Re: confession of spikeness: massing C14

From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Sat Oct 23 1999 - 13:39:48 MDT


On Sat, 23 Oct 1999, Spike Jones wrote:

>
> 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

I got a kick out of Jeff's comments as well. My comments
were intended as editorial remarks on some of the threads
that have/are/will-be accumulating lots of back-and-forth
response where the positions seem to be relatively static.

>
> Re: nanotubes, atomic billiards and oscillation times to weigh 14C
>
Nice idea. That approach isn't one included in Nanomedicine so I
think you get a prize. I think you are going to need something
a little more sophisticated to actually "detect" the rate
of oscillation. Perhaps you balance the nanotube on a another
nanotube and then watch the tube tips back and forth as the atom
flys between the ends.

I did discuss at the Foresight conference using nano-mass-spec
machines to do atomic separations. It seems like you have a
macro-scale machine to set up a huge magnetic field (nano doesn't
do magnetism very well), then have a huge number nano-atomic
injectors injecting in atoms at precise velocities and charges.
They fly down the tube bending slowly and precisely enter
the exact "atom bucket" required for their atomic weight.
Since you aren't interested in measuring things, like a normal
mass-spec machine is, you don't care about the detectors.
You simply open up the atom bucket at the end of the day
and pour out your isotopically pure material. What the
nanotech buys you is the ability to get the required
accuracy over the velocity and charge and a repetition
rate that allows a high volume of material to be handled.

> 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

We need more folks like you Spike.

Robert



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