Molecular
Cybernetics
It’s Design
and Application
By
Clyde
L. Hays
Abstract:
Rise of the Nano is an overview and technical
paper dealing with the new field of Molecular Cybernetics, a type of
nanotechnology that is made of individual solid-state semiconductor polygons
thirty nanometers cubed that act as artificial molecules through the control of
artificial atoms. Aspects covered are technical specifics in hardware such as
design and manufacturing, then software parameters like polymorphous networks
and interface modules, and lastly applications such as assemblers and
disassemblers, Nano computers, and Nano machines.
Table of
Contents
Acknowledgements
Credit rest in all of those whose work came
before, and serves the bases for my small insight, and to Donna, for going out
of the way to help and being a friend.
About The
Author
Clyde L. Hays is an inventor and student who
resides in Texas, and is currently at work on: “Transition: a discussion on the
societal implications from Nano technological breakthrough of Molecular
Cybernetics.”
Introduction:
Nano and nanotechnology have become by-words of
our times. A word used, but not well understood, or, even used correctly. That
is about to change!
Nano is a Greek word meaning Dwarf (01)
and is the prefix of our metric nanometer, which stands for one-billionth of a
meter. Nano has gained it’s notoriety through the words and foresight of Dr. K.
Eric Drexler, who titles and founded what has not become the field of
nanotechnology, a field that is a bubbling revolution if ever there was one.
In 1981, while at the ivory halls of
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the young Drexler began
exploring a vision first articulated by the renowned physicist Richard Feynman
in a speech to the American Physical Society in 1959 entitled, “There’s Plenty
of Room at the Bottom.” (02) In this speech Feynman brought our attention to
the possibilities of controlling atoms and there molecules individually instead
of in masses jumbled together as we do even to this day in Chemistry and
Engineering Labs.
Working off this premier, Dr. Drexler
forged a new field of what he labeled nanotechnology, and set forth to catalog
this field in his 1986 bestseller, “Engines of Creation” (03). From the moment
the ink dried to those papers Nano technological ideals have proliferate in
leaps and bounds.
Case in point, every major university
now has a Nanotechnology Department, and all nations have a fund set aside for
nanotechnology research and development. In 2004, the U.S. Congress authorized
$3.7 billion for four years, and created the American Nanotechnology Preparedness
Center and the multiagency National Nanotechnology Initiative to help usher in
these new Nano technological discoveries. (04)
What, though, do we truly mean when we
say nanotechnology? Well, true nanotechnology is exactly what Dr. Drexler laid
out in “Engines of Creation”, a “Technology based on the manipulation of
individual atoms and molecules to build structures to complex atomic
specifications.: (05) And true nanotechnology is here!
Molecular Cybernetics, the
“Breakthrough” (06)
On the first of January, 2004 I completed a paper
titled, “Molecular Cybernetics: a proposal for the construction of a Quantum
Dot Utility Fog,” (07) in which I outlined a Nano substance consisting of
layered semiconductor polygons thirty nanometers cubed with quantum dots on
each of its six faces. Each quantum dot would create and control artificial
atoms and exchange photons for power and communication.
I called these Nano cubes Qmotes, for
quantum motes or particles, and went on to summarize there capabilities, which
are motive and clutching ability via magnetic modulation, precise photon
emission-absorption, reflection-refraction of optical effects, and chemical
bonding. Utilizing these abilities, I stated, would give you a conglomerate
substance that could communicate with each other, power itself, modify or morph
into three-dimensional materials, produce visual effects, and chemically effect
real atoms.
This discovery was a direct result of
the visions of two separate individuals. One of them, Dr. J. Storrs Hall of
Rutgers University in the early 1990s proposed an ambitious design called
“Utility Fog” made of micro sized twelve armed bots that acted autonomously in
conglomerates of billions changing their color and shape to suite your
commands. Utility Fog, though, ran into a slight problem of the micro-realm, an
atomic friction force called “stiction’ that clogs and erodes tiny moving
parts. (09)
Then there was the work of aerospace
engineer and journalist Wil McCarthy who wrote the book, “Hacking Matter” (10)
and introduced us all to a material called Quantum Dots that “traps” electrons
and manipulates them to create artificial atoms that act and react just as real
atoms do.
Combing these two visions, Utility Fog
and Quantum Dots, gives us a material of unbounding potential, a material that
not only changes its color and shape, but that can exchange photons for energy
and communication, and chemically bond and control real atoms.
I called this new study Molecular
Cybernetics, a title meaning to steer or control molecular substances, and this
substance has within it all the aspects and wishes of the nanotechnologist.
Based on sound scientific principals and research all of our hopes and dreams
are within reach, the “Breakthrough” is upon us.
Hardware
The workhorses of Molecular
Cybernetics are Qmotes, a cube of semiconductor around thirty nanometers with a
quantum dot on each of its six faces and a processor at its center. This was
the design outlined in my original paper, and I intentionally left technical
specifics vague to allow the concept to be judged on principal. That has now
taken place, and we can begin to explore how to actually construct these devices.
Below I have broken down this construction into fives spheres of influence that
overlap in a steady progression of design.
As stated before, my first encounter
with quantum dots – the devices that are the center of Molecular Cybernetics –
came from the 2003 book “Hacking Matter” by Wil McCarty. This book was a treaty
on semiconductors, a subject you must grasp to understand what is happening at
the more level of Molecular Cybernetic, so this too, is where I must began.
Quantum Dots (11)
A semiconductor is an insulator of charge that has
been doped with very precise amounts of another material into its crystal
lattice to allow it to become a conductor at very precise energies. This is the
very principal behind our computer chip technologies, a trillion dollar
industrial principal.
When you dope these semiconductors –
which are usually silicon – with electron “donor” atoms such as phosphorus it
will become an “N” or negative type semiconductor, which contain an excess
electron for every atom of dopant. This gives you an electron to transfer
around. The opposite is true if you add “borrower” atoms like aluminum to the
semiconductor material, you will produce a “P” or positive type material which
has spaces where electrons are not; these spaces are called “holes” or
“electron holes”.
If you were to place an “N” layer of
semiconductor between two “P” layers you have what is called a P-N-P junction.
In the late 1980’s this design was discovered to produce some interesting
actions when configured extremely thin, about ten nanometers or so, which is
the size of the de Brogile wavelength of a room-temperature electron.
A de Brogile wavelength is a
quantum-mechanical concept that deals with the wave nature of electrons, and
when you confine electrons this small they become standing waves or probity
density functions. The electrons are “trapper” in the “N” layer and are not
allowed to escape, unable to move as waves they instead take on characteristics
of diffuse electric charge. This is a substance that is confined on all planes,
so it instead behaves as a type of electron gas, a gas made of particles that
have a repulsive force toward all other particles, and leads each to form
orbitals in there confinement. And this is exactly what happens in real atoms,
except that there is no nucleus adding to the confinement.
A
miniature P-N-P junction is the simplest quantum dot, a layered semiconductor
that “traps” electrons which form orbitals and mimic the characteristics of
real atoms even though the electrons are orbiting no nucleus.
Working off this design physicist Marc
Kastner (12) and others in conjunction with MIT’s Electrical Engineering
Department stumbled onto what has become the standard of quantum dot design,
the electrostatic gate quantum dot. Kastner noticed that if you apply arranged electrodes
on the outer face of your P-N-P junction you create an electrostatic fence that
corrals the electrons beneath it. Again, the “trapper” electrons behave as a de
Brogile standing wave, and through varying the voltage on the fence you can
control the electrons below.
“If this sounds familiar,” stated Wil
McCarthy in ‘Hacking Matter’, “it’s because there’s another more ordinary place
where electrons behave this way: in atoms. Electrons, which are part of an
atom, will arrange themselves into ‘orbitals’, which constrain and define their
positions around the positively charged nucleus. These orbitals, and the
electrons that partially or completely fill them are what determine the
physical and chemical properties of an atom – that is, how it is affected by
electric and magnetic fields, and also what other sorts of atoms it can react
with, and how strongly.
Cubes, Hypercubes, and Qmotes
The first application for quantum dots as a
material was the Quantum Dot Fiber, or Wellstone, a substance patented in
August 2001 by Wil McCarthy and Dr. Gary Snyder (20). This is a design that
called for quantum dots to be embedded into a fiber and weaved together, then
attached to a power and control mechanism, giving you a material that can
produce all the effects of quantum dots, but on a massive scale and in a
material.
On the other hand, if you were to
embed your quantum dots into a single polygon solid with the quantum dots on
each outer face, and were able to regulate them from an internal processor you
would have a material that acts as an artificial motive molecule. One quantum
dot face could take in energy and communicate, another could clutch other
polygons via magnetic effects, and another face could take on chemical or
optical characteristics. Then, as needed, any face could alter its application
on command.
In my original paper, I labeled these
polygons Qmotes for quantum motes or particles, and suggested that the
preferred polygon would be a cubic one. I will again stay with a cubic polygon,
although, as I will show later, this is really what is called a hypercube. The
six sided cube balance the needs of compactness and control, this does not mean
that other polygons will not perform, such as dodecahedron or tetrahedron, and
we will be able to test these once we have the use of general assemblers.
Although, I believe the cubic design will hold out for our uses.
The fabrication specifics of a Qmote consist of a thirty (30) nanometer solid with a quantum dot deployed on each of its six faces. Each quantum dot has a surface gate structure around twenty (20) nanometers, allowing for a five (5) nanometer edge on each face.
In illustration #03 you see a Qmote
with an electrode fence of four, this is one of the issues that needs
experimental test performed to determine the correct electrostatic control.
Just the same, each electrode as shown covers the face in a staggered
arrangement starting five (5) nanometers in and extending fourteen (14)
nanometers over the face, with a two (2) nanometer gap between any two. The
electrodes will then angle in through the underlying layers to meet the
processor residing in a ten (10) nanometer cubic cavity at the center.
This design is a cube within a cube,
or what is called a hypercube (21). This does not actually extend into a fourth
dimension as the hypercube title implies. This could of course be debated when
considering its quantum use, though I will leave that open for others to
discuss.
Following the draft outline above,
will give us the basic Qmote, a symmetrical material that can effect and be
affected on all planes as commanded.
Quantum Generator Circuitry
The processor for a Qmote is what I have come to
call a Qgen. Or Quantum Generator because of how a Qmote will act in its logic
circuitry to control the six quantum dots in there required states. There’s a
number of ways to achieve this, and here I will take up two of the most likely,
Qbits and SETs.
Qbits were demonstrated in 1995 by the
NIST (National Institute of Standards) in Boulder, Colorado and Caltech
(California Institute of Technology) in Pasadena. An in 1999, Yasunoba Nakmura,
or NEC in Tsukuba, Japan demonstrated the controlled operation of qbits, a
major step in their use. (23)
The requirements for a Qmote Qgen will
consist of over one hundred and forty (140) basic control states. You have six
quantum dots, each has four electrodes, and each electrode must be able to add
or deduct around one hundred (100) states.
A Qgen utilizing qbits could possibly
generate all the possible states needed using eight qbits. This would be a
function of two hundred and fifty six (256) logic actions.
Qbits, though, might still be a few
years off, so let us explore the use of another possible circuit design for the
generation of Qmote control. This is utilizing SETs, or Single Electron
Transistors, first demonstrated in 1989 by Marc Kastner and student John
Scott-Thomas in cooperation with the IBM Corporation.
A SET, as the name implies, is the
control of a single electron at a time. The possibility of utilizing SETs in
digital logic circuits was obvious, with the presence or absence of an electron
corresponding to a “1” or “0” respectively. In 1997, Harvard physicist David
Goldhaber-Gordon (25) described the smallest practical SET that consist of a
“wire” made of conductive c6 (benzene) molecules, with an inline “resonant
tunneling device,” which is a conductive benzene molecule surrounded by
hydrocarbon (CH2) molecules that serve as insulators. This forms a two-dimensional
hexagon-shaped SET (26) that is one-tenth the size of a C60 buckyball, a sphere
made of 60 carbon atoms.
The utilization of SETs for our Qgen
will take more circuitry than using qbits, although, we could do it today, and
program it similar to any other digital circuit we have in our millions of
electrical products.
To program our Qgen there is a couple
of issues that we need to consider, namely the polymorphous ability of each
Qmote, and how this will apply to the Qgen logic cycle. I will take
polymorphous aspects up in a later section on networking, but for the moment
lets work with the requirement that each Qmote must compute internally and
independently. This would be similar to the actions of parallel Field
Programmable Gate Arrays, (FPGA’s), (27) these are chips that allow the unique
process of allowing there circuitry to reworked at any time to change how it
computes.
If we utilize this programming
parameter it will allow Qmotes to operate in a type of universal logic function
that can be adaptive to perform any type of computational parameter, whether
that is parallel processing, vector processing, neural networks, cellular
automaton, turing machines, cyclic tag, or any other that can be designed now
or in the future. (28)
Manufacturing
In “Engines of Creation”, Dr. Drexler envisioned
stages of manufacturing for nanofabrication, (29) one stage would go on to
fabricate the next stage, going smaller and smaller until you have the version
of nanotechnology you need. We can utilize a form of this manufacturing Qmotes.
Qmotes have the ability to bond to
real atoms, and once bonded they can then use there motive power to construct
these atoms into specific materials. This is a form of reproduction called
replication. I will take up this application in later sections, but to apply it
we first need a batch of Qmotes. So, what we are truly concerned with here is
manufacturing what Drexler called primitive assemblers, (30) devices that
function to assemble superior functioning nanomaterial’s. Qmotes do not fit
Drexler’s exact definition because of their ability to replicate through
conglomerate action only. This means that if we produce one Qmote it will not
have the ability to reproduce in itself, although, a million working together
would.
The fabrication of a million Qmotes
could then begin a cascading replication of exponential growth. To begin
though, we need a million Qmotes and we have two avenues to that process, the
proven and the hopeful.
The proven is also the slow. In
physics laboratories everywhere there are atoms manipulating “toys” being used
called proximal probe machines. These “toys” allow scientist to view and
manipulate individual atoms. One of the first demonstrations of these machines
was the famed spelling of the Corporate title “IBM” out of thirty-five Xenon
atoms.
There are two main types of proximal
probe machines, the scanning tunneling microscope (STM), which images the
surface of atoms by sensing surface contours through monitoring the current
jumping the gap between probe tip and atomic surface. The second is the atomic
force microscope (AFM) that drags its probe over the atomic surface and
optically measures the vibrations as it goes.
In another book on nanotechnology by
Dr. Drexler and company titled, “Unbounding the Future”, the use of proximal
probe machines for manufacturing is explored. Drexler wrote that, “One way to
bridge the gap {of building Nano assemblers} would be through the development
of an AFM-based molecular manipulator capable of doing primitive molecular
manufacturing. This device would combine a simple molecular device – a molecular
gripper – with an AFM positioning mechanism. An AFM can move its tip with
precision; a molecular manipulator would add a gripper to the tip to hold a
molecular tool. A molecular manipulator of this kind would guide chemical
reactions by positioning molecules, like a slow, simple, but enormous
assembler.” (31)
Using proximal probe devices to build
up individual Qmotes atom by atom is certainly possibly, and just as well,
certainly slow. As Drexler goes on to state in “Unbounding the Future,”
“Proximal-probe instruments may be a big help in building the first generation
of Nano machines, but they have a basic limit: Each instrument is huge on a
molecular scale, and could bond only one molecular piece at a time. To make
anything large – say, large enough to see with the necked eye – would take an
absurdly long time. A device of this sort could add one piece per second, but
even a pin head contains more atoms than the number of seconds since the
formation of the earth.” (32)
We on the other hand, are only trying
to build one million or so Qmotes, so the uses of proximal probe machines are
within our range. If you figured it would take an automated atomic force
microscope twenty minutes to complete one Qmote it would take that machine
twenty eight years to reach the mark of one million. Instead of one machine,
let’s say you have fifty AFMs, each working in parallel, producing a total of
seventy-two Qmotes a day; you would now reach the one million goal in almost
ten months, each machine producing twenty thousand Qmotes. This clearly brings
the first batch of Qmotes closer to reality.
Before we begin pulling AFMs from
there labs, let us look at another possibility, one that can produce Qmotes in
bulk quantities using the new fabrication technique called epitaxial film
growth, also known as molecular beam epitay (MBE). This is a process physics
Gerard Milburn explained as, “based on the growth of crystal structures by
laying down single atomic layers. By carefully controlling the kinds of atoms
laid down a whole class of artificial crystal structures can be developed in
which the energy bands are tailored rather than simply served up ready-made by
nature.” (33)
In my original paper I touched on how
we might be able to use MBE to construct large wafers of Qmotes that we could
then delicately slice up to release millions of Qmotes at a time. I am not
familiar with this process enough to determine if it is up to our needs, especially
in the range of laying the atomic configuration for the Qgen circuitry.
Although, it does deserve the evaluation time to determine its prospects. And
if it is determined to be worthy, it would only take one to two wafers to begin
the cascade to assemblers. A day’s time to the AFMs months.
Software
The reign of the Nano has now arisen.
We have a substance just thirty nanometers cubed that produces artificial atoms
and controls them to interact with nature itself. In this section I will try to
cover some of the programming issues that these tiny polymorphic substances
present.
Polymorphous Networks
Computer chips and circuits today are
two-dimensional substances that consist of traces connecting diodes and logic
gates that act as networks to compute algorithm’s and perform functions.
Molecular Cybernetic materials are three-dimensional substances, bringing forth
a whole new computing experience, a whole new dimension of possibilities. It’s
the difference between a flat sheet of paper and an Einsteinan Universe.
And if three-dimensional computing was
not enough, Molecular Cybernetic materials are also polymorphous, which is
defined as: “having, assuming or passing through many or various forms, stages
and the like.” (34) A Qmote can configure any of its six sides into states
ranging from magnetic, to nonmagnetic, to photon emitting, to photon absorbing,
to atomically mimicking, or simply inert. This is clearly a polymorphous
substance by definition.
The interaction between two or more is
a network, and there is many types of networks, neural ones like our nervous
system, scale-free ones like our interactions with friends and community, and
basic mathematical ones, and even autonomous types. Then there is a
polymorphous network, the type Molecular Cybernetic materials characterize, a
network that can assume the parameters of any type of network on demand, and do
this in any of the three dimensions.
The basis for this polymorphous
networking is in the way Qmotes communicate, which is through photon absorption
and emissions. Photons travel at the speed of light and need no medium to
transverse except space itself. How this applies is that two Qmotes sitting
side by side can communicate just as easily as two Qmotes sitting ten feet
apart.
Here’s a good analogy of this, you’re
standing at the back of a long line and want to tell everyone an important
message. It is too noisy to holler, so you tell the person in front of you to
tell the person in front of them, and on and one, in a type of bucket brigade
format. Qmotes, on the other hand, would be able to step outside the line into
a third dimension, skip to the front at light speed, then morph the person in
the head of the line into a clone of itself to spread the message in its area.
It could then skip to the middle of the line and do the same.
Utilizing these two processes is
something that is going to need to be studied in-depth to catalog all of their
potentials, though, the ones easily recognizable are earth shacking. The first POS
or Polymorphic Operating Systems utilizing these aspects should not be too far
behind this understood. (Microsoft might become MS-POS, or how about an open
source version called X-POS?)
One possible application that might
allow us to fret out some of the possibilities here is the use of a software
technique called, “genetic algorithms”. In a recent article on this technique
it was defined as, “it creates a random population of potential solutions, then
test each one for success, selecting the best of the batch to pass on their
‘genes’ to the next generation, including slight mutations to introduce
variations. The process is repeated until the program evolves a workable
solution.”(35) Used in a Molecular Cybernetic computation parameter these
algorithms would reproduce at the speed of photos, giving us our answers fairly
quickly, and from there it is your dreams.
Interface Module
An interface is a platform used to
communicate with something else. A keyboard, mouse, and monitor are all
interfaces used to communicate with personal computers. For Molecular
Cybernetic materials to compute or form it first has to be able to communicate,
to do this one of the first aspects that must be meet in an interface, which I
have come to call in this situation a ‘intermod’ (enter-mod) for interface
module.
Building an intermod is not exactly
like constructing other interfaces, as were dealing with a three-dimensional
polymorphic material that communicates at light speed.
The first thing we need to do is
appropriate a number of Qmotes and have those forms into a single communicating
substance. This will form a type of hierarchical command that cascades out. The
reason for this is that you want to form a central control feature where all
commands originate from. This is both for security and ease of use. This does
not mean all computation must be done from the Intermod, just that the command
for it to begin and the command for it to cease would originate from the
Intermod.
To do this you would generate a code
that you’re Intermod and its network is going to use, you send this to the
Qmotes you appropriated and commands on how to arrange using a laser. This
original command would tell the Qmotes to form memory cache, processor space, and
input and output lines, and to communicate with itself in the chosen code only.
As the photons flow out of your laser
the Qmotes will began morphing into a block, dividing sections as commanded,
and have jurisdiction over all motes under its code to command and control as
its operations call for to morph, store data, crunch instructions, or to
appropriate new Qmotes as needed.
An Intermod is likely to become very
personal in the sense that it will be a symbiotic function that receives all
the commands of an individual, and using its polymorphic abilities, adapts the
Qmotes under its control to those commands.
Qsec.
In explaining the configuration of the
Intermod I talked about using a code to designate and command a group of
Qmotes, this aspect of Molecular Cybernetics is achieved through a process
known as Quantum Cryptography, and concerns Qmotes utilization of photons for
communication.
Quantum Cryptography is the newest
process under development in Cryptography, and according to the “Encyclopedia
of Science and Technology,”: “relies on the quantum-mechanical effect of
Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principal. According to Heisenberg, any energy used to
determine a subatomic particle’s position will change its velocity. In the case
of messages stored as variation in polarization states, energy used to measure
each photon’s polarization will garble the intended message, revealing
tampering. A second process takes advantages of optical interference, focusing
on each photon’s phase; bends in the optical fiber [reflection] can change
photon polarization, but they do not effect phase. A third variation involves
sending polarized photons through the open air, employing interference effects.
So far, these techniques are limited to a distance of 20 miles or less.
However, the advantages of using quantum cryptography are great... promis[sing]
the ability to send both message and key simultaneously, overcoming the
greatest challenge to secure transmission of information.” (36)
Since Quantum Cryptography is a type
of encryption that is done through the use of photons and photon polarization,
and since Qmotes communicate through photons and can emit polarized photons,
(37) it is a simple step to utilize this quantum function for secure
communication. I have labeled the use of this function in Molecular Cybernetics
as Qsec. meaning Quantum Secure.
Molecular Cybernetic materials using
Qsec. will form a type of property-owner relationship that guarantees the
control of these materials. This will become very important if these materials
are used to bond with biological functions as you do not want them affected by
outside forces. This can as well be said for Molecular Cybernetics as a whole,
as you do not want the threat to exist that children can accidently manipulate
a substance into one that could be harmful.
Qsec. is just another amazing feature
that allows the deployment of Molecular Cybernetics into all spheres of our
life. Encoded correctly we can guarantee that misuse is limited, and desired
uses proliferates.
Applications
“If every tool, when ordered, or even
of its own accord, could do the work that befits it … then there would be no
need either of apprentices for the master workers or of slaves for the lords.”
Stated Greek philosopher and scientist Aristotle, and quotes by Dr. Drexler in
his “Engines of Creation” for a chapter titled “Engines of Abundance.” (38)
Drexler used the quote as a primer as to what is too come with nanotechnology,
and this too we must now concern ourselves.
Molecular Cybernetics can be broken
down into three basic sections for discussion: assembler-disassembler, that
deal with molecular control of atomic configuration; Nano computers and
computation that deals with the computational leaps that are upon us, and
lastly Nano mechanical issues of having the control of molecular substances.
I will try to address some of the
possibilities that is presented through Molecular Cybernetics in these three
sections, there will of course be many I cannot address because of the need of
brevity, though, I hope to be able to touch on some of the most profound.
Assemblers and Disassemblers
Molecular Cybernetics has the
possibility of achieving one of the most sought after Nano technological
applications: the assembler and disassembler. These two functions concern the
individual control of individual atoms, and a Qmote can do just that with
chemical bonding applications mixed with motive control.
Defined by Dr. Drexler an assembler
is: “a machine that can be programmed to build virtually any molecular
structure or device from simpler chemical building blocks, Analogous to a
computer-driven machine shop.” And a disassembler is: “a system of nano
machines able to take an object apart a few atoms at a time, while recording
its structure at the molecular level.” (39)
Molecular Cybernetics can achieve both
assemblers and disassemblers, and this is exactly where the name itself comes
from, the control or steering of molecular substances.
In our discussion on manufacturing I
talked about the ability of Qmotes to use limited assembler applications to
replicate them, so far a discussion on assemblers I will began by explaining
how this process might work, and through this we will understand how Molecular
Cybernetics can assemble atomic configuration for other uses.
Assemblers have three concerns: appropriation
of materials, operational demands, and operation function. Appropriation of
materials consists of locating the atoms you are going to build with.
Operational demands concern the way the structure is going to be built and how.
And lastly, the operation function is the carrying out of the operation, or
simply construction.
In the task before us we have a one
million Qmote workforce that we will deploy according to a set program. Some
will act as memory, others walls, and others as atom haulers. We can slightly
cheat here in the sense that we can use existing computer power and laser technology
to command and communicate with our limited assemblers.
The operational demand calls for the
replication of Qmotes, and these are mode of four basic materials. The
appropriation would consist of four granular sized blocks, one of carbon for
the main semiconductor, some aluminum and phosphorus for donor atoms, and gold
or silver for conductors. To get an idea of the amount picture four grains of
sand and you would have enough material to produce over a billion Qmotes.
We now send a message with our laser
to the million Qmotes and have them form what would look like a block house
with a different material sticking out each of the four walls, with the top
wall, or roof being the communication section, and the completed Qmotes
entering the world through the bottom.
When commanded Qmotes designated as
atom haulers would float like little maglev trains through tunnels to rip
individual atoms from the materials in storage then travel down tunnels
designated for loads, all the time communicating where it is and what it is
doing. When a loaded atom hauler approaches the under-construction Qmote it
would slide into position to unload its atom at the desired position and flow
into a tunnel for a new load.
The new Qmote would expand atom by
atom in a type of parallel construction until it was completed, and then fall
out of the bottom so the assembler factory could begin a new fabrication. As
the new Qmote falls away there would be a communication link to encode it with
commands so it can take up a working application.
If this assembler plant were to
replicate a single Qmote every twenty-five microseconds, and a plat itself is
made from one million Qmotes, it would have an exponential growth cycle of
seven hours. After the first seven hours you have two million Qmotes, if they
re-replicate, in seven more hours you have four million. If continued as such,
it would take almost twenty days to reach a growth rate of one cubic foot (148
Quintillion Qmotes), which could then produce a cubic foot every twenty-five
microseconds.
The construction of a disassembler
would work very similar to our assembler plant, except that it deconstructed an
object not constructed. To do this would arrange a layer of Qmotes parallel to
your disassembly structure to act as sub post platforms. You then send in the
atom haulers, which would pull up to a certain section, record the scene before
it, pull an atom free and carry it away as another atom hauler arrived to take
a new picture and the next atom, removing layer by layer the object and
creating a data stream of its atomic makeup.
Once disassembly is completed you have
a three dimensional atomic blueprint of your object and storage of material to
reassemble it if so desired.
Assemblers and Disassemblers will give
us the ability to have an atomic machine shop at the atomic level, adding or
removing atoms as we wish.
Nano Computers
This subject does not need much
discussing in that it is fairly obvious that a three dimensional polymorphic
substance will have awesome computational speed and storage. The only aspect I
wish to comment on is the distinct connection between Molecular Cybernetic Nano
computers and the ideal of Nano computers as proposed in basic Nano
technological papers.
A nano computer has been the subject
of much discussion, and it’s normally a layout of a mechanical function, this
would work by the moving of molecules similar to biological functions. There is
nothing wrong with this design, as we know it is a good one because it is how
all life works. Just the same, though, Molecular Cybernetic nano computers
would work through electrical applications, a process we have long found to be
superior to mechanical.
Construction a Molecular Cybernetic Nano
Computer involves the arrangement of Qmotes into a desired form so they can
exchange photons in a process, then downloading the files and operations to be
computed. The result is a system of almost unlimited memory and processor
speeds, - faster than our own biological functions – and happening at the speed
of light. I do not think I need to say much more, it’s one of them things that
is shocking but self-evident.
Nano Machines
Characterizing nano machines is a
little complicated, as an assembler or a nano computer can both be nano
machines by definition, but what I am referring to here is a configuration of
Qmotes that take on mechanical task. A good example would be the configuration
of a type of acoustic transceiver, this would consist of a wall of Qmotes that
vibrate (a mechanical state) and record sound or produce sound as desired.
Molecular Cybernetic Nano Machines
like Nano Computers in the last section will outperform the ideas proposed
previously, as they do not necessarily have to consist of molecular fabricated
mechanical devices but be Qmote fabricated throughout. There is of course limits
to this, although, those limits can be breached by the addition of on the spot
assembly of the desired mechanical substance.
What type of applications would full
Qmotes be able to morph into? Many I believe, so many that it might take
encyclopedias to catalog even half there arrangements, although we now have the
memory capacity to store and retrieve it, so begin preparing your proposals.
Below I will propose a few of the basic ones that seem self-evident.
(1) Light Ways: this is a polymorphic fiber optic
design that can lay itself automatically. Its use would be in connecting points
with a secure communication link. It could as well allow the transit of Qmotes
if needed.
(2) Invisibility Cloaking: this can be done via modulating
your Qmotes, having one receiving the range of reflection it needs to mimic and
the other producing it.
(3) Sensory Implant: since Qmotes can mimic chemical
actions it could attach to your central nervous system and perform an interface
to give or remove stimuli, producing reality virtually.
(4) Oxygen Scrubber: a disassembler platform that
removes carbon from our respiration to allow breathing in any environment.
(5) Acoustic Transceiver: a platform of Qmotes that
vibrate to record and produce sound.
(6) Launcher: a type of electromagnetic system to accelerate
Qmotes into orbit or space via the modulation of Mote Magnetic parameters.
(7) Zoological Tag and Monitoring: this is a two piece
configuration, one part is a tag that you attach to the specimen to monitor its
functions, the second is a balloon-wing type configuration that would glide
over an area to communicate with the tags.
Conclusion
Molecular Cybernetics research is
bound to begin in a very short time, so answers are sure to begin rolling in.
Qmotes are simple enough that with proximal probe machines you could produce
thirty within a day or so, and armed with a computed and laser technology begin
ground breaking research in the development that is to come.
I am certain that within the year we
will have a print for a basic Qmote construction, and through bulk
manufacturing or parallel proximal probe the Breakthrough will be upon us.
Throughout this paper is many
Drexlerian references, and these have been intentionally, Dr. Drexler through
his writing and work at his Foresight Institute has repeatedly elaborated on
the responsibility that we must bear when the Breakthrough happens, and I am in
league whole heartedly with these intentions. It is my view that the rise of
the nano is a good thing, and by following the Drexler model we can cushion and
troublesome applications might arise.
I find comfort in this sphere of
discussion from a recent quote in Inc. Magazine by Alvin Toffler the author of
the best-selling “Future Shock” who stated very simply and profoundly:
“Technology doesn’t do anything by itself. There is no such thing as a
technology that is capable of functioning outside a social setting. Technology
is a social invention.”(40)
How true that is, we invented the
radio, television, automobile, etc., and look how they have improved who we
have come to be. The most supreme of technologies is upon is, and society is
liberated. Long Live the Revolution!
References
(1) Drexler, K. Eric, “Unbounding the Future: the
nanotechnology revolution,” 1991, Quill, New York, NY; pp.34
(2) Feynman, Richard, “There’s Plenty of Room at the
Bottom”, reprinted in “Miniaturization,” edited by H.D. Gilbert, 1962, Basic
Books, New York, NY
(3) Drexler, K. Eric, “Engines of Creation: the coming
era of nanotechnology,” 1987, Anchor Press New York, NY
(4) Quoted from “Nanotech Bill gives field a Boost”,
by A.G. (Alexandra Goho) in Science News, Dec.3, 2003, Vol. 164, No. 23, p. 366
(5) Drexler, “Engines of Creation”, pp.288
(6) Note: The concept for “Breakthrough” is a
Drexlerian one that is concerned with a type of cascading effect of technology
and the responsibility that goes with it. For a good ideal on this read,
Drexler, “Unbounding the Future”.
(7) Hays, Clyde L., “Molecular Cybernetics: a proposal
for the construction of a Quantum Dot Utility Fog.” January 2004
(8) Hall, J. Storrs, “Utility Fog: A Universal
Physical Substance,” Vision-21, Westlake, OH, NASA Conference Publication
10129, pp. 115-126 and Utility Fog: the stuff Dreams are made of,” http://www.nanotech.rutgers.edu.nanotech/Ufog.html
(9) McCarthy, Wil, “The Heart of (Programmable)
Matter”, http://scifi.com/sfw/Issue203/labnotes.html
(10) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter, Levitating Chairs,
Quantum Mirages, and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable Atoms,” 2003, Basic
Books, New York, NY
(11) Note: All my knowledge on Quantum Dots comes from
the informative book titled “Hacking Matter” by Wil McCarthy
(12) Kastner, Marc A., “Artificial Atoms”, 1993,
Physics Today, January, pp.24-31
(13) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter”, pp.17-19
(14) Kastner, Marc A., “Artificial Atoms”
(15) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter”, pp.16, “An when
voltages are placed across them, they bring large number of electrons and
electron holes together at fixed energies, and thus have the interesting
property of producing photons of very precise wavelengths. This means they can
be used to make laser beams including ‘surface emitting’ lasers that can be
fashioned directly onto the surface of a microchip.”
(16) Ibid, pp. 2053, “Bawendi’s solids can also be
excited optically rather than electrically: like the quantum dot solutions they
have the fascinating ability to drink in light at virtually any higher
wavelength, and spit it back out in a newly monochromatic stream. The light
source can be almost anything: white, colored, laser, ultraviolet … What comes
out is a single bright color determined by the exact characteristics of the
quantum dot. These crystals also reflect, refract, and absorb light in
interesting – and electrically variable ways.”
(17) Ibid, pp. 102-103, “It’s not clear whether quantum
dots can improve on this performance, but one thing they should be uniquely
able to do is modify their magnetic properties on the fly. This could be
accomplished by wither pumping in and out, moving the electrons to excited
states where there spins are different, or distorting or reshaping the orbital
structure to achieve a particular effect. One of the scientist I spoke with
boasted privately that his lab would produce switchable ferromagnetic material
by 2006, ‘I know just how to do it, he mouths, ‘but I’m a college professor. I
write grants and reviews and papers, there’s not much time for actual work.
What I need to do is find the right grad student to work on it for me.”
(18) Ibid, pp. 111, “With arrays of quantum dots,’
Ashoori notes, ‘you could make artificial materials with any sort of electronic
or magnetic properties that you like. I think there are huge possibilities.”
(19) Ibid, pp.143, “An individual quantum dot can
produce light only at one specific frequency (color) which is determined by the
energy levels of its trapped electrons.”
(20) Ibid, pp. 104-106, for complete discussion on
chemical aspects, and, pp. 159, also, despite its solid-state design, Wellstone
[quantum dot fibers] is capable of weakly interacting with other objects. It
can grasp atoms and molecules, and even pass them around one dot to the next.”
(21) McCarthy, Wil; and Snyder, Gary E.; Provisional
Patent Application Ser. #60/312264, filed 13 August 2001, titled “Quantum Dot
Fiber”
(22) Kim, Scott, “Hyperspace: Up, Out, and Away” in
Discover Magazine, Oct. 2002, p.82
(23) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter”, pp. 32-33
(24) Ibid, pp.32, for NIST and Caltech reports,;
Nakamura discover from Technology Review, Oct. 2003, pp. 106, and see also,
Jan. 2004 Discover Magazine article, “Quantum Computing Makes a Giant Leap,” by
Kathy A. Svitil, pp. 33
(25) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter”, pp. 20
(26) Ibid, pp. 130-131
(27) Note: Ibis, pp. 191, McCarthy classifies this
design as a quantum dot, giving us more possibilities for its use.
(28) Note: FPGA’s have begun hitting the market through
the Xilinx Corporation, and a discussion on their use can be found in, Martin,
J. “After the Internet: Alien Intelligence,” 2000, Capital Press, Washington,
DC, pp. 289-290
(29) Note: see, Wolfram, Stephen, “A New Kind of
Science”, 2002, Wolfram Media, Champaign, IL, for a discussion on Universal
Computation and Networking.
(30) Drexler, “ Engines of Creation”
(31) Drexler, “Unbounding the Future”, pp. 123-126
(32) Ibid, pp.118
(33) Ibid, pp. 98
(34) Milburn, G.J. “Schrodinger’s Machines: the Quantum
Technology Reshaping Everyday Life,” 1996, Freeman, New York, NY, pp.91
(35) Webster’s American Family Dictionary, pp. 732
(36) See Aug. 203, Discover Magazine, article “Darwin
in a Box,” by Steven Johnson, pp. 24-25, and also Martin, “After the Internet”,
pp. 281-294
(37) Encyclopedia of Science and Technology, 2001
Routledge, New York, NY, pp. 129
(38) McCarthy, Wil, “Hacking Matter”, pp. 97
(39) Drexler, “Engines of Creation”, pp. 53
(40) Ibid, pp. 285-286
(41) Katkin, Joel, “The Future is Here: But it is
Shocking?” , Inc. Magazine, Dec. 2000, pp. 108-114
Selected Glossary
Covered here are only new concepts,
others that are important can be found via references listed.
·
Intermod (Enter-Mod) or Interface Module: A Molecular Cybernetic configuration that takes
on a hierarchical status to control a network of Qmotes.
·
Molecular Cybernetics: the control of molecular substances through
Qmotes
·
Polymorphous Networks: a network system that can mimic other networks
by reconfiguring how its structure is arranged.
·
Qgen or Quantum Generator: the internal processor of a Qmote
·
Qmote or Quantum Mote: an individual polygon with quantum dots on all
of its outer surfaces and a central processor in its innards for control.
·
Qsec or Quantum Secure: a title referring to the use of Quantum
Cryptographic principals in Qmote communication.
