Kosko explains carbon nanotubes, structures made of hexagonal carbon atoms roughly one hundred thousandth the width of a human hair, that possess extraordinary strength and conductivity. Kosko describes his research modeling the effects of bullet impacts on body armor and discusses the concept of intelligent materials that respond to environmental changes, including shear thickening fluids that harden on impact.
The discussion turns to nanotechnology's potential for both creation and destruction. Kosko addresses the grey goo scenario, programmable matter, and the intersection of nanotech with military applications. He also critiques government restrictions on cloning and stem cell research, arguing that religious opposition to scientific progress represents a strategic mistake for the United States.
Key Moments
What a carbon nanotube actually is: Kosko explains a nanotube as carbon atoms in hexagonal chicken-wire patterns, rolled to roughly one hundred-thousandth the diameter of a human hair, super-strong and super-conductive, first identified by an NEC scientist in Japan in 1991 and now the workhorse of applied nanotechnology.
Octopus skin and programmable acid as 'smart' nano-weapons: Kosko uses the octopus's color-changing chromophore skin as a model for smart camouflage, then describes Germany's recently created nitrogen diamond and the idea from his novel Nanotime of a programmable super-acid that melts only metal, dissolving an oil tanker in five minutes while leaving the oil floating in the Gulf Stream.
Grey goo: Smalley vs. Drexler and turning a carrier into water: Asked whether full grey goo is conceivable, Kosko cites the published debate between Nobel laureate Richard Smalley and Eric Drexler over 'sticky fingers' and molecular manufacturing, then walks Art through how nanotech could break chemical bonds and convert an aircraft carrier into water-like simpler molecules via a chain reaction.
Cincinnati to Moscow: how fast grey goo would spread: When Art asks how long Moscow would have if a vial of grey goo were dropped in a Cincinnati lab, Kosko invokes geometric compounding at nanospeeds and warns that, in principle, the planet could be consumed within days, justifying prior restraint on publication of any genuine grey-goo recipe.
Downloading the brain and signing up with Alcor: Kosko tells Art he is on Alcor's science advisory board and has signed up for full-body cryonic suspension as a backup until computers are powerful enough to upload a human mind, arguing 'I am my synapses' and that liquid nitrogen freezes the clock without further decay.