Its a sign of the times when “World Renowned Scientists” like Eric Drexler have to get out of bed and start job hunting. With molecular nanotechnology employment opportunities still depressingly hard to come perhaps it boiled down to making a choice between getting on your bike, Tebbitt style, or flipping burgers at the Palo Alto branch of McDonalds.
It seems Drexler chose to pedal to Michigan. We have few fears of rampant nanobots getting loose, as the new employer, Nanorex is involved in that old MNT staple, simulation, and has now simulatorized some very nice images of molecular gears that look exactly like the ones that Merkle and Drexler were touting ten years ago. Thats progress for you!
In all fairness, it’s a pretty good simulation package, generates some nice images and may have applications beyond simulating devices that may never be built, and of course if that’s what tickles your fancy, having Eric Drexler on board is quite a coup for such a small company.
It does make us wonder what it takes to prise an MNT fan away from their computer screens and get them to do some real science. Sticking little Linux penguins on al the glassware in the lab may help, something like this or a perhaps nothing short of a new episode of Star Trek?