Whitesides still skeptical of Drexler designs

from the read-the-literature dept.
PatrickUnderwood brings to our attention a Reason writeup of the recent AAAS nanotech seminar: "While appreciative of Drexler's pivotal role in nanotech, Whitesides was at pains to disagree with many of his ideas. 'I personally don't think that these kinds of things are going to work,' said Whitesides. 'We already have biological motors'…Whitesides dismissed Drexler's notion of nanotech assemblers…How would one power an assembler, asked Whitesides. How would one get it the information it needs to know what to do? And would it be really be strong enough to break atomic bonds?" CP: How long has Nanosystems been out — eight years, isn't it?…sigh.