2 ms·

1. Internet 2. Human Genome 3. Nano-technology

• axiom 19y ago
  Nano-technology is one of these buzz words that's been applied to everything from MEMS to car polish creams. It's so amorphous and vague that the only definition I can think of is "anything that's pretty damn small." I'm really not sure if it's a useful term at all anymore, or if it just obscures whatever it's used to describe. One of my good friends is doing his PhD on MEMS micro-manipulators. But his work falls under non-linear control systems. Can it be described as nano-technology? sure, but what does that tell you? it hardly clarifies what his research is about, it just makes it sound like he's seeking funding from gullible VC's :)
  • randallsquared 19y ago
    Yeah, nanotechnology was coined to mean molecular manufacturing -- mechanical chemistry. Unfortunately, it's been applied too widely, and so we now have to use these clumsier terms to describe Drexler's idea.