NANOTECHNOLOGY

Imagine we could design a programmable robotic factory in such a way that it itself could be put together by a similar robotic factory. Imagine that this factory can also make solar panels, and also robots that could gather the materials that the factory would use from the environment. Then we have a programmable, self-sufficient, self-replicating factory: it can supply itself with the necessary energy and materials to make copies of itself and ultimately produce what we want it to produce. Capital equipment can increase at a geometric rate, with a relatively short generation time. This means that our productive capabilities can quickly scale to any size task, and production costs fall steeply. By definition, such a system could produce photovoltaic cells at extremely low cost, providing cheap and sustainable energy. By using this infrastructure to build machines that capture excess carbon from the atmosphere, it becomes feasible to reverse global warming in a relatively short..

Also known as: Nanotechnology International