Page M16 September 5, 1990. This Week FUTURE WATCH NANOTECHNOLOGY: It’s a small world after all... emember reading about the ther- mometer you swallow. What can top that? The real-life ver- sion of the old movie The Incredible Voyage. A “sub- marine” that will course through the blood system correcting damage, remov- ing debris and generally surveying the human structure — from the inside — and reporting back on “unusual” deviations from the norm. The “norm” at that time. Reports from Japan insist that Tokyo University has plans to develop a microscopic “sub- marine’ designed for internal human travel. It could revolutionize medicine. Possibly. such a mobile device could remain in the body more or less permanently. After all, the inter- nal thermometer already has the capacity to remain in the body for a full year constantly reporting thermal conditions. Can the future top this? Of course. Although traditional scientists view the “submarine” concept as far. out, the powerful Ministry of Trade and Industry (MIDI) in Japan lists nanotech- nology as among the most criti- cal developments for the 21st century. I just finished reading the 300- page kindergarten primer on the subject by K. Eric Drexler. Your five-year-old should be able to comprehend this. Nano (meaning one-billionth of a metre) technology is based on the manipulation of individual atoms or molecules to build structures to complex, atomic specifications. At the molecular level things act differently than when grouped together in much larger clumps such as in things we see in our everyday life. The “submarine” is extremely small. i New FORD High Quality Cars & Trucks 1990 TEMPO L 4 DR RED, SSP, AIR COND. AM/FM STEREO STK, 90979 WAS $13,603 11 800 SRE ING. 90 PROBE GL 5SP, AM/FM CASSETTE WITH SK $15,200 STK. 90665 WAS $16,772 NOW REBATE INC. 90 RANGER SHORT BOX SSP, ELECT. AM RADIO WASSI1 888 now’ | 0,400 REBATE INC. °12,900 BATE INC. WAS $14,025 NOW 90 F150 90 MUSTANG BLUE LX 2 DR P. WINDOWS, 5SP. AIR COND., LONG BOX, AUTO O/D. CLEAR COAT PAINT PS. PB. STK. 90067 STK, 90865 *15,700 REBATE ING. WAS $17,958 NOW Supplement to The Oak Bay Star, Victoria Star, Goldstream Gazette, Saanich News, Sidney Review and The Esquimalt News trriit Drlomorrow By FRANK OGDEN Not like the bulky silicon motor made recently by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley which was the thick- ness of a human hair and could spin at only 500 rpm. Transis- tors were originally about one- third the width of a human hair. Today’s transistors are down to one-hundredth the width of a human hair. At the Mas- sachusetts Institute of Technol- ogy, experimental transistors are down to 25 nanometres, Sirol a SUMMER about .003 the width ofa human hair — about 100 atoms wide. It’s a totally new world when things get this small! For in- stance, researchers at AT&T found that a cluster of 12 silicon atoms react up to 1,000 times faster than a cluster of 13 atoms. The potential is monumental. Computers in a pencil may serve as translators and robots that can see, talk and react to your commands. It is all happening fast and in so many places. Nanotechnology can probably be applied to both metal and | | | | PORK CHOP | ceramic materials which evuld result in longer-lasting engine parts and higher efficiency in. smaller power units. Impre ments increase 300 to 500 cent with every new deve! ment — not the 10 per cent t was consider a big deal in * industrial age. As Einstein said, electrons, flow like waves instead of par- ticles. More information: Engines of Creation, The Coming Era o Nanotechnology, by K. Bry Drexler; Publisher: Double Anchor Press, Toronto. 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