Drexler Nanosystems Rotary Design Animation

This is an animation based on a schematic design by K. Eric Drexler in his book 'Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation'. This nanometer scale rotary built to atomic precision, will purify specific molecules by transferring only the correct molecule from the left to the right chamber.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• nanotechnology
• nano
• nanotech
• future
• science
• computers
• technology
• nanotechnologies
• Eric
• Drexler
• molecular

[nanogirl]

(Read second) The molecular sorter here is a single step in which the molecule either binds to the receptor or it doesn't and it is one step in of a much longer multi step process. Look up "Nanofactory Movie" to see the full process. For more technical details read the book Nanosystems by Drexler who designed this structure and is an authority on the subject.

[HighestRank]

Feed a fat enough needle into a lock and jam it! XD

Chiiiiiiiiiiiii!

[nanogirl]

Part2: The time and mathematical calculations will be factored into the real design. If you are making the point based on this simulation you are not looking at atomic scale time, nor are you looking at the chemical binding interactions, nor are you looking at the entire nanoassembler design. Again, if you want more technical details you can find them in the designers book, Nanosystems by K. Eric Drexler.

[nanogirl]

Part 1: This is an animation that I made in real time so it is functioning in a real time that you are able to view. Atomic scale is different than ours (not real time), and the representations in this nanoscale scale model reside in that atomic scale time. This is a simulation I made with a computer program, not a physical design with an AFM (a physical design is not here yet) - although you can take a look at nature for references.

[terrafirmaterrafirma]

The turning of the nano-selector may be faster than the time it take the non-fitting molecule to be rejected. Thus I still hold that the nano selector as depicted in the video is prone to jamming unless additional measures are taken.

[nanogirl]

(Read first) If a molecule doesn't fit into a binding site it binds very poorly and comes off right away, (remember that there is not just a shape interaction here, but a chemical interaction as well). There are cases in biology with protein enzymes, in which a molecule will bind tightly to a site and poison the enzyme from working further - these involve multi step reactions in which the poison fits the first step but not the second step.

[terrafirmaterrafirma]

ummm, you may not *perfectly* fit a square peg into a round hole, but you can certainly fit something that will jam the nano-selector. Example, you can certainly feed a fat enough needle into a lock and jam it.

[nanogirl]

Think of it this way, you can not fit a square peg into a round hole. If the positive shape does not match the negative shape, it will not go in, thus will not jam. If you want more details on this design, check out the book Nanosystems by Drexler.

[terrafirmaterrafirma]

I hope so. I am left with the question. What happens if a nano-selector gets jammed. Obviously under some conditions this could spell disaster. Maybe the nano selector can be designed in such a way that when it know it is jammed (no rotation possible) it will rotate the other way, and then back again.