Transforming the Material Basis of Civilization | Eric Drexler | TEDxISTAlameda

What if we were really good at making things—better products of all kinds—in a clean way, at a very low cost, and on a global scale? What if today’s industrial and energy infrastructure could be replaced with clean, zero-carbon emission technologies at a rapid pace? The result would be a profound revolution in the material basis of our civilization and radically different prospects for the 21st century. A technology of this scope and power is visible in the distance today, not close, but accessible through a series of advances in nanotechnology and the molecular sciences. By merging digital and manufacturing principles at the molecular scale, atomically precise manufacturing can transform our world. It’s time to expand the horizons of our conversation about the future. K. Eric Drexler, Ph.D., is a researcher at Oxford University and author whose work focuses on advanced nanotechnologies. His 1981 paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences established fundamental principles of molecular design, protein engineering, and productive nanosystems. Drexler’s research in this field has been the basis for numerous journal articles and for books including Engines of Creation: The Coming Era of Nanotechnology (written for a general audience) and Nanosystems: Molecular Machinery, Manufacturing, and Computation (a quantitative, physics-based analysis). He recently served as Chief Technical Consultant to the Technology Roadmap for Productive Nanosystems, a project of the Battelle Memorial Institute and its participating US National Laboratories. He is currently working in a collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund to explore nanotechnology-based solutions to global problems such as energy and climate change. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at