Nanotechnology in fiction
3165257
219546916
2008-06-15T19:31:06Z
Bly1993
401192
{{Nanotech}}
'''Nanotechnology''' and its use '''in fiction''' has attracted scholarly attention.<ref>[http://scx.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/29/1/65 "Tiny Tech, Transcendent Tech - Nanotechnology, Science Fiction, and the Limits of Modern Science Talk"] by Daniel Patrick Thurs in ''Science Communication'', Vol. 29, No. 1, 65-95 (2007)</ref><ref>[http://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/10-2/lopez.htm Bridging the Gaps: Science Fiction in Nanotechnology] by José López in ''International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry'', Vol. 10, No.2 (2004), pp. 129-152.</ref> The first use of the distinguishing concepts of nanotechnology was in "[[There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom]]," a talk given by physicist [[Richard Feynman]] in 1959. [[K. Eric Drexler|K. Eric Drexler's]] 1987 book ''[[Engines of Creation]]'' introduced the general public to the concept of nanotechnology. After this, nanotechnology was used often in [[science fiction]] as a sort of catch-all technology that could explain far-fetched technologies or allow characters to be or do almost anything.<ref name=bly>Bly, Robert W., 2005, ''The Science In Science Fiction: 83 SF Predictions that Became Scientific Reality'', BenBella Books, Inc., ISBN 1932100482.</ref>
In the 1956 short story "The Next Tenants" [[Arthur C. Clarke]] describes tiny machines that operate on a [[Micrometre|microscale]] (millionth of a meter), not on a [[Nanometre|nanoscale]] (billionth of a meter). Despite the difference in scale, the idea behind the technology in Clarke's story is basically the same as nanotechnology. [[Robert Silverberg|Robert Silverberg's]] 1969 short story "How It Was when the Past Went Away" describes nanotechnology used stereo loudspeakers, with a thousand speakers per inch.<ref name=bly/>. Nanotechnology appeared several times in TV series [[Stargate SG1]] and [[Stargate Atlantis]]. They deal with enemies formed by nanites called the [[Replicators]] and the Asurans
The Trinity Blood Series features an alien nanomachine found on Mars which are present in the body of the primary protagonist Abel Nighroad, this nanomachines are known as Krusnik nanomachines, they feed on the Baculli cells of vampires, another alien technology found on the Alien facility known as the Ark on Mars with in the series.
Some critics think that nanotechnology is too risky to be developed without further study. Science fiction writers like [[Michael Crichton]] have explored the potential risks of nanotechnology in their work.<ref name=schwarz>Schwarz, James A., Contescu, Cristian I., Putyera, Karol, 2004, ''Dekker Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology'', CRC Press, ISBN 0824750500.</ref> Crichton's 2002 novel ''[[Prey (novel)|Prey]]'' is probably the first best-seller with a theme based entirely on nanotechnology. ''Prey'' is a [[cautionary tale]] about a colony of molecule-sized [[nanorobot|nanorobots]] that develop [[artificial intelligence]] and become dangerous. In an article in ''[[Parade (magazine)|Parade]]'' magazine, Crichton suggests that nanorobots smaller than dust could be programmed to travel over other countries in a cloud to take reconnaissance photographes.<ref name=bly/> The [[video game]] series ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' by [[Hideo Kojima]] has a theme of nanotechnology, which is implanted in military personnel to electronically transmit data, communications, and even [[medicine]] into their bodies. The "nanomachines" also play a role in the fictional secret cabal known as the Patriots attempts to create a [[dystopian]] society by means such as automatically censoring and staticing out any reference to their existence, keeping people sober, in addition to controlling private military corporation troops and their behavior in combat.
==References==
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==External links==
*[http://www.toddsuomela.com/ecec/2006/09/eric_rabkin_on_science_fiction.html Eric Rabkin on Science Fiction and Perceptions of Nanotechnology]
{{NanoFic}}
[[Category:Nanotechnology]]
[[Category:Fictional technology]]
[[Category:Science in fiction]]