Abstract:
Chris Phoenix: A few days ago, I was making a list of the reasons why molecular manufacturing might have met with such slow acceptance and determined resistance. Perhaps the answer is simply that it takes a long time for paradigms to shift, and molecular manufacturing--even in its "boring" formulation of depositing atoms to build stuff--did require a paradigm shift. It's easy to forget that a few years ago, that was widely thought to be impossibly difficult, and many even assumed it was forbidden by the laws of physics.