The first proposal of a path from then current technology to the ability to fabricate complex materials and devices by placing the atoms where you want them was made by Richard Feynman in 1959: “There’s Plenty of Room at the Bottom“, but see also this series “Feynman Path to Nanotechnology“. The second proposal to achieve… Continue reading Unrelated de novo enzyme replaces essential enzyme in cell
It is always a pleasure when those whose work toward Feynman’s goal for nanotechnology—molecular manufacturing, defined as the construction of atomically-precise products through the use of molecular machine systems—whom we have recognized with a Foresight Institute Feynman Prize are subsequently also recognized by the wider community for the importance of their contributions. For example, Sir… Continue reading 2015 Feynman Prize winner named 2018 Australian of the Year
Ultrafast molecular machines made using DNA nanotechnology have now been demonstrated. Over the past several years molecular machines made using DNA nanotechnology, especially the scaffolded DNA origami technology, have grown more complex and more functional (see, for example, here, here, here, and here). Long-time Foresight member Dr. Robert P. Meagley writes to point out that… Continue reading Ultrafast DNA robotic arm: A step toward a nanofactory?
Protein design has been one of the major paths from current fabrication technology toward the goal of general purpose, high-throughput atomically precise manufacturing since Foresight co-founder Eric Drexler proposed it in 1981. It also produced some of the earliest promising results. Although de novo protein design was at first slow, progress has accelerated since David… Continue reading Design of hyperstable constrained peptides
The Foresight Institute was founded in 1986 on a vision presented by Eric Drexler in which the ultimate manufacturing technology uses a machine termed a nanofactory or nanofabricator to provide atom-by-atom control of the manufacturing process for complex objects, both large and small. Although initially controversial, this vision has been increasingly accepted over the past… Continue reading Changing the world with a nanofabricator that could make anything
Mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs), such as rotaxanes and catenanes, provide a fertile opportunity to study some of the complexities of large biological systems of molecular machines, composed of large protein molecules, with small molecular machines composed of small organic molecules containing components that can move relative to each other in response to external control. The… Continue reading Mechanical communication in a rotaxane molecular machine
Longtime Foresight member, and since October 2012 Technology Manager, Advanced Manufacturing Office, U.S. Department of Energy, David Forrest passes along these funding announcements about new opportunities at DOE: Those of you in the Atomically Precise Manufacturing community should be aware of new funding opportunities: ARPA-E The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today [Dec. 13, 2017]… Continue reading Funding announcements for Atomically Precise Manufacturing
If the above picture reminds you of something like it some 27 years ago when physicists announced a nanostructure built atom-by-atom, then it is important to recognize there are multiple crucial differences between the above 2014 image of a Swiss cross formed from 20 precisely placed bromine atoms and the 1990 image of the IBM… Continue reading Building atom-by-atom on insulator at room temperature
In writing for this blog, I am accustomed to rapid changes from one technological area to another, such as from DNA origami to de novo protein design to scanning probe microscopy to molecular machinery based on mechanically interlocked molecular architectures. The DNA and protein work overlaps with biotechnology, and we have always seen all these… Continue reading Blockchains, Cryptoeconomics, and Emerging Technology Risks
Foresight Institute Co-Founder and Projects Director Christine Peterson (full biography) was interviewed recently by 80000 Hours, “an independent nonprofit funded by individual donors” and founded “because we couldn’t find any sources of advice on how to do good with our own working lives. Since 2011, we’ve been on a mission to figure out how best… Continue reading Cyber, Nano, and AGI Risks: Computer Security and Effective Altruism
