This the fourth essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it. Part IV: When So when is all this going to happen? To quote Mark Twain, I’m gratified to be able to answer that… Continue reading Singularity, part 4
Advances in using amorphous metal alloys may make possible an inexpensive nanotech version of the molding technique used to make DVDs.
This the third essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it. Part III: Singularity from the bottom up In the previous essay in this series, I argued top-down, from historical and economic precedents, that… Continue reading Singularity, part 3
A response to my “Parricide” essay has been seen on IEEE’s Tech Talk blog. Dexter Johnson gives a fair summary of the positions taken to date, and says As the argument seems to go, Drexler popularized the term nanotechnology in his book Engines of Creation, and so when the general public heard that thousands of… Continue reading The nanotechnology we were promised
This the second essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it. Part II: What is this thing called Singularity? Since I was trained, originally, as a mathemetician, I never really liked the term Singularity.… Continue reading Singularity, part 2
The Foresight Institute has appointed Dr. J. Storrs Hall to the position of President.
Once upon a time, or so the story goes, there was a young man who was hauled up before the court on charges that he had killed his father and mother. He readily confessed to the crime, but nevertheless pled for clemency: after all, he pointed out, he was an orphan. Recently on his blog… Continue reading Parricide
The application is hydrophobic sand, which retains moisture near the roots of desert plants by virtue of a proprietary nanostructured coating on the grains of sand.
This the first essay in a series exploring if, when, and how the Singularity will happen, why (or why not) we should care, and what, if anything, we should do about it. Part I: The Singularity and its Discontents The concept of the Technological Singularity is so clearly part of the zeitgeist that it surely… Continue reading Singularity, part 1
Nanotech may soon provide a solution for one of the more vexing problems in tissue engineering—how to control the differentiation of pluripotent or multipotent precursor cells into the specific cells needed to fix a specific problem.
