How much room is at the bottom?

Nanotechnology is a growing field with great potential and unrealized capabilities even though the concept has been around for approximately 50+ years. The concept of Nanotechnology was first introduced by scientist Richard Feynman. Within his talk to the American Physical Society, Feynman laid the groundwork for the concept of Nanotechnology, even though he never actually used the term Nanotechnology. To this day he is still considered the father of the field based off of the questions and possibilities he posed to his fellow scientists in his talk “There’s Plenty of Room at The Bottom.”

IBM created a movie made entirely from atoms, proving Feynman's 

prediction that we could manipulate atomic structures. (USA Today)

            Within his talk, Feynman covered several topics ranging from how to write small, information on a small scale, miniaturizing the computer and building small robots and factories. Some of these concepts have made it into the overall goals of Nanotechnology, while others have been rendered obsolete by advancements in computing power and storage media. Feynman proposed storing mass amounts of data in small encoded bits, but the method he suggested has a drawback in that the more data you store the more area it takes up (even though it is on the Nano scale). With advancements in storage devices such as USB drives and external Hard Drives data can be stored in a way that can much easier be generated, read and edited compared to the physical storage means Feynman discussed even if they are not on the Nano scale. So ultimately that goal of his talk was short lived even if theoretically possible.

Feynman's vision of nanotechnology is several thousand 

times smaller than even this tiny motorized car. (japanesenostalgiccar.com)

            Another still relevant goal of Feynman’s talk was to miniaturize robotic arms, factories and machines such as lathes. There are several problems that he addresses as a result of miniaturization, such as the scaling of electronics, magnetic forces, tolerancing difficulties, Van Der Waals Molecular Attractions and lubrication.  In short, it is not just about making things smaller, but about fully redesigning and rethinking things as they approach a Nano scale. Objects that work at full size will not function properly scaled down and this has been the biggest stumbling block of Nanotechnology to date.

            Currently Nanotechnology remains in an infancy stage and has huge untapped potential. It has been over 50 years since Feynman gave his groundbreaking talk, but still there has been little advancement over they years. Sure, electron microscopes have gotten better as Feynman predicted, but we are still failing to produce effective working devices on a small scale. Nanotechnology has been used as a new form of materials application, which is exciting, but where are the microscopic robots, or the ground breaking small devices? Was Feynman wrong in his assumptions that we could overcome some of the issues he laid out in his talk? Have we already hit the bottom, or is there just not enough desire, motivation or vision to build on the Nanoscale?

References:

Feynman, Richard. “There’s Plenty of Room at The Bottom.” Caltech Engineering and Science, Volume 23:5, February 1960, pp 22-36. Print.

"The World’s Smallest Car is a Toyota AA." japanesenostalgiccar.com. japanesenostalgiccar.com, 4 Apr 2011. Web. 9 Oct 2015. <http://japanesenostalgiccar.com/2011/04/12/the-worlds-smallest-car-is-a-toyota-aa/>

"Miniature movie carries a lot of (atomic) weight." USA Today. USA Today , 1 May 2013. Web. 9 Oct 2015. <http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/sciencefair/2013/05/01/boy-atom-movie/2124075/>

IBM. "A Boy And His Atom: The World's Smallest Movie." <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA4QWwaweWA>. YouTube. YouTube, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.