of timeless nature so the analysis hasn't gone outdated in these past 29 (and counting) years.

Webpages

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Brief introduction videos

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Related

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Wikipedia pages

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Locally hosted files

Other languages (ATM just an old minimal into in German)

Language: en | Sprache: de
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