The use of nanotechnology in fiction has attracted scholarly attention.[1][2][3][4] The first use of the distinguishing concepts of nanotechnology was "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", a talk given by physicist Richard Feynman in 1959. K. Eric Drexler's 1986 book Engines of Creation introduced the general public to the concept of nanotechnology. Since then, nanotechnology has been used frequently in a diverse range of fiction, often as a justification for unusual or far-fetched occurrences featured in speculative fiction.[5]
In 1931, Boris Zhitkov wrote a short story titled "Microhands" (Микроруки), where the narrator builds for himself a pair of microscopic remote manipulators and uses them for fine tasks like eye surgery. When he attempts to build even smaller manipulators operated by the first pair, the story goes into detail about the problem of regular materials behaving differently on a microscopic scale.
In his 1956 short story titled "The Next Tenants", Arthur C. Clarke describes tiny machines that operate at the micrometer scale – although not strictly nanoscale ("billionth of a meter"), they are perhaps the first fictional example of the concepts now associated with nanotechnology.
A concept similar to nanotechnology, called "micromechanical devices," was described in Stanislaw Lem's 1959 novel Eden. These devices were used by the aliens as "seeds" to grow a wall around the human spaceship. [6] Lem's 1964 novel The Invincible involves the discovery of an artificial ecosystem of minuscule robots, although like in Clarke's story they are larger than what is strictly meant by the term 'nanotechnology'.
Robert Silverberg's 1969 short story How It Was when the Past Went Away describes nanotechnology[clarification needed] being used in the construction of stereo loudspeakers, with a thousand speakers per inch.[5]
The 1984 novel Peace on Earth by Stanislaw Lem tells about small bacteria-sized nanorobots that look like normal dust (developed by artificial intelligence placed by humans on the Moon in the era of cold warfare) that later come to Earth and are begin replicating, destroying all weapons, modern technology and software, while leaving living organisms (as there were no living organisms on the Moon) intact.
The 1985 novel Blood Music by Greg Bear (originally a 1983 short story) features genetically engineered white blood cells that eventually learn to manipulate matter on an atomic scale.
The 1991 novelization of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, authored by Randall Frakes, expands the origin story of the T-1000 Terminator through the inclusion of a prologue set in the future. It is explained that the T-1000 is a 'Nanomorph', created by Skynet, through the use of programmable nanotechnology. This was only implied in the film itself.
The 1992 novel Assemblers of Infinity is a science-fiction novel authored by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason. The plot line makes specific mention of nano-assembly and nano-disassembly robots, along with admonitions regarding the dangers that these bacteria-sized machines might pose.
In Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars (1992), the extraordinary tensile strength of carbon nanotubes is used to create a tether for a space elevator, which connects Mars to an asteroid that has been led into orbit around the planet. The space elevator speeds travel of people and materials between Earth and Mars, but also creates tension between factions — and is later destroyed.
Neal Stephenson's 1995 novel The Diamond Age is set in a world where nanotechnology is commonplace. Nanoscale warfare, fabrication at the molecular scale, and self-assembling islands all exist.
The morphing technology in Animorphs is described as a form of nanotechnology that allows its users to transform into other animal and alien species, as well as members of their own species.
The Trinity Blood series published 2001-2004features an alien nanomachine found on Mars that is present in the body of the protagonist, Abel Nightroad. These nanomachines are known as Krusnik nanomachines, and feed on the cells of vampires.
Nanobots (called Nanoes) are central to Stel Pavlou's novel Decipher (2001).
Michael Crichton's novel Prey (2002) is a cautionary tale about the possible risks of developing nanotechnology.[7] In Prey, a swarm of molecule-sized nanorobots develops intelligence and becomes a large scale threat.
The 2003 Dean Koontz novel By the Light of the Moon features characters injected with nanotechology against their will by an unscrupulous research scientist.
The 2006 children's novel The Doomsday Dust (book 4 in the Spy Gear Adventures series by Rick Barba) features a nanite swarm as the villain.
A nanomorph, a term first coined by science fiction writer David Pulver in 1986's GURPS Robots, is a fictional robot entirely made of nanomachines. Its brain is distributed throughout its whole body, which also acts as an all-around sensor, making it impossible to surprise as long as the target is in line of sight. A nanomorph is arguably the robotic ultimate in versatility, maybe even in power.[citation needed] Further uses of the concept could include using parts of its body as a tracking to perform several tasks, or merging with another nanomorphs to form a greater one, or gliding/flying like an ornithopter (by molding itself into a giant, articulated kite). A common improvement is the ability to cover itself with specific colors and textures in a realistic manner (the ultimate being to look like a human, à la doppelgänger).
In the Expanse series, the protomolecule was created by a race of ancient aliens and sent to star systems across the galaxy to terraform planets into habitable worlds and develop a gateway network to facilitate interstellar travel. The protomolecule could consume biomass and technology and use them to serve various functions. Numerous violent conflicts occurred between factions of humanity, notably the United Nations, Martian Congressional Republic, Outer Planets Alliance, and Laconian Empire, for control of this technology.
Rudy Rucker's 2007 novel Postsingular depicts the protagonists' experiences with three generations of swarm nanorobots: "nants", initially tasked with consuming the Earth and Moon (including organic life) to create a virtual Earth before being reversed; "orphids", tasked with a more ubiquitous and assistive role in augmenting reality, interfacing with human thought and even enabling interdimensional travel; and "silps", which accomplish the Singularity by replacing the previous generations of nanorobots and enable organic beings and inorganic material on Earth to express sentient, intelligible thought to each other. Rucker's 2009 sequel Hylozoic continues the protagonists' experiences with silps after the Singularity as they enable interstellar and interdimensional travel and communication with Earth by extraterrestrial beings who have already experienced similar Singularities themselves.
Film and television
One of the first mentions on a television show was an announcement to students over the school loudspeakers in the 1987 Max Headroom episode, "Academy" that, "Nanotechnology pod test results are posted in the Submicron Lab for your viewing."
The anime series Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex employs a plotline heavily involved in the use of "micromachines" as a form of treatment against complex diseases after a subject undergoing cyberisation.
In the Star Trek universe, from Star Trek: The Next Generation onward, the Borg use nanomachines, referred to as nanoprobes, to assimilate individuals into their collective. In another episode, an experiment by Wesley Crusher gone awry led to nanites developing a collective intelligence and interfering with ship systems, eventually being deposited on a planet to establish their own civilization.
On the television show Red Dwarf, nanobots played a notable role in series VII to IX. Nanobots are nanotechnology created to be a self-repair system for androids like Kryten as they can also change anything into anything else. Kryten's nanobots grow bored of their duties and take over the ship Red Dwarf, leaving the crew to try and recapture it aboard the smaller Starbug. In the end the ship they are chasing is actually a smaller Red Dwarf built by the nanobots (which evaded their scanners in the end by coming aboard Starbug), with the rest being changed into a planet. Once the crew discover this and find the nanobots, they force them to rebuild Red Dwarf (as well as Dave Lister's then-missing arm). In the end the nanobots build an enhanced Red Dwarf based on the original design plans. They also resurrect the original full crew killed in the first episode.
Nanobots were also featured during the Sci-Fi Channel era of Mystery Science Theater 3000, where they were known as "nanites". They were depicted on the show as microscopic, bug-like, freestanding robots with distinct personalities.
Nanotechnology appeared several times in the TV series Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, in the form of the replicators and the Asurans, respectively. A "nanovirus" is also seen in Stargate Atlantis.
In Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001), a criminal blows up a tanker trunk containing a nanobot virus that instantly kills thousands.
In the 2003 film Agent Cody Banks, a scientist creates nanobots programmed to clean up oil spills.
In the 2004 film I, Robot, nanites are used to wipe out artificial intelligence in the event of a malfunction and are depicted as a liquid containing tiny silver objects.
In the 2005 Doctor Who television episode "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances" a metal cylinder falls from space and lands in World War II-era London, releasing nanobots which transform every human they come into contact with into gas mask-wearing zombies, like the first human they encountered, a gas mask-wearing child.
In the 2008 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, the alien robot "GORT" disintegrates into a swarm of self-replicating nanobots shaped like bugs that cover Earth and destroy all humans and artificial structures by seemingly devouring them within seconds.
The revamped Knight Rider television series and TV movie incorporate nanotechnology into the Knight Industries Three Thousand (KITT), allowing it to change color and shape, as well as providing abilities such as self-regeneration.
In the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the main plot is to save the world from a warhead containing deadly nanobots called the "Nanomites", which if detonated over a city could destroy it in hours.
The popular NBC science fiction show, Revolution, is based on a worldwide blackout due to the manipulation of nanotechnology.
In 2010 Generator Rex was shown on Cartoon Network. It was based on a laboratory experiment going wrong and infecting the world with bad "Nanites" which turned people into monsters known as E.V.Os.
In the Ben 10 series, there is a nanotechnology-based alien species called Nanochips, who first appeared in the live-action movie Ben 10: Alien Swarm.
Nanotechnology is featured heavily within the Terminator film series. The 1991 film Terminator 2: Judgment Day and 2015 film Terminator: Genisys feature the T-1000 terminator. The T-1000 is composed of Mimetic Polyalloy, a liquid metal that utilizes nanites for shapeshifting abilities; Giving the T-1000 the ability to mimic anyone it samples through physical contact. It can also form its arms into blades and stabbing weapons and instantly recover from any damage. In the 2003 film Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines a new terminator, the T-X, also utilities Mimetic Polyalloy for shapeshifting abilities; like the T-1000 it can mimic anyone it touches. The T-X is also equipped with nanotechnological transjectors, and can infect and control other machines using nanites.
In Terminator Genisys, human resistance leader John Connor is infected with "machine phase matter" by a T-5000 terminator, transforming John into a "T-3000". The T-3000, like the T-1000 and T-X units, has shapeshifting and replication abilities. This unit's deadly structure gives the T-3000 the unique ability to instantly scatter into particles and then quickly reform to avoid harmful impact as well as instantly recovering from damage.
In the 2014 film Transcendence, the uploaded consciousness of Will Caster (Johnny Depp) uses nanotechnology to turn himself, and the local townsfolk, into a self-healing defense force with superhuman strength.
In Venture Brothers Season 6 Episode 3 "Faking Miracles" a laboratory accident leads nanobots to enter Dean Venture's body. Billy Quizboy and Peter White take remote control of the nanobots, inadvertently torturing Dean to showcase the power of the nanobots to Dr. Venture. Eventually they are used, unbeknownst to Dean, to improve his intelligence so that he can pass an entrance examination for college. In the post-credit scene Dean painfully urinates them out like a set of kidney stones.
In PlanetSide and PlanetSide 2, nanites are used to fabricate weapons, vehicles, structures, equipment, and even resurrect human bodies. The development of rebirthing technology has allowed soldiers achieve immortality by downloading their consciousness into a new body composed entirely of nanites.
In Rise of the Robots and Rise 2: Resurrection, A nanomorth features a gynoid known as the Supervisor which composed of Chromium element, a liquid metal that utilizes nanites for shapeshifting abilities and a hive mind constructed from trillions of nanobots in a sealed central chamber within Metropolis 4 . Due to the corruption of the EGO virus which infect the Supervisor, she now controls the Electrocorp and all other machines in Metropolis 4.
In some games of the Mortal Kombat series, the character Smoke is a cloud of nanobots.
In System Shock 2 (1999), "nanites" are used as currency as well as a type of weapon ammo.
In Deus Ex (2000), nanotechnology is an important part of both the plot and game mechanics. A very dangerous technology in the wrong hands, it provides a number of superhuman abilities to the protagonist along with novel approaches to weaponry such as the coveted Dragon's Tooth Sword.
The MMORPGAnarchy Online (launched 2001) is set on a planet with well-developed nanotechnology, which generally is used as magic in fantasy-themed games.
In Metal Gear Solid (1998) the protagonist got nanomachines to supply and administer adrenalin, nutrients, sugar, nootropics, and benzedrine and to recharge a Codec's battery. The protagonist of Metal Gear Solid 2 (2001) had artificial blood infused with nanomachine that served functions such as healing. Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008) featured a great deal of nanotechnology, such as the Sons of the Patriots, an artificial intelligence/nanomachine network that regulated and enhanced the actions of every lawful combatant in the world. In Metal Gear Rising Revengeance (2013) the main antagonist Senator Armstrong also augments himself with nanotechnology.
In Red Faction (2001), nanotechnology is used on Mars to control miners, and Red Faction Guerilla (2009) features nanotechnology, in particular a device called the Nano Forge, as a major plot point.
The computer game Hostile Waters features a narrative involving nanotech assemblers.
In the Ratchet & Clank series, the health system involves nanotechnology. The nanotech can be upgraded by purchase in the first game, or by defeating enemies in other games of the series.
Nanotechnology is also found in Crysis (2007), Crysis 2 (2011), and Crysis 3 (2013). The protagonists of these games are equipped with a "Nano Suit", which enables them to become stronger, invisible, heavily armored, etc.
In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (2009), Reed Richards creates nanites that are meant to control the minds of supervillains. However, the nanites evolve into a group mind called the Fold which serves as the primary antagonist for the game.
In SpaceChem the player has to build molecular assembler/disassemblers using nanomachines called "Waldos" controlled by a visual programming language.
The Distant Stars expansion for Stellaris heavily features nanotechnology in many aspects.
In the 2022 third-person shooteraction role-playing video game for mobile Goddess of Victory: Nikke features the titular character's biological brains in game are flooded with nanomachines referred to as NIMPH (Neuro-Implanted Machine for the Protection of Humans), which manipulate the synaptic connections of neurons to control the Nikke's memories. These are employed to erase familial memories to ensure they are made into ideal obedient humanoid weapons, not bound by human attachments.[8] The NIMPHs are also utilized as a fetter to have codes that prevent them from disobeying humans as well as attacking them.[9]
Comics and other media
In the manga series Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, nanotechnology is referenced numerously and its use is heavily restricted, owing to the loss of Mercury as a potential planetary colony due to a grey goo catastrophe. Its danger and control has become one of the main driving narratives in the story.
In Dx13: Nano A Mano[10] - a manga series by Kirupagaren Kanni - the protagonist uses nanobots to create a giant mecha, which is remotely controlled by custom-built equipment such as electronic glove, microphones, cameras, etc.
Nanomites appear in the G.I. Joe Reinstated series published by Devil's Due.
In the anime and manga series Black Cat, Eve has the ability to manipulate nanomachines. Nanobots are later used for a variety of purposes, from turning victims into berserk warriors to granting Creed Diskenth immortality.
In the anime and manga series To Love-Ru, the Transformation Weapons Golden Darkness and Mea Kurosaki have nanomachines within them, in the same manner as Eve from Black Cat.
In the anime and manga series Project ARMS, the ARMS are weapons made from many nanomachines imbued into compatible biological beings, granting them a great variety of combative abilities and regeneration. The four protagonists each have an ARMS that have artificial intelligence, but the Keith series and the modulated ARMS do not.
In the LEGO franchise BIONICLE, it is eventually revealed that all characters from the 2001–2008 storyline are biomechanical nanobots (though roughly human-sized, given the size of the gigantic robot they inhabit (12,192 km tall)).
One of the earliest appearances of nanotech in comics was the Technovore from Iron Man 294 (July 1993).
In several X-Men storylines, nano-sentinels appear, either used to modify human beings into Prime Sentinels (including the character Fantomex), or to infect mutants and attack their cells.
Molecular nanotechnology (MNT) is a technology based on the ability to build structures to complex, atomic specifications by means of mechanosynthesis. This is distinct from nanoscale materials.
Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the Earth's civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronomical, an impact event; destructive, nuclear holocaust or resource depletion; medical, a pandemic, whether natural or human-caused; end time, such as the Last Judgment, Second Coming or Ragnarök; or any other scenario in which the outcome is apocalyptic, such as a zombie apocalypse, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics or alien invasion.
Science fiction is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, mutants, interstellar travel, time travel, or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition.
The Berserker series is a series of space opera science fiction short stories and novels by Fred Saberhagen, in which robotic self-replicating machines strive to destroy all life.
The Invincible is a hard science fiction novel by Polish writer Stanisław Lem, serialized in Gazeta Bialostocka in 1963 and published as a book in 1964.
The term superhuman refers to humans, humanoids or other beings with qualities and abilities that exceed those naturally found in humans. These qualities may be acquired through natural ability, self-actualization or technological aids. The related concept of a super race refers to an entire category of beings with the same or varying superhuman characteristics, created from present-day human beings by deploying various means such as eugenics, euthenics, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and/or brain–computer interfacing to accelerate the process of human evolution.
Strata is a 1981 science fiction comedy novel by Terry Pratchett. It is one of Pratchett's first novels and one of the few purely science fiction novels he wrote, along with The Dark Side of the Sun.
Prey is the thirteenth novel by Michael Crichton under his own name and his twenty-third novel overall. It was first published in November 2002, making it his first novel of the twenty-first century. An excerpt was first published in the January–February 2003 issue of Seed magazine.Prey brings together themes from two earlier Crichton best-selling novels, Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain and serves as a cautionary tale about developments in science and technology, in particular, nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and distributed artificial intelligence.
The concept of self-replicating spacecraft, as envisioned by mathematician John von Neumann, has been described by futurists and has been discussed across a wide breadth of hard science fiction novels and stories. Self-replicating probes are sometimes referred to as von Neumann probes. Self-replicating spacecraft would in some ways either mimic or echo the features of living organisms or viruses.
Nanoid robotics, or for short, nanorobotics or nanobotics, is an emerging technology field creating machines or robots, which are called nanorobots or simply nanobots, whose components are at or near the scale of a nanometer. More specifically, nanorobotics refers to the nanotechnology engineering discipline of designing and building nanorobots with devices ranging in size from 0.1 to 10 micrometres and constructed of nanoscale or molecular components. The terms nanobot, nanoid, nanite, nanomachine and nanomite have also been used to describe such devices currently under research and development.
Nanobiotechnology, bionanotechnology, and nanobiology are terms that refer to the intersection of nanotechnology and biology. Given that the subject is one that has only emerged very recently, bionanotechnology and nanobiotechnology serve as blanket terms for various related technologies.
The Saga of Seven Suns is a series of seven space opera novels by American writer Kevin J. Anderson, published between 2002 and 2008. The books are set in a not-too-distant future where humans have colonized a number of other planets across the galaxy, thanks in part to technological assistance from an ancient alien race, the Ildirans. The series chronicles the universe-spanning war that erupts when humans inadvertently ignite the fury of a hidden empire of elemental aliens known as the hydrogues. Internal conflict is sparked within both the human and Ildiran empires as other ancient elemental races reappear to renew their own ancient war with the hydrogues.
Singularity 7 is a four-issue comic book mini-series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It was published by American company IDW Publishing in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror, to tell the story of a post-apocalyptic dystopian future.
The Killing Star is a hard science fiction novel by American writers Charles R. Pellegrino and George Zebrowski, published in April 1995. It chronicles a sudden alien invasion in a late 21st century technological utopia, while covering several other speculative fiction ideas such as sublight interstellar travel, genetic cloning, virtual reality, advanced robotics, etc.
Nanopunk refers to an emerging subgenre of science fiction that is still very much in its infancy in comparison to its ancestor-genre, cyberpunk, and some of its other derivatives.
The Drexler–Smalley debate on molecular nanotechnology was a public dispute between K. Eric Drexler, the originator of the conceptual basis of molecular nanotechnology, and Richard Smalley, a recipient of the 1996 Nobel prize in Chemistry for the discovery of the nanomaterial buckminsterfullerene. The dispute was about the feasibility of constructing molecular assemblers, which are molecular machines which could robotically assemble molecular materials and devices by manipulating individual atoms or molecules. The concept of molecular assemblers was central to Drexler's conception of molecular nanotechnology, but Smalley argued that fundamental physical principles would prevent them from ever being possible. The two also traded accusations that the other's conception of nanotechnology was harmful to public perception of the field and threatened continued public support for nanotechnology research.
Clifford Donald Simak was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Writers Association made him one of three inaugural winners of the Bram Stoker Award for Lifetime Achievement. He is associated with the pastoral science fiction subgenre.
AI takeover—the idea that some kind of artificial intelligence may supplant humankind as the dominant intelligent species on the planet—is a common theme in science fiction. Famous cultural touchstones include Terminator and The Matrix.
This glossary of nanotechnology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to nanotechnology, its sub-disciplines, and related fields.
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