Nanotechnology

[Kuja]

I read an article in a newspaper about how there have been some huge advancments in nanotechnology recently. Apparantly, it wont be long before we can have small machines put into our blood to help our body do its job and to fight off disease. Its also believed that not long after scientists could make these machines 'reproduce' asexually within our body, by using some of the molecules in the blood stream. However, many people are worried that if this were to happen then we could end up with a 'Terminator' style problem where the machines gain consciousness and become the dominant 'species'. Other worries are that if these creatures were to escape, their reproductive properties of using molecules such as oxygen would mean that the Eart would be left as an empty world, with no oxygen, carbon, animal or plant life. All that would be left would be these small machines.

[NunoLac]

My friend i'm making a couple of Androids that will help me take over the WORLD

Bwahahahahahahahahahaha ;D

[Busterman Zero]

The first steps have already been taken. Ever watch 'Ripley's Believe it or Not?' There a kid, a kid, who works for microsoft that implanted computer chips in his family. That's righ, computer chip implants. The first step in Nano technology was taken by a kid who will easily become the next Bill Gates.

[The Patryn]

I think Nanotechnology is inevitable. It will happen someday. Once this is achieved, all sorts of new doors will be open to mankind. Imagine, the things robots living inside you could do. In a couple of generations, mankind's DNA could be altered to make him adapted to living in harsher environments. The desert. The arctic. Perhaps even the void. Nanotechnology will be an important scientific achievement. If people let it.

[Sanovarak]

It depends of mankind. If we can't take care of this world, robots will proboably take control. It all depends of us.

[Chickensoupcheese]

If Nanotechnology got to these sort of "heights", a whole new form of racism would be introduced:

At first, it would be a privilege to have these things installed, but as time progresses, there will be little accidents (inevitably), and I would think that after a while any chippy things would become undesirable amongst the more affluent. They would become an excuse for a new form of racism, and could be made to manipulate people, as well as "help" their physical status. Our custom built "androids" would eventually become the equivalent of your slave. And then if they had a revolution, well...you (might) get my point .

[Maxy]

Robots will definitely be a part of the future, as will nanotechnology. However they're not as close as this thread suggests. The leading robotics researcher institutions in japan say a robot that can mimic human movement will not be made in the next 50 years (apparantly walking is incredibly hard to reproduce).
As for "nanobot" as they are lovingly termed, reproducing with the human body is merely a pipe dream. Sure, it could happen one day, but certainly not in our lifetimes. If you have ever seen any sci-fi films of the 50s you'll know that they though that we'd be living in a similar world to the Jetsons by now.

As for a terminator style problem, it only takes one madman to create an evil robot, then we're boned.

[The Patryn]

Chickensoupcheese said:

If Nanotechnology got to these sort of "heights", a whole new form of racism would be introduced:

At first, it would be a privilege to have these things installed, but as time progresses, there will be little accidents (inevitably), and I would think that after a while any chippy things would become undesirable amongst the more affluent. They would become an excuse for a new form of racism, and could be made to manipulate people, as well as "help" their physical status. Our custom built "androids" would eventually become the equivalent of your slave. And then if they had a revolution, well...you (might) get my point .

I don't care. I want to live in space dammit. Anyways, I'm not saying that these changes wuld be open to the public. Gather up the world's drifters and turn them into an elit colonizing force.

[Voltaire]

My favorite science! In my upcoming novel, In The Eyes Of God, I have a mad scientist character that unleashes a horde of nanobots to convert every atom in the world into more nanobots.

The scientist moved his mind to these nanobots, and with this converted planet, he uses each of these trillions of machines to become a large computer brain with the power to manipulate time and space.

Imagine a planet sized computer brain lead by an evil genius human mind. Makes Einstein look weak.

As for the 'nanobots convert entire planet,' that's called the 'gray goo' scenario.

[Maxy]

You can't convert an atom into a nanobot, nanobots would be made up of atoms just like everything else .
Besides nano-technology is 10^-6m (nano technology isn't truly nano, it's micro), whilst an atom is 10^-10m big. Just can't be done

[OldSkoolRPGer]

Would it really be that bad to live with robots, or to have synthetic parts? In the direction we are going in genetics, our definition of "human" may change in the next few years. Of course this genetic alteration would only be available to a select few, and further the class gap. The rich may even become a new species of human. Imagine the war that would break out. They can already grow living organ tissue and every day they come closer to being able to merge flesh and machine. There will probaly be androids in our life time. I would welcome androids, robots, and bioroids into my community. Does that make me weird?

[devilmaycare150]

..This topic reminds me of Ziggy from Xenosaga for some reason..he was mainly machine, and even though he was once human, he tried to make himself more into a machine than a man..

Geez, that's incredibly off topic...I wonder why it popped into my mind..

[Nuno]

It all depend on us, not on the machines. We will surelly get robots like humans, but they will only obey our PROGRAMMED commands. So, somebody can make a bad bot and kill a lot of us.

But wait... we dont need robots to get in somettin like Terminator, we can use bombs. So, robots will only help us on the good way.

[Kiel]

Maxy said:

Robots will definitely be a part of the future, as will nanotechnology. However they're not as close as this thread suggests. The leading robotics researcher institutions in japan say a robot that can mimic human movement will not be made in the next 50 years (apparantly walking is incredibly hard to reproduce).
As for "nanobot" as they are lovingly termed, reproducing with the human body is merely a pipe dream. Sure, it could happen one day, but certainly not in our lifetimes. If you have ever seen any sci-fi films of the 50s you'll know that they though that we'd be living in a similar world to the Jetsons by now.

As for a terminator style problem, it only takes one madman to create an evil robot, then we're boned.

[glow=red,2,300]He heh, boned.[/glow]

[glow=red,2,300]Ya wanna know what I reckon? I reckon that the only way there is going to be an evil robot is if we program it to be, or if we give it a human brain. Wait a sec.....if you.....*explosion in basement* nuts. But given robots thoughts of there own is so far off, our great grandchildren will be 74.2 years of age before that happens, then we can get some naked dude called Kyle to wipe out the invasion. Doo Da Daaaa.[/glow]