General reservation re quantum nanotechnology:
Since below the 50-nanometre scale the quantum size effect enters, and nanotechnology is often defined as working with matter on the scale of 100 nm or smaller, it would be best to keep to the >125 nm scale, so we continue to work with micro- not nano (quantum)-tech. This is because of the ethical and ecological problems with quantum nanotech, as well as it not having been evaluated before being commercialized -- an egregious error that endangers technological progress generally.
Proponents of tech must become hard-core proponents of rigorous full-cost accounting of the tech, or they risk the future of technology itself. They must insist upon fully funded adversarial science to investigate the downside of all big tech ventures before we OK them as a society. Even if we then go ahead with the tech, we need such research in order to come up with methods of mitigation.
For more that's critical of nanotech, see the ETC Group: www.etcgroup.org. For an article on quantum-scale mechanical computing, see: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9923965/Steam-age-computers-could-be-tailor-made-for-the-molecular-world.html. You can find celebrations of nanotech anywhere, but for some degree of thoughtfulness in supporting the technology, see the Foresight Institute: www.foresight.org.
[Need citations.]
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