From: Spike Jones (spike66@ibm.net)
Date: Sat Oct 23 1999 - 12:29:54 MDT
Robert J. Bradbury wrote: So we could in general "lighten up" about
> things. It might be much better if we explored the realms of
> our inquiries with the perspective of Zen masters rather than
> that of primitive mercenaries.
He*was* lightening up Robert. Jeff and I are friends in
the material world, offlist. He knows I love jokes and gags
and that I dont take my dignity very seriously. {8^D
Which brings me to *my* retraction {8-[ blush {8^D:
Just yesterday, I *almost* posted the notion that a nanobot
would be unable to tell the difference between a desireable
carbon 12 atom and an explosive carbon 14. You said it
could "weigh" the carbon, throw out the bad guys, etc, and
my reply could be summarized as: "huh?"
This morning I realized you are right: a nanobot *could*
mass a carbon atom, and heres how: it could make a
short carbon nanotube, hemispherical on either end to
make a closed cylindrical capsule, with only the candidate
carbon atom *inside* the tube. Then it could place a positively
charged atom on either end of the tube. A halogen such as
potassium might do the trick, because it would be likely to
maintain a positive charge. Then if the candidate carbon
atom inside the tube were to get ionized (1+), it would repel
the ends of the tube. The ionization process would give
it some momentum, so the carbon atom should bounce
back and forth from one end of the tube to the other. Right?
Now, the *chemical* properties of a 14C are identical to
a 13C or a 12C, but the mass is higher, so looks to me
like the frequency at which the atom bounces from end
to end of the tube would be proportional to the inverse square
root of the atom's mass, so the carbon 14 should bounce back
and forth about 8% slower than a carbon 12 atom. Some
nanoexpert could jump in any time here and help me out {8-].
A nanobot *can* filter out the bad guys! Using this simple
nanoslinky.
If this idea is 800 years old, I still claim to have thought
it up independently. If it is new, I hereby cast it into the
public domain, and ask that no one patents the notion. {8^D spike
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