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Article: Why scientists are thinking small; researchers strive to create computers with parts the size of molecules or atoms. (Nanotechnology: Part One)(includes related articles on nanotechnology in Japan and on sensors)
- Article from:
- Popular Science
- Article date:
- April 1, 1993
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1993 Bonnier Corporation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Researchers strive to create computers with parts the size of molecules or atoms.
Like most of his utterances, Richard Feynman's speech on Dec. 29, 1959, wasn't predictable. "What would happen if we could arrange atoms, one by one, the way we needed?" the California Institute of Technology physicist and future Nobel laureate asked researchers gathered at an American Physical Society convention. This, he said, would have "an enormous number of technological applications"; scientists could create wires "ten atoms in diameter," make "circuits out of seven atoms," and devise completely new methods of manufacturing.
Some in the audience thought ...