perfidy

There has been of late a continual trickle of developments in the field of nanotechnology. Some we have covered here at Perfidy - such as the liquid armor developed at the University of Delaware. For a long time, nanotech was pipe dream, or at best the limited product of extreme efforts at the edge of laboratory experimentation. We seem to be reaching a turning point, though, where the techniques of manipulating matter at its smallest, along with ever increasing computer power is leaving the labs and becoming well, not industrialized, but certainly within the reach of more than few dozen scientists. The latest is the invention of a new material that can clot blood almost instantaneously. This substance

Their work exploits the way certain peptide sequences can be made to self-assemble into mesh-like sheets of "nanofibres" when immersed in salt solutions.

In the course of that research they discovered one material's dramatic ability to stop bleeding in the brain and began testing it on a variety of other organs and tissues. When applied to a wound, the peptides form a gel that seals over the wound, without causing harm to any nearby cells.

Rather miraculous. A magical fluid that when applied to a wound, instantly seals it.

And that is the thing about nanotechnology. It seems magical in its effects, though we know that very practical and sober minded scientists have used logic and research at every stage in the development, and that it obeys all known natural laws. We will, I think be confronted by this effect more and more, and much sooner than we think. These things that we are seeing now - potions of healing and +5 magical armor - are just scratching the surface of the potential of nanotechnology. These materials, while wonderful and amazing in their innate capabilities, are nevertheless still ordinary matter - just very cleverly arranged ordinary matter. When we get to the point where we can truly begin to add intelligence to matter - nanotech computers embedded in materials that can respond to commands issued by those computers - we will have smart materials that will dwarf the seemingly magical abilities we've seen so far.

I hope, though, that we don't see a trend of naming new nanotechnological wonders after D&D magic items. Even though I do want a vorpal sword.