I’m sure a lot of you have seen the movie “Innerspace”, where Martin Short is injected with a miniature-submarine of people. A mere flight of fancy, I thought. Maybe some day, but not likely. Well, I just saw a news report on nanotechnology, and I had no idea how far this technology has come since the movie came out in 1989.
The report showed the smallest working remote-control helicopter, that was smaller in length than a penny! I thought that was very impressive, but that was just the beginning. Apparently, they’re already using nanotechnology in surgery. A drill has been developed to drill out blockages in blood vessels. They showed a procedure that used it. Apparently, it’s inserted in the groin (ouch!) and then goes up until it reaches the blockage, and then slowly drills it out, without harming the vessel tissue. This drill might also be used to combat cancer.
How far have the actual “nanomachines” come? Working gears have been developed that measure around half a millimeter in width. Still to large for the human body, but getting there. According to reports, a “submarine” that can explore the human body, is less than 10 years away! Though, I’m pretty sure they meant that it would be equipped with cameras, and not people. 
I just thought I’d share this. I guess it’s so surprising to me because I haven’t really heard about any advances in nanotechnology for quite a while.
<hijack> For a very interesting look at what nanotechnology could become, try reading The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Great for the tech stuff, though definitely not Stephenson’s best work, IMHO. </hijack>
<continuing hijack>Yes, that was a good sci-fi book on nanotechnology. Creative & scary applications of nanotech. Wouldn’t it suck to be suddenly torn apart from the inside with no idea what was happening? I also agree that it was not his best book…Snowcrash was much better</continuing hijack>
[hijack-o-rama]
Check out Engines of Creation: the Coming Era of Nanotechnology, by K. Eric Drexler
[/hijack-o-rama]
<even yet another hijack> For sci-fi fans, check out John Varley’s Steel Beach. The nanites actually tell what they’ve done/are going to do. Best idea: no more morning breath! <end of even yet another hijack>
<hijack continued>
Don’t believe all the people that seem to be indicating that Neal Stephenson has a <i>best</i> book!
He doesn’t have a best book, because each and every one of them has a final 50-100 pages that completely ruins everything that came before.
That man definitely has a problem with endings. I haven’t Cryptonomicron so that may be an exception. But that book makes it appear that Stephenson is suffering from the disease that has destroyed Fantasy (and is slowly eating away at SF): diarrhea of the keyboard.
</hijack continued>
For nanotechnology stories you can also see some episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Especially the one where Wesley falls asleep doing homework and his nannites(?) get away and take over the ship. sigh I miss Wesley.
Don’t worry, that entire previous paragraph was laced with sarcasm (though the paragraphs before that were serious and correct).
Cryptonomicon is much better. He carries the story through all the way to the end, and actually has a good ending.
Anyway, on topic: Check out foresight.org
<further hijack> Plus, there was a character called Ned the Nanite on Mystery Science Theater 3000, the best damn show that ever got canceled by Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel… </hijack>
Er. Having thoroughly strayed beyond the original point, let’s see if we can’t wind our way back.
Nanotechnology hasn’t really come that far, but miniaturization continues. Most of the examples silent rob mentioned are more along the lines of, oh, microtechnology. There are miniaturized medical machines capable of manipulating tiny areas of the body, but they can’t even manipulate individual cells, let alone molecules. Still, it’s pretty amazing. Plus there have been some recent successes in the field of “biochips.” There are no real practical uses for them yet, but they’re out there. So the next time a guy comes up to you and says “The government put a chip in my head!” try not to say “You’re crazy,” just say, “Well, I hope they come out with some software pretty soon…”
Our major project last year was called “Four Million Years Into the Future” my best friend’s group was assigned evolution of the human race, physical characteristics. They did quite a bit of research on nanotechnology and it seems that we are getting closer and closer to an age where computers and biology are going to work hand in hand, as Enoch said, we’re working on miniaturizing everything. Perhaps not in our lifetimes but certainly eventually we will have tiny things floating in our bloodstreams or aiding the medical community that are far too small for the naked eye to see.
Kitty
For a reasonably nontechnical introduction to Molecular Nanotechnology, I recommend Unbounding the Future: the Nanotechnology Revolution by K. E. Drexler, available in its entirety on the web. The book is about 10 years old, and its technical predictions are holding up remarkably well. We’re actually progressing very well toward MN: STM and AFM atom positioning is getting more reliable all the time, there’s lots of chemical and physical research going into carbon nanotubes and similar structures, etc. The US now has a National Nanotechnology Initiative, I heard that Hewlett-Packard now has a nanotech research division, there’s Ralph Merkle’s Zyvex, and so on. It should be a fun ride.
[Yet another hijack] Going for a record. 
[/Yet another hijack]
Thanks for the site, Nerd. It’s very interesting.
Thanks for the info Enoch and Kitty. I didn’t actually know there was a difference between miniturization technology and nanotechnology. I thought nanotechnology was the miniaturization of machines and mechanical devices to work on the human body and other biological things. Thanks for the correction.
The idea of a miniaturized submarine zipping around someone’s bloodstream is older than 1989. Don’t forget the 1966 movie “Fantastic Voyage” in which a medical team are put in a submarine, shrunken, and injected into a dying man to heal him from the inside. (This movie was also spoofed in an episode of “Muppet Babies” when they imagined themselves shrunken and trying to fight off Scooter’s sickness…though I can’t recall the year of that episode, the series debuted in 1984)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Torberg *
**
I’ve never seen “Fantastic Voyage”, actually. But, strangely enough, I remember that episode of Muppet Babies. Yeah, I guess the idea is a lot older than “Innerspace”. Thanks.