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On 26/12/2017 17:44, Kenneth wrote:
> Stephen <mca### [at] aol com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Worry not. Help is on hand.
>>
>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09jvfc4
>>
>
> Fascinating, as James Burke always is. Thanks for the link.
>
> So a human hair is 80,000 nanometers wide, and a nanometer is about the width of
> three atoms. So Hair_Width = 240,000 atoms. I thought atoms were MUCH smaller!
> Like, billions and billions of atoms in the width of a hair. Who knew??! :-P
>
Not I. for one.
> His discussion of the 'personal nano-scale fabricator' is exciting, but rather
> utopian; the 'unknown factor' is how the companies that will make such things
> are going to make MONEY off of them-- and what ramifications that will lead to.
A nest of SF stories have been written on that subject. :-)
> (In this context, I'm thinking about current pharmaceutical companies and their
> patents and high consumer prices, as an example of what might happen in our
> capitalistic world.) If the machines can make *anything* out of atoms...where's
> the profit?! :-P Will the machines be priced at $1 millon or more (to make up
> for lost future profits?) Or will we be paying 'royalties' the the machine
> manufacturers for eveything we make? Will ATOMS be for sale?! As we make more
> and more 'stuff', will atoms themselves become a dwindling resource???
>
And the energy to drive the processes?
It would be the End of Capitalism As We Know it.
> There's going to be a shortage of atoms, OMG!!
>
>
A very serious situation that ingenuity will resolve. ;-)
--
Regards
Stephen
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