Blurring the Genres - Nanotechnology

Tom

An Old Friend
Nanotechnology is a real science that may someday become a practical application for everyone. Artificial Intelligence and Supercomputers are a reality that stands to open new doors for actual technology. With this in mind, lets take a look at our current genre categories and see how this new technology might blur the lines between science fiction, fantasy and horror.

With advanced nano-tech and nano-assemblers, we may be able to someday construct anything atom by atom. Gene splicing and embryo generation will be controlled at the atomic level. It is even reasonable to think that new amino acid strains might be developed creating new forms of life. The possibilities are endless when construction is in the atomic playground.

Imagine a world with a special room filled with Utility Fog and a supply of base material. You tell the AI controller what you want to create and in a few minutes, hours or days you have the fully rendered creation right there in front of you. Built atom by atom it is solid, real and if it is organic,very much 'alive'.

From the point of storytelling this scenario could merge the genres and morph it into its own genre. Based on expanded scientific theories it would be science fiction. But the story might explore creating a creature or a villain or a magical staff. What would you call a walking stick that is constructed of nanites and is controlled by a hidden control panel? With its own nano-AI you tap in a preset code and the nanites build a Balrog or create a personal force field. All you would need is a fancy robe and a pointy hat.

Imagine a world, a real future, 1000 years from now. I doubt it will take that long but just imagine for a minute that nanotechnology reaches its intended goal. Werewolves are real, anyone can build anything anytime. Force fields can be constructed and you can walk on the sea floor while a nanite force field holds back the water. People can live on the moon with nothing more than a nanite skin for protection. City ships are built from asteroid material and are traversing the galaxy with hundreds if not thousands of people asleep in a nano-constructed AI controlled stasis. Our bodies stay young and vital with lifespans that reach into millennium. We can heal instantly and morph our appendages at will into any structure we require. Using materials found within our solar system a habitat/energy collector encircles the Sun as we harness the power of a star. For entertainment we game in reality. Fighting monsters and creatures that have not even been dreamed of yet. Our dreams and nightmares materialize before us under our full control.

Atomic inspection of fossils allows us to recreate living extinct flora and fauna. Minute mineral differences are mapped and whole DNA chains are assembled by association. Baseline organic structures from other planets are expanded upon and mutated to create life from compounds found through-out the solar system. New plants and animals emerge. Mars is terraformed.

The possibilities stagger the mind and it is all based on current science.
Its like Stephen King writing Star Trek based on Wizards of the Coast.

I'm thinking Speculative Fiction has a long and interesting future.
 
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