Three routes to the manufacture of nanomachines:

1. Build proteins

2. Use the STM

3. Use chemistry

…and buckminsterfullerine

Interesting properties of buckytubes:

As thermally conductive as diamond

As electrically conductive as copper

100 times stronger than steel, 10 timesstronger than carbon fibre.

Hydrogen storage, bulletproof vests, nanomachines, and the Space Elevator…

The Space ElevatorThe Space Elevator

A flock of Craig Reynolds’sboids encounters a clusterof pillars.

Marco Dorigo at the Free University in Brusselshas solved network problems using coloniesof artificial ants.

`Magnetic’ termite mounds, Australia

Genetic algorithms permit adaptivebehaviour to emerge from simple rules.

Conclusion

Dramatic changes are possible

But some hard problems must besolved first, especially in flock

intelligence.