On the cutting edge of new technology is the nanofactory: a system that takes very small parts and makes them into bigger objects. This is called molecular manufacturing, and involves molecular nanotechnology (MNT) that employs a self-duplicating fabricator. The fabricator is a device in the nano-scale size range that is capable of replicating itself using simple chemicals. When you fasten together a trillion of these little guys, you get a product that you can pick up and hold. Each building block is 200 nm on a side. Functions can be divided into different blocks for power, signal or force. If each block was a simple CPU, you could build a supercomputer if you connect enough of them.
Diamonds are a popular choice for the building blocks. They would have ten times the strength of steel, and 100 times the strength of plastic or aluminum. Devices manufactured from these blocks would be incredibly compact and space efficient. You could build a CPU with the strength of a Pentium 4 and cut power consumption by a factor of six million. If you could replicate the most powerful computer in the world, you would only need a cubic millimeter of space. Robotic brains that outperform human ones would soon follow, and there is of course a chance that one day mankind will be enslaved or worse by our supersmart overlords. But most experts feel such an eventuality is many years away.
The development of such powerful technology would create security risks, as “bad actor” countries might try to steal the technology for their own nefarious ends. You can easily imagine a rogue scientist trying to sell leads to an Iranian agent for an illegal transfer of technology. This could lead to a nightmare scenario where irresponsible or hostile governments could develop superweapons that could cripple enemy technology. The upshot would be a technology race to create new weapons and new counterweapons. The difference is that the new class of molecular weapons would be so small as to be undetectable, yet could perhaps cripple a country’s communications network or knock out its defense systems.
Assuming mankind can survive the dark side of molecular manufacturing, the benefits would be huge. A whole new reality would be created in which nano-devices can be used to treat disease or repair equipment. In such a world, physicians would be more like engineers, guiding nanoprobes to disease sites in a patient’s body and releasing nanopharmaceuticals at just the right location. You could use just a little bit of very strong medicine to knock out a tumor without hurting surrounding tissue. The possibilities are endless, and it is only a matter of time before this new reality will be upon us.