Week 8 - Nanotechnology and Art

With the development of the Scanning Tunneling Microscope and the “Buckey-Ball”, our generation has experienced a drastic paradigm shift that has allowed us to “feel” the previously invisible nanoscopic world (Gimzewski). Nanotech was first mentioned by Norio Taniguchi, and the word is derived from the Greek word for dwarf.  The word dwarf, however, does not even come close to describing just how small things in the nanoscopic world are. One nanometer is one billionth the size of a meter, so small that a wavelength of light is larger, meaning that things in the realm do not “exist” in the visible world (Vesna & Gimzewski). Luckily, however, the Scanning Tunneling Microscope has allowed us to visualize particles on this level by “tracing” over the surfaces of atoms. This has also lead to the realization that we have the ability to manipulate individual atoms to build complex structures “at the bottom” as physicist Richard Feynman puts it (Gimzewski).

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These nano-scale discoveries have lead to development of many new technologies such as hydrophobic substances, modified foods and tiny circuits. Interestingly enough however, the “fact and fiction” of nanotechnology have somewhat of a reciprocal relationship. It’s not so much that our nanotech creations have shaped our science fictions novels, games and culture, rather, these two realms appear to shape one another. For example, nano-scientist and engineer Michael Crichton writes science fiction to shape our “collective nano-consciousness” (Gimzewski & Vesna). Nanotechnology has also appeared in other art forms. The game series Metal Gear Solid often explores the topic of nanotechnology in a military setting, while the 2004 James Bond video game Everything or Nothing revolves around a destructive nanotech substance (Everything or Nothing). All of these examples share the characteristic of depicting nanotechnology as powerful: something that can be used with constructive or destructive intention. For example, Everything or Nothing does not merely depict nanotechnology as a destructive, it is also the technology that power the protagonist’s many gadgets, allowing him to control tiny spy spiders or become invisible.

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As I suggested earlier, some of these fictional gadgets are also influencing scientists today. In Japan, scientists are Tachi Lab are developing a fully functional invisibility cloak (OpticalCamouflage).

However, it is only natural for fiction to outrun reality, for unbounded imagination to dream up the future. It’s exciting to fathom the possibility of biomimicry, nano-medicine, self-organization and nanoscopic circuits. The future is here, we’ve dreamt it, now we must make it a reality.

References

Gimzewski, Jim, and Victoria Vesna. "The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of Fact & Fiction in the Construction of a New Science." UCLA Arts Publications (2004). Print.

James Bond: Everything or Nothing. MGM Interactive. Griptonite Games. 11 Feb. 2011. Video game.

Nanotech Jim Pt1. Perf. Jim Gimzewski. UC Online Program, 2012. Film.

Neibert, Kevin. "How Nanotechnology Is Portrayed in Video Games – The Metal Gear Solid Saga." Kotaku. Kotaku, 23 Apr. 2012. Web.

OpticalCamouflage. 2009. Film.