READING	NAME	AGENDA ITEM FOR DISCUSSION
Richard P. Feynman There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom	Matt Naples	Is nano-tech too abstract a science even now (as it was in 1960) because people immediately assume too small and seemingly impossible
	Andrew Nelson	Feynman takes an interesting look at how impressive nanotechnology is by calculating how much space would be needed for all known texts. It would be great if this is done because it then makes material less likely to be damaged by fire, water, etc.
	Charlie Senness	I wanted to discuss the Feynman article, page 6, paragraph 3: Miniaturizing the Computer. Feynman suggests that if a computer can be made to have millions of elements working together they could make judgments. He isn't talking about A.I., but the concept it still very interesting.
	F. Grant Kovach	"What could we do with layered structures with just the right layers? What would the properties of materials be if we could really arrange the atoms the way we want them?"
	Ishan Gaur	The author, throughout the article expresses his fascination for nanotechnology and how he imagines it might be useful in the near future. I agree with him on how it may be used to improve the quality of our lives. But like most new technologies, its easy to focus on the positive qualities and overlook the negative aspects/possibilities.
K. Eric Drexler. Engines of Creation: chapter 1	Jason Bernardo	This chapter mentions the idea that nanotechnology could be incorporated into life forms and could alter biology. How far are we willing to mechanize life forms? Does making organisms faster or stronger necessarily make them better? What are the dangers that go along with this mechanization?
	Adam Neisius	The methods for the creation and usage of nanotechnology, both first and second generation, described in this chapter require a good amount of further study in base sciences for it to work (i.e. protein folding for making the assembly enzymes and other bionanotech, molecular self-assembly and interaction for general nanotechnology). In reality, though, much more funding is given to specific application research than general base research. Is this focus on short term payout research detrimental to the field overall and what should be done if it is a problem?
	Heather Lautman	" Yet most biochemists work as scientists, not as engineers. They work at predicting how natural proteins will fold, not at designing proteins that will fold predictably. These tasks may sound similar, but they differ greatly: the first is a scientific challenge, the second is an engineering challenge. Why should natural proteins fold in a way that scientists will find easy to predict? All that nature requires is that they in fact fold correctly, not that they fold in a way obvious to people." -This chpt talks a lot about different discoveries and technological advances, this quote shows the importance of collaboration that may be needed to continue to find and design.
	Andrew Starr	"Electronic nanocomputers will likely be thousands of times faster than electronic microcomputers - perhaps hundreds of thousands of times faster, if a scheme proposed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman works out. Increased speed through decreased size is an old story in electronics. " I would like to discuss the effect of nanotechnology on computers a bit.
	Joyce Chow	"each kind fold up to form a lump with distinctive bumps and hollows, covered by distinctive patterns of oiliness, wetness, and electric charge" Many scientists researching the complexity of DNA end up believing that there must be a Designer/Creator behind all this science. Will there be more scientist and people believing in a Creator rather than our being here by chance.
K. Eric Drexler. Engines of Creation: chapter 2	Andrew Cunningham	"The copying machines, however, often miscopy an RNA strand, inserting, deleting, or mismatching a subunit. The resulting mutated strand then differs in length or subunit sequence. Such changes are fairly random, and changes accumulate as miscopied molecules are again miscopied. As the molecules proliferate, they begin to grow different from their ancestors and from each other. This might seem a recipe for chaos." How dangerous will this be if we put our future in the hands of such things?
	Sarah Petzold	"In engineering, enlightened trial and error, not the planning of flawless intellects, has brought most advances; this is why engineers build prototypes. " This quote is apropos as we are at an engineering college. This quote also helped to relate all the advancements of nature to advancements in science.
	Galen Frechette	Because of such amazing and exciting possibilities, I believe nanotechnology is unavoidable. However, when nanomachines begin self replicating and “evolving” such as the example discussed in the section; “evolving molecules”, how do humans keep them selves or the recourses and environments they depend on for survival safe and not become resources for these new things? Can evolution of these machines be controlled? Are the scientific and economic systems, of the countries working on making nanomachines a reality, capable of considering and protecting against risks? Or are current motivations incapable of accommodating for risks? Nano technology is exciting but when’s enough? Will anything ever be too risky? Or is risk an after thought, second to economic, social, or theoretical hopes?
	Andrew Krushelnyski	In "One Highly Evolved Toolbox," in The Next Whole Earth Catalog, J. Baldwin writes: "Our portable shop has been evolving for about twenty years now. There's nothing really very special about it except that a continuing process of removing obsolete or inadequate tools and replacing them with more suitable ones has resulted in a collection that has become a thing-making system rather than a pile of hardware." Going along with galen's point of where may nanotechnolgy be going too far, is that the case or is there no stopping it?
	Alex Lamparski	Through vaccinations, new technology and increased living conditions have humans changed how Darwin’s theory of evolution influences change among generations? Are the conscious changes humans make to live longer enough to down play some of the influences of evolution? For instance had the human race stayed in Africa until a vitamin D supplement was found would the humans that migrated north become lighter?
	Michael Pennisi	Drexler cites Richard Dawkins in defining "replicator": things that give rise to copies of themselves. Later, he claims that some machines are replicators. He gives an example involving competing companies stealing machine secrets. Does this claim stretch the meaning of the term too far? How passive is the term "give rise to"?
K. Eric Drexler. Engines of Creation: chapter 3	Tracy Breslin	"In recent decades, Karl Popper (perhaps the scientists' favorite philosopher of science), Thomas Kuhn, and others have recognized science as an evolutionary process. They see it not as a mechanical process by which observations somehow generate conclusions, but as a battle where ideas compete for acceptance." Should science really be based on acceptance of beliefs, which is often based on politics, versus ideas and theories that have scientific validation based on experimentation and research?
	James Johnston	Chapter 3 in relation to Chapter 11: In Chapter 3 Drexler makes the statement that scientists have created a short term outlook for advancement, which has helped to aid them from straying "into foggy worlds of untested fantasy" Is this culturally developed mindset that is reinforced by academia's pursuit of grants and funding going blind development to such an extent that technology evolves into things similar to "the gray goo" as mentioned in Chap. 11 or revert back to practices of implimentation before all risks are known (asbestos, heorine as a treatment for opiate addiction, etc.)
	Jim McKenna	Leonardo Da Vinci had many ideas (ball bearings) that wern't feasable with available technology for centuries after his death. How was it possible for Da Vinci to be so far ahead of his time without the knowledge and thechnology we have today? Also, is it fair to say he was the most advanced inventor/engineer ever?
	Molly Danskin	“the power of science to build agreement remains clear” In some ways understanding and agreement of science transcends international boundaries., but don't varying degrees of access to (and acceptance of) scientific theories/experiments/facilities deepen existing divisions along lines of money, class, values etc. comparable amounts?
	Christine O'Rourke	"AS WE LOOK FORWARD to see where the technology race leads, we should ask three questions. What is possible, what is achievable, and what is desirable?" Just because we can achieve something or something is desired does that automatically mean that it has to be created or should the affects it would have on society also be considered?
		Da Vinci may seem to have had it easy. Many of the machines he designed and engineering challenges he solved are common-place among the modern world. It seems like during his time, some of his designs would have been obvious. The challenge then may not be to design the future, but to envision it. Nanotechnology seems to be a new direction, and it is up to the visionaries of our time to create designs that will work and pan out.

K. Eric Drexler. Engines of Creation: chapter 7 and any other chapters you care to read	Rachel Ferebee	Is it just to focus this technology on enhancement of ourselves in terms of delaying aging and the inevitable breaking down of our bodies? A major consequence of an older and larger population is the depletion of Earth's resources, resulting in catastrophic conditions for our ancestors.
	Grant Boucher	"Advances in cardiac medicine changed the definition [of death] once; advances in brain medicine will change it again." How far will society allow science to go repairing one's brain? Is it acceptable to medical alter the personalities and minds of people in order to keep them "alive"?
	Jonathan Amazon	If we had nano-machines inside us constantly replicating themselves to serve a certain medical function, would it not be too off to hypothesize a gray goo scenario within the human body? This would be terrifying!