Get ready for big changes from world of nanotechnology

By Dick Pelletier

      

    Whether you fear it, welcome it, don't understand it, or think it's too crazy to be true, this most hyped science of all time promises a utopian future without disease or food shortage; a world filled with healthcare miracles and longer lifespans for everyone.

    To achieve this remarkable future, researchers must first create a tiny robot assembler that can grab individual atoms and molecules and organize them into items. Futurists at the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology believe that the world's first assembler could be developed by 2020 or before.

    The next step is to build a machine called a nanofactory with billions of assemblers inside. This small machine, which experts believe could be created by mid-2020s, will sit on kitchen counters and make products similar to the way that life creates its miracles.

    Nanofactories will receive raw atoms from supplied chemicals or from something as inexpensive as dirt, air, or water. Then, guided by Internet-delivered software, the machine will assemble atoms into the final product; a sweater, refrigerator, health medicine, tonight's dinner; or even a duplicate nanofactory.

    In a recent Lifeboat Foundation interview, nanotech theorist Robert Freitas said that "Not only will nanotech lower living costs, giving us more leisure time; it will also eliminate nearly all sicknesses and disease." He predicts that from 2010-to-2015, drugs created from this new technology will diagnose illness and destroy cancer cells – and by late 2020s, tiny cell-repair mechanisms will roam through our bodies keeping us forever young and healthy.

    Most gerontologists agree that aging, and therefore "natural" death occurs when the body’s cellular structure cannot repair itself. Cell-repair machines will allow us to rejuvenate damaged cells, eliminate disease and heal injuries. And since aging is a result of accumulated tissue destruction, it will be possible to undo or reverse damages already inflicted. The young will stay young; the old can become young.

    And nanotech promises to lower energy costs too. Scientists at the Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion, a joint industry project are designing nanotech-solar panels printed on Saran Wrap-like rolls, which by as early as 2012, could begin converting rooftops into power generators slashing electric bills in half.

    In Revolutionary Wealth, authors Alvin and Heidi Toffler argue that nanotech will create a post-scarcity world that will slash poverty and "unlock countless opportunities and new life trajectories." Futurist Steve Burgess agrees. In his blog, he predicts that nanofactories could launch an unprecedented era of abundance for everyone.

    By mid-to-late 2020s, nanofactories could provide families with nearly all of their living essentials at little or no cost. Even people in third world nations living in remote locations will have access to this futuristic science as this clever machine can build unlimited copies of itself.

    Clearly, the road to personal nanofactories winds around unknown turns. However, strong commerce and government support will insure its arrival. This "magical future" promises optimum health, longer lifespans and undreamed of personal wealth for everyone on Earth.

    It's going to be a wild future, and this writer only hopes that advancing life extension technologies will enable me and everyone reading this piece to survive and experience all of the miracles this future has to offer.

This article appeared in various print publications and on-line blogs. Comments always welcome.