8,347
edits
Nanomachines: Difference between revisions
from the last orain.org version
m (clean up) |
(from the last orain.org version) |
||
Line 5:
In Latin, ''nanus'' means "dwarf". In science, the prefix ''nano-'' means "one billionth" of something. Nanotechnology is technology on a scale of 1-100 nanometers (1 nanometer being one billionth of a meter.)
For a long scale of sizes see e.g. [http://www.falstad.com/scale/ here]. But of what's relevant to nanoscale construction - a hydrogen atom is about <ref>on this scale things don't ''look'' blurry, they ''actually are'' quite blurry</ref> 0.1 nanometers across, ribosomes <ref>the part of a cell that builds proteins to received arbitrary data</ref> are around 20 (prokaryotic) to almost 30 (eukaryotic) nm long; [http://classes.midlandstech.edu/carterp/courses/bio225/chap04/lecture2.htm bacteria] are in range of 200-2000 nm; visible light has a wavelength of 400-800 nm, a human cell nucleus is about 1700 <ref>it holds [http://bitesizebio.com/8378/how-much-information-is-stored-in-the-human-genome/ about 1.5 Gb]] worth of raw data - but note that it's ''the whole'' storage unit (though there's also another vital, but self-contained unit - in mitochondria), and in a form optimized for several uses and, shall we say, viable level of resilience, not for sheer density</ref>, and a human hair is about 100,000 nm wide. Which gives a good idea of limitations and complexity involved - and raises a question of at which point you have a nanorobot if you start with "cyborgizing" some bacteria.
Nanotechnology has become an all-purpose [[A Wizard Did It|magic]] substitute for soft science fiction and sci-fi-flavored fantasy. Nano is the latest [[Sci Fi Name Buzzwords]]; it is the new pseudo-Greek for [[Phlebotinum Du Jour|phlebotinum]]. Nanotech supplies a myriad of exciting powers with a satisfying patina of plausibility.
In an apparent contradiction, nanotechnology leads to interesting plots and settings in [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness|hard science fiction.]] If one could make a tiny robot
Once you have a vast mass of these robots, all ready to accept orders and shuffle stuff around at the molecular level, they can potentially do anything nature does and much, much more. Real-life nanomachine research is being done in areas such as medicine, manufacturing, and chemical engineering.
Line 28 ⟶ 30:
* The Otome from ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' receive their powers via nanomachine injections; they self-destruct when the female body's [[Virgin Power|exposed to semen.]]
* The series ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'' bases a lot of technology on "Nano-mist"—a fog made up of trillions of nano-scale machines, which can achieve amazing effects—from keeping a 64 thousand kilometer long starship from collapsing under its own mass, to creating a barrier, to repairing damage, to [[terraform]]ing a planet. Also known as [[wikipedia:Utility fog|utility fog]].
** ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'' kicks [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] in the teeth throughout the series, and explains ''everything'' by [[Hand Wave|handwaving]] some nonsense about nanomachines. While changing clothes in seconds or maybe even the "make a whip out of lipstick" trick are somewhat old hat, one pair of characters ''[[You Fail Physics Forever|has the nanomachine-induced physics-warping superpower]] [[Gravity Sucks|of manipulating black holes with their bare hands]]''.▼
** It was however suggested in-story (and confirmed in the sequel) that this is malarkey even inside the story; the ES members' abilities are not nanomachine-powered, but in fact seem to be actual (possibly Clarkian) magic.▼
▲''[[Kiddy Grade]]'' kicks [[Willing Suspension of Disbelief]] in the teeth throughout the series, and explains ''everything'' by [[Hand Wave|handwaving]] some nonsense about nanomachines. While changing clothes in seconds or maybe even the "make a whip out of lipstick" trick are somewhat old hat, one pair of characters ''[[You Fail Physics Forever|has the nanomachine-induced physics-warping superpower]] [[Gravity Sucks|of manipulating black holes with their bare hands]]''.
▲It was however suggested in-story (and confirmed in the sequel) that this is malarkey even inside the story; the ES members' abilities are not nanomachine-powered, but in fact seem to be actual (possibly Clarkian) magic.
* In ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' exposure to terraforming nanomachines had an interesting effect on humans born on Mars. "Image Feedback System" Nanomachines were also used to interface with various machinery. On Mars, IFS nanomachines were required for pretty much any heavy equipment, but on Earth they served only as the [[Unusual User Interface]] for [[Humongous Mecha]] and other military vehicles. This led to Martian civilian Akito getting a lot of flak from [[The So-Called Coward|Earth-natives who assumed he was a military deserter]], and eventually getting [[The Call Knows Where You Live|press-ganged]] into piloting.
* ''[[Getter Robo]]'' [[Hand Wave|hand waves]] its [[Transforming Mecha]] in the Armageddon OVA by attributing the transformations to nanomachines.
Line 46:
* In ''[[Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex]]'', nanomachines are widely used. In the first season, one of the potential treatments for cyberbrain sclerosis is based on nanomachines (although it isn't very effective). One episode also mentions that nanomachines are used to counteract air pollution. ''2nd GIG'' introduces the "Japanese Miracle"; a nanomachine-based technology for neutralising radioactive fallout from nuclear explosions.
** Though, being written before "nano" became a popular buzzword they're called ''micro'' -machines.
*** If it collects substances that inevitably and spontaneously explode into fragments far too energetic to contain on its scale, it ''needs'' massive redundancy.
* Viluy from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' attacks with nanomachines. {{spoiler|After one of Sailor Moon's attacks causes them to malfunction, they turn on their creator.}}
* Yami from ''[[To Love Ru]]'' apparently gets her powers from nanomachines.
Line 102 ⟶ 103:
* In the second of the ''[[Thursday Next]]'' series of novels by Jasper Fforde, Thursday's inventing uncle Mycroft invents some nanomachines. Her time-traveling [[Time Police|Chronoguard]] rogue father who does not exist in real time (that's a mouthful) eventually {{spoiler|has to time travel to the beginning of life on Earth with the nanomachine colony (instructed to convert all organic material into Dream Topping) in his fist, to prevent the world ending in a sugary, confectionery manner. Turns out we are all evolved from Dream Topping. Which actually explains a lot}}.
* The epilogue of ''Look To Windward'' by [[Iain M Banks]] features an artificial shape-shifting assassin composed of "E-Dust" (Everything-Dust), originally intended as a building material but inevitably turned to darker purposes. ''[[The Culture]]'' in general seem to have progressed beyond nanotech, referring to 'picofoam' as the building blocks of their AI Minds.
** "Picofoam complex" is the ''backup'' computational substrate for a mere ship drone's AI core, as described in ''[[The Culture/Excession|Excession]]''. Most of [[Deus Est Machina|a true Culture Mind]] actually exists in hyperspace, where it may function unburdened by pesky nuisances like the speed of light and neutron decay.▼
▲"Picofoam complex" is the ''backup'' computational substrate for a mere ship drone's AI core, as described in ''[[The Culture/Excession|Excession]]''. Most of [[Deus Est Machina|a true Culture Mind]] actually exists in hyperspace, where it may function unburdened by pesky nuisances like the speed of light and neutron decay.
* The anti-Descolada virus designed by the heroes in the ''[[Ender's Game]]'' sequels. Ironically, {{spoiler|the original Descolada virus counts too, as it was engineered by an unknown alien race as a terraforming agent}}.
* The plot of the ''Moonrise'' and ''Moonwar'' by Ben Bova revolve around nanomachines. A subversion occurs when one character proposes making nanomachines that act like dust, to blind the invading army, and another character suggests just using dust instead.
Line 180:
* While ''[[Warcraft|Warcraft III]]'' doesn't actually use them in the story, a custom map called S.W.A.T. Aftermath calls the [[Mana]] resource 'energy' instead and the creator refers to the 'Nanites' in it as being able to do pretty much anything. A fan comic parodies it by having the creator call the Nanites concept 'magic', which is ill-received by the scientific community. After renaming it Nanites, he's considered a genius. As a note, the map's creator has said [[A Wizard Did It|"Nanites did it"]] when some of the community begin to over analyze how certain technologies work.
* ''[[Total Annihilation]]'' used nanobots (via "Nanolathes") for construction. One of the creators explained it thus: "It would have been too complex and time consuming to have little guys with hammers and scaffolds every time something was built in the game. It also wasn't futuristic enough. We needed something like magic, but with a thin veneer of science around it. Nanotechnology to the rescue!"
** Ironically, this has turned out to be a fairly reasonable use of nanotech. Now imagine a game of total annihilation that drags out for months, and apply to the real world. ''[[Total Annihilation]]'s'' [[Spiritual Successor]], ''[[Supreme Commander]]'', uses Nanolathes as well, but calls them "Protocrafters" and gives each faction's unique graphics.▼
▲Ironically, this has turned out to be a fairly reasonable use of nanotech. Now imagine a game of total annihilation that drags out for months, and apply to the real world. ''[[Total Annihilation]]'s'' [[Spiritual Successor]], ''[[Supreme Commander]]'', uses Nanolathes as well, but calls them "Protocrafters" and gives each faction's unique graphics.
** ''Total Annihilation'' used nano''technology'' but not nano''machines''. The two are very different! ''Nanolathing'' is the process by which solid objects are created by fabrication systems, eg Commanders, Factories and Engineers. Things must be actively constructed by a fabricator; they cannot self-assemble. Once built, non-fabricating units and buildings cannot replicate or regenerate: they're just perfectly normal (albeit very high-tech) machines. A select few buildings can upgrade, but most buildings and units cannot and no unit can change itself dramatically. A nanolathe could be visualised as a very fast, very powerful, multi-material 3d-printer with molecular-scale resolution.
*** It takes over enemy robots, however.
* The plotline of the video game ''[[Hostile Waters]]: Antaeus Rising'', by [[Warren Ellis]], is based on nanotechnology. In the year 2012, nanotech "Creation Engines" were developed and released to the world at large. Able to dispense anything a person could want, at any time - on demand - they cause [[The Singularity|"the world to go sane"]]; Revolution happened, [[Obstructive Bureaucrat|power cliques]] were overthrown and the world becomes a [[Utopia]]. The game takes place is the fictional year 2032, where {{spoiler|the old power elites have perverted nanotechnology for their own uses, creating weapons of war with which to blackmail the rest of the world into servitude again. Or so it seems, at first...}}
* ''[[Deus Ex]]'' - Nanites are central to gameplay and a strong part of the plot. The protagonist, JC Denton, has nano-augmentations, such augmented vision. During the game, fresh infusions of nanites add entirely new abilities and upgrades for existing abilities. All his augmentations were powered by his body's own bioelectrical energy—a high tech equivalent of mana. The abilities themselves were fairly believable, though if you built your character right you were essentially an [[Invisible]], [[Super Speed|super-fast]], [[Super Strength|super-strong]], [[Healing Factor|rapid-healing]] dude wielding a [[Power Glows|sword that could kill robots in a single hit]]. Of course, you would completely drain your bioelectrical energy in about twenty or thirty seconds of pure awesomeness, but hey, what price glory?
** The sequel, ''[[Deus Ex:
* ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]''. All over the place at higher levels. Several technologies have to do with the stuff (Nanominiaturization, Nanometallurgy, and Industrial Nanorobotics being the coolest-named), most of which give you some pretty cool stuff (and allow you to build carriers and submarines for the first time for some reason).
** On one hand, upon researching Industrial Nanorobotics, you hear an excerpt from one of Miriam's screeds against new technology:▼
▲On one hand, upon researching Industrial Nanorobotics, you hear an excerpt from one of Miriam's screeds against new technology:
{{quote|Already we have turned all of our critical industries, all of our material resources, over to these...things...these lumps of silver and paste we call nanorobots. And [[AI Is a Crapshoot|now we propose to teach them intelligence]]? What, pray tell, will we do when these little homunculi [[Grey Goo|awaken one day and announce that they have no further need of us]]?|[[The Fundamentalist|Sister Miriam Godwinson]], "We Must Dissent" }}
** On the other hand, [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKcEwUcVBHs Santiago's opinion on the subject]. On another note, the video and accompanying voiceover [[Shown Their Work|indicate that, as usual, the developers did the research]]: the bots are networked, seem to draw power from their canisters, and have to get their raw material from somewhere (the video shows them devouring a battlefield, including a [[Nightmare Fuel|dead body's hand]], to make one hovertank).
Line 208 ⟶ 207:
* [[Anarchy Online]] takes this trope to heart and runs with it, using nanobots for frickin' ''everything.'' "Magic" is essentially just free-floating nanobots in the air being told to do something, your [[Mana]] is [[Call a Rabbit a Smeerp|called Nano Points]], and these 'bots make everything from guns, to [[Humongous Mecha]], to that [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|super-potent beer]] that all ''nano-augmented'' species that live on Rubi-Ka can't get drunk from ([[Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge|"It's just as nasty-tasting and foul smelling as the real thing, but without the alcohol."]]). Hell, these things can even change the way things taste. You name it, nanobots are probably behind it on Rubi-Ka. Except for resurrection; you need the local [[Green Rocks]] for that.
* A little-known RTS game from the DOS era called ''War, Inc.'' puts you in charge of a [[Private Military Contractor]]. The vehicles are manufactured by nanobots from raw materials that you must harvest in-mission (and your infantry is made by incredibly high-speed cloning).
* One of the main resources in the RTS ''[[Achron]]'' is called Liquid Crystals (LC for short) and is made of a mix of common atoms and nanobots in a liquid-crystal framework. When you order a unit to construct a building the unit drops a tiny transponder seed which signals local teleportation infrastructure to teleport the right quantity of LC to that location. The nanobots in the LC then assemble the building using the atoms contained within it. When you build a unit the LC is teleported into the factory where it assembles into the units gear in a similar way (and the pilot is supplied separately).
== Web Comics ==
*
* Most of the advanced Martian technology in ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' is based on nanites.▼
* ''[http://www.littlelevers.com/Angels/ Angels and Aliens]'' is based on a secret group of humans given nanotechnology-based abilities such as speed, strength and healing by mysterious aliens. Drawbacks include rapid depletion of energy and oxygen while using the abilities, and the one-size-fits-all female template for the transformed humans - even if the recipient was [[Gender Bender|originally male.]]
* ''[[Alien Dice]]'' has healing nanites, one use ones used for repairing a particular injury, after which they deactivate, and ones that provide a permanent [[Healing Factor]], as well as the "relays" which are nanotechinologcal communications devices which implant themselves in your brain, they basically function as a form of machine assisted telepathy.
* Both used and subverted in ''Triquetra Cats'', nanites are a miracle cure for most any medical condition however each use increases your chances of contracting a disease called NCDS (nanite cellular disintegration syndrome) where the nanite user's cells can no longer support themselves and break down.▼
▲* Most of the advanced Martian technology in ''[[A Miracle of Science]]'' is based on nanites.
▲* Similarly, much of Earth's technological superiority over New Abilene in ''[[Afterlife Blues]]'' is based on nanotech.
* Featured prominently in the ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' [[Story Arc]] "[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000101 Kiki's Virus]," where nanobots turn into a deadly virus thanks to [[wikipedia:Year 2000 problem|Y2K]]. Nanotechnology is also used by Dr. Crabtree for more outlandish, [[Shape Shifter|shapeshifting]] purposes.▼
* In the ''[[Blade of Toshubi]]'' a nano-virus was used in World War IV to rid the Earth's surface of Humans & is believed to have caused the mutation of animals to a sentient, humanoid form.
* At least two types of nanomachines showed up during the [[Crossover Wars]], mini-gnomes from ''[[Magical Misfits]]'' were sent to the Evil Overlords headquarter to sabotage things and nanite versions of ''[[Mind Mistress]]'' were left there to monitor things.
* In ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' nanomachines are almost omnipresent, and several Story Arcs have featured them heavily. Note that they generally are of very specific limited use and/or act as a part of large and complex systems. The types that can survive in the open at all still have heat capacity and resistance to radiation reasonable for their size - hardened ones are vacuum-capable but all are killed if anyone fires in their general direction anything from a powerful searchlight and up. Or if they run into "antiseptic", like [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2007-09-11 anti-nannotic film].
** "Nanny-cams", bugs that are dispensed from a squirt-gun. While devices on the scale of light wavelength obviously can't use ray optics, it's the right size for antenna arrays.
** Medical. Regeneration vats are awesome, but they include control and support units, the only common piece of multi-species medical equipment in the field is a body-bag that keeps the brain alive in anabiosis.
** Weaponized nanites - not much good for an open battle, but a very nasty assassination weapon. They are targeted (for example, eating their way along nerves to the victim's brain) and self-destructing in a little while. Variants [[Typhoid Mary|keeping a live carrier intact]] may be voluntarily controlled by the carrier or even themselves have limited control over one's body - for designs carried in humans, the all-time favorite delivery method is [[Vomit Indiscretion Shot|projectile vomiting]] once the stomach overflows with stuff lethal in mist-droplet quantities.
** The "[[Super Soldier|soldier boosts]]", performed via self-sustaining swarms of nanobots controlled by implanted microcomputers - often with interface to the user's brain, as explained [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-03-08 here]... of course, implanting stuff in the brain is made safer by using yet another nanobot system to do all the cable-work, but [http://www.schlockmercenary.com/2004-12-03 really, really expensive] to install and restricted in many polities. High-end ones may include "weapon package", so when an operative is disarmed, there still are surprises, since micro-implants, let alone swarms of nanobots spread through the body, are either overlooked as fairly common or left alone because it's hard to remove or disable them without killing the host.
** The "cloud AI" types stand out, but from what we have seen, given enough of time and challenges those are even more prone to evolving far out of parameters one way or another than conventional fixed-hardware AI.
** Also, one big and already metal-rich ecosystem seems to have co-evolved (over millions of years) into symbiosis with what is implied to be runaway nanobots, that formerly were used by the cyborgized sophonts who owned the place, and now electroplate bones and carapaces of local fauna (and at least one of these species also have developed sapience over this time).
▲* Featured prominently in the ''[[Sluggy Freelance]]'' [[Story Arc]] "[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=000101 Kiki's Virus]," where nanobots turn into a deadly virus thanks to [[wikipedia:Year 2000 problem|Y2K]]. Nanotechnology is also used by Dr. Crabtree for more outlandish, [[Shape Shifter|shapeshifting]] purposes.
▲* Both used and subverted in ''Triquetra Cats'', nanites are a miracle cure for most any medical condition however each use increases your chances of contracting a disease called NCDS (nanite cellular disintegration syndrome) where the nanite user's cells can no longer support themselves and break down.
* In ''[[Umlaut House|Umlaut House 2]]'', nanites first appear when [[Mad Scientist|Sissy]] steals some assemblers from [[Mad Scientist|Dr. Lyse]] to build her fortress. Later it seems that nanotech is used for home replicators and when Peggy Seus asks the Dragon what it is it tells her to "ask Dr. Lyse about foglets". {{spoiler|And now it seems that Lyse has replaced every cell in his body with foglets and the Dragon tried to take over his body.}}
*
** For those interested - assuming one device is a cube 2 μm (volume 8 μm<sup>3</sup>), the total volume of devices uniquely addressed by 6 bytes would be <ref>(2×10<sup>-6</sup>m)<sup>3</sup> × 2<sup>(8×6)</sup> = 8*10<sup>-18</sup>m<sup>3</sup> × 2.815<sup>14</sup> ≈ 0.0225 m<sup>3</sup></ref> about 22.5 liters. Of course, they won't hold compactly, but it's not like something of this size is going to communicate over great range either.
Line 236 ⟶ 242:
* Despite the reference, the ''[[Kim Possible]]'' episode "Tick Tick Tick" isn't really a good example. The tick was visible to the naked eye, there was just one, and it didn't do anything but explode. But nano still sounds about a hundred times better. Just because it's big, doesn't necessarily imply it isn't made out of very small components, of course.
** A better example of nanotechnology in the series could be the Hephaestus Project, a sort of living metal capable of repairing, modifying, and increasing in size when given the proper commands. Drakken used this technology in [[The Movie]] to create an army of robots disguised as toys.
* ''[[Max Steel]]'' was just an [[Ordinary High School Student]] until an accidental injection of Nanomachines gave him super strength and endurance. Gets pretty heavy with it, too, as the show loved to sneak in more complexity than most Saturday morning cartoons get away with; the nanomachines here run on a [[Applied Phlebotinum|unique form of power]] known as "Trans-Phasik Energy" or "T-Juice"—the flipside being that said energy is [[Plot-Driven Breakdown|burned rather quickly in combat]]. The nanites have symbiotic relationship with the protagonist: if they go offline, he dies. Surprisingly not played for a plot point as often as one might think so much as an occasional inconvenience... until the show's ''entire third season'', where {{spoiler|the government forces the agency to disband after terrorists steal the generator and nearly wipe out the UN with it. It is implied that the main character is living on borrowed time without the full-size power generator, and that he will die in the near future with only the portable model to fall back on. Whenever he powers up, he's burning off said time. [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|Nice Job Killing Yourself, Hero?]]}}
* In the ''[[Gargoyles]]'' episode "Walkabout", [[Heel Face Turn|villain turned good guy]] Dingo acquires a living suit made of nanomachines, after helping the Gargoyles convince said nanomachines not to eat Australia.
* [[Big Bad]] Slade on ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'' blackmails Robin into becoming his apprentice by infecting the rest of the Titans with nanomachines that will kill them if he should decide to activate them.
| |||