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taken from their environment in order to preserve and replicate themselves. They also replicate the instructions on how to replicate themselves. This is precisely what the mature form of nanotechnology will do.

Inventors have mimicked and improved upon "natural technologies"-the aerodynamics of birds, the sharp claws of tigers, the protective covering of fur, and the sleekness of sharks-to further ensure human survival and comfort. I believe that our nanotech engineers will soon be doing (if not already) what the best inventors did when they created airplanes, knives, clothing, and submarines. They will be mimicking and improving on the most basic technology of all: life itself. With nanotechnology, we will be able to do what biology does so well now, only better.

Think of tiny machines, the first of which may be made out of protein molecules, and later out of tougher material. Envision Drexler's "nanoscopic" machines, with billions of their fellows, programmed to build things, anything, by manipulating individual molecules and atoms, bonding them together like Tinker Toys. Drexler calls these machines "assemblers." Catch his vivid description of how they cooperate in vastly complex configurations in the "growing" of a futuristic rocket engine within a large, transparent vat. Assemblers and raw materials are piped in for assembly and washed out after the work is done. The description alone is well worth the price of the book. The activity of these assemblers is directed by tiny, powerful computers called "nanocomputers," embedded throughout the construction site.

Drexler then goes on to describes how, after much serious R & D work with assemblers and nanocomputers, powerful "replicators" will be developed. These-again cooperating in large numbers-are able to break down any object to its constituent molecules and atoms, record their respective positions while doing so, and then reproduce the object, making absolutely identical copies, down to the scratches and smudge marks on the original, if desired. Or, if the user would like it in mint condition, the copy would be cleaned up. The recordings are preserved, if desired, in the form of software program "recipes," so that they may be easily stored and shared. What would be the first thing I'd replicate in a kitchen vat? Pure milk chocolate from the finest chocolatier. Imagine, an unending supply. Yum.

Replicators can also make true copies of themselves and all the knowledge they've gained about the art of replication.

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