The car of the future
January 1st, 2005 Ryan Jones
You?ve all seen the TV ads for new clothing with ?stain defender? right? Ever wonder how it works? It?s simple: Nanotechnology. Let me explain, as it?s crucial to the rest of this post (and the rest of our future).
If you didn?t pay much attention in science, nano- means small. Very small. In fact one nanometer is really 1 billionth of a meter. That?s a 1/1,000,000,000 if you write it out. For you chemists out there, that?s exactly the width of 5 carbon atoms.
Ok, so what we?re really talking about are things called ?nanotubes?. Basically they?re tube like carbon molecules. So small, however that it would take about 50,000 of them side by side to match the thickness of one human hair. What?s so special about these you might ask? Well for starters, not only are they thousands of times stronger than steel, but if kept straight they conduct electricity better than any conductor currently in industrial use. Twist it a bit and you?ve just made a transistor. Likewise, a nanotube can be made into any electronic device you can imagine.
Compared to silicon, nanotubes are only 1 atom thick, yet hundreds of times more durable than a silicon chip. They can handle heat better too, so making 3D components is no problem at all. Essentially then, nanotechnology is nothing more than using nanotubes to create ?computers?.
What?s better, the possibility exists for these little ?machines? to be programmed to manipulate their environment. This means we can make ?tiny machines? that create other ?tiny machines?. Better yet, and essential to the rest of this article, we can build ?tiny machines? cable of using materials in their environment to build replicas of themselves. Since it takes millions and billions of research dollars to build one ?nanobot?, this is a very important discovery. We just need to build one, and have it build the rest. Talk about cost-effective!
I was reading on Fark.com about how the US army is developing tanks that can repair their own paint jobs. ( Link Here ).
But why stop there?
Why not build an entire car out of nanotubes? It?ll be a lot stronger than any material they currently use making it much safer and greatly increasing crash test ratings.
Plus, a car made entirely out of nanotubes would only weigh about 50lbs.
You?d never have to worry about your paint getting scratched, it?d have the power to repair itself immediately. You?d never need new tires either as they could just use carbon atoms from the ground to replace their tread.
Got a dent? No problem, your car will be able to repair itself instantly. Don?t like color of the interior or the paint? No problem, it can change, without any outside effort. Driving your convertible with the top down and it starts raining? No problem, your car will simply just ?grow? a top to cover you.
As for the car?s internal computer, we mentioned before how they can be made into machines and programmed, so there?s no need for a separate computer. Your car?s brains would be spread out evenly throughout it?s body.
As for fuel? Forget it. The entire surface of your car (being made of nanotubes) would be one large solar panel.
What?s even better? It won?t cost you nearly as much either. Since your car will basically ?build itself? it can be built right there in the dealership while you wait, to your specifications. If you?re not happy with the result, it can change, right in front of you.
Granted, we?re still a couple decades away, but won?t the future be cool?
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