Center for Responsible Nanotechnolgy (CRN)

CRN Research: Ongoing Results — Log of Updates

On this page we track all substantive changes made to CRN's Ongoing Results pages since their original publication on April 21, 2003. What is NOT logged here are corrections of typos, minor stylistic word changes, punctuation changes, etc. But if we add new ideas, change our ideas or the way we describe them, insert new references, or publish entirely new Current Results pages, we will log those changes here. Please contact us with your comments.

DATE	PAGE AFFECTED	DESCRIPTION OF CHANGE
April 26, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	In paragraph on grey goo, added link to a paper on "Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators", by Robert A. Freitas Jr., published at Foresight.org (thanks to Mr. Freitas for suggestion)
April 26, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	Just below list of 11 risks, added new paragraph that mentions "Existential Risks" and includes link to a paper of that name by Nick Bostrom
April 26, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the second paragraph on extreme solutions, added link at "round-the-clock surveillance" to David Brin's article in Wired on "The Transparent Society"
April 26, 2003	A Solution that Benefits Everyone	In the paragraph on laying a flexible foundation, added link at "ubiquitous" to David Brin's article in Wired on "The Transparent Society"
May 12, 2003	An Overview of CRN's Current Findings	To the paragraph on benefits, added the sentence: "MNT will provide cheap and advanced equipment for medical research and health care, making improved medicine widely available."
May 12, 2003	Benefits of Molecular Nanotechnology	Added a paragraph on medical benefits, one section above the bottom of the page. Also revised the overview at the top of the page, adding the sentence: "MNT will provide cheap and advanced equipment for medical research and health care, making improved medicine widely available."
May 12, 2003	Medical Benefits of Molecular Nanotechnology	Added a new page to our Current Results, linked under the Benefits page.
May 18, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	In the paragraph title "Designing an assembler will be hard but feasible", added a link to a page containing an assembler design commentary from Ralph Merkle.
June 2, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	Below the paragraph on economic disruption, inserted an excerpt from a financial report by Credit Suisse First Boston.
June 13, 2003	Bootstrapping a Nanofactory	Added a new page to our Current Results, linked under the Timelines page.
June 13, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	In the paragraph titled "It's a very short step from an assembler to a nanofactory", added a link to a new page on "Bootstrapping a Nanofactory".
June 20, 2003	A Solution that Balances Many Interests	Changed title of this page from "A Solution that Benefits Everyone".
September 11, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the section on economic oppression, revised wording of the second paragraph to reflect modification of US policy on the WTO pharmaceutical pricing agreement. Added a link to a follow-up news story on the topic.
September 11, 2003	The Need for International Development	In the paragraph titled "International development may reduce special-interest restrictions", revised wording to reflect modification of US policy on the WTO pharmaceutical pricing agreement. Added a link to a follow-up news story on the topic.
September 28, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	In the first sentence of the paragraph titled "It's a very short step from an assembler to a nanofactory", deleted the word 'replicating' and changed 'duplicate itself on command' to 'duplicate itself when supplied with the necessary broadcast instruction stream'.
September 28, 2003	Products of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the first paragraph, changed 'replicating assembler' to 'self-duplicating assembler'.
November 9, 2003	Bootstrapping a Nanofactory	For consistency with the CRN paper, "Design of a Primitive Nanofactory", changed most instances of 'assembler' to 'fabricator'.
November 10, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	For consistency with the CRN paper, "Design of a Primitive Nanofactory", changed most instances of 'assembler' to 'fabricator'.
November 10, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	Removed the following passage: 'A self-contained robotic system that can do the chemistry and assembly required to duplicate itself is called a replicating assembler. (It's sometimes just called an assembler, but assemblers don't necessarily self-replicate.)'
November 10, 2003	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	Added a link to our page Focusing on Fabricators near the bottom of the page.
November 10, 2003	Products of Molecular Nanotechnology	For consistency with the CRN paper, "Design of a Primitive Nanofactory", changed most instances of 'assembler' to 'fabricator'.
November 10, 2003	Products of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the first body paragraph, removed the phrase 'free-floating' from the description of a fabricator.
December 14, 2003	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	Revised and expanded the section on 'grey goo' to reflect our improved understanding of the difficulties of creating grey goo, and to emphasize its low ranking as a current concern.
December 14, 2003	An Overview of CRN's Current Findings	Removed mention of "grey goo" from the paragraph titled "Advanced nanotech could be very dangerous", for the reasons stated above.
February 12, 2004	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the section on "Nanotech weapons", added a quote from Admiral David E. Jeremiah, Vice-Chairman (ret.), U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
February 16, 2004	Benefits of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the second paragraph under the heading "Nanotech makes solar energy feasible", added additional calculations of land surface area required.
May 8, 2004	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	Added a paragraph titled "Once the first nanofactory is built, a flood of products will follow."
May 19, 2004	Bootstrapping a Nanofactory	Added artist's conception of a desktop nanofactory, and schematic illustration of convergent assembly.
May 30, 2004	Thirty Essential Nanotechnology Studies	Added a new series of pages.
July 11, 2004	Timeline for Molecular Nanotechnology	In the Overview, replaced the sentence "MNT is coming soon—almost certainly within 20 years, and perhaps in less than a decade", with "It might be become a reality by 2010, likely will by 2015, and almost certainly will by 2020."
August 1, 2004	Thirty Essential Nanotechnology Studies - #2	Added an update in the answer to the subquestion: "Molecular manufacturing is opposed by special interests — is study of it likely to be stunted by political maneuvering?"
August 23, 2004	Dangers of Molecular Nanotechnology	In the section on 'grey goo', added a note about the new paper by Eric Drexler and Chris Phoenix on "Safe Exponential Manufacturing".
November 4, 2004	An Overview of CRN's Current Findings	Revised the opening paragraph to remove reference to "molecular nanotechnology (MNT)" and replace it with "molecular manufacturing."
June 8, 2006	Personal Nanofactories (PNs)	Changed title of page from "Boostrapping a Nanofactory" to "Personal Nanofactories (PNs)"
June 14, 2006	Thirty Essential Nanotechnology Studies - #6	Answer to first subquestion expanded to include POSS and silica.
November 21, 2006	Dangers of Molecular Manufacturing	Added a few new links. Changed 'molecular nanotechnology' to 'molecular manufacturing', and MNT to MM. Expanded the section on Criminals and Terrorists.
November 25, 2006	Benefits of Molecular Manufacturing	Changed title of page and internal references from 'Molecular Nanotechnology' to 'Molecular Manufacturing'.
November 25, 2006	Medical Benefits of Molecular Manufacturing	Changed title of page and internal references from 'Molecular Nanotechnology' to 'Molecular Manufacturing'.
April 16, 2007	Timeline for Molecular Manufacturing	Changed title of page and internal references from 'Molecular Nanotechnology' to 'Molecular Manufacturing'. Added parenthetical clarification to "might become a reality by 2010" statement in Overview paragraph.
December 28, 2007	Timeline for Molecular Manufacturing	Moved clarification noted just above to end of last paragraph on page. Also revised statement in Overview paragraph to say "might become a reality by 2010 to 2015, more plausibly will by 2015 to 2020, and almost certainly will by 2020 to 2025" instead of "might become a reality by 2010, likely will by 2015, and almost certainly will by 2020."
February 7, 2008	Dangers of Molecular Manufacturing	Added a new Devil's Advocate question and answer, on the subject of health and environmental risks.
February 7, 2008	Thirty Essential Nanotechnology Studies - #26	Added a new subquestion on "Health impacts from nano-built products?"

Title Page: Current Results — Overview

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