July 10, 2002: Nanotechnology - Douglas Mulhall

Art Bell welcomes journalist and technology researcher Douglas Mulhall to discuss the emerging world of nanotechnology and its potential to reshape civilization. Mulhall explains how scientists are now manipulating individual atoms using scanning tunneling microscopes and describes the three prerequisites for molecular nanotechnology: atomic manipulation, self-replication, and assembly.

The conversation explores nanobacteria, a newly discovered pathogen hundreds of times smaller than conventional bacteria that secretes calcium and may underlie heart disease, kidney stones, and cataracts. Mulhall describes promising early results from treatments that strip the calcium coating and attack these organisms with antibiotics. He then addresses the concept of "gray goo," the theoretical scenario where self-replicating nanomachines consume all matter on Earth, noting both the legitimate danger and the biological counterarguments against it.

Mulhall discusses solar cells made from carbon nanorods that could be spray-painted onto any surface, the possibility of machines surpassing human intelligence by 2030, and how nanotechnology might enable molecular disassembly of incoming asteroids. Art presses him on whether humans are preparing their own evolutionary replacement through these technologies.