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Week-2 Self Assembly- Edward Kil

Weekly blog 2
This weeks in Nanotechnology something that has caught my attention was the self assembly block that was scaled into a big structure. This in particular helped me understand the fundamental concept to how self assembly was constructed into a larger model.
The image above shows us the larger scale of self assembly. Skylar Tibbits has created this structure to illustrate what exactly goes on in the molecular stages of micro self assembly.


I wanted to start off by mentioning how self assembly can be used in pretty much anything we can perceive today. The possibility this application has is without a doubt infinite. From self assembling from a small scale to self assembling to bigger scales, scientist are constantly finding new ideas to implement “self assembly” in our everyday lives.


Today, What I want to talk about is self assembly through bigger objects that can one day serve as a bridge, or building, or even our home. This would be a breakthrough for the scientific community and also to the commoners as it would improve their daily lives.


To illustrate my idea, researchers from MIT are already creating self assembling blocks to construct basic structures. Here are some images to illustrate.
 
Now, Imagine this in a real world application to building bridges or highways, something like this can help us create new structures without any dangerous labor work that is required when building large structures.
Although the image above is showing of very primitive shapes assembling each other, we should see this as the introduction to the possibilities of shapes that are waiting for us to explore. Similar to how Lego pieces were first just simple blocks for kids to play but within just a decade, we can see many new pieces being introduced to allow even a 7 year old to replicate the Death Star with his legos.

I believe that sooner or later, Self assembly blocks will be like Legos our children's use for entertainment. Only to differ in that this technology will be used to help the construction around us.



In nature we can already see this happening. Bridges and boats that are built from individual ants in the rain forest. These fire ants has gone through evolution with the drive to survive the flooding seasons. With each ants working with one another, they have accomplish something that is unimaginable. This leaves us with the question to how nature has designed something so spectacular. Perhaps it was just by accident that these ants have figured out a way to expand their behavior. However, I find that the determination to survive was the key to the evolutionary achievements. Maybe there is lesson to be learned from these insects…



Works Cited
Mlota, Nathan J., and And Craig A. Toveyb. "Nathan J. Mlot." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. National Acad Sciences, n.d. Web.
Programmable Self-assembly in a Thousand-robot Swarm. Harvard University, 14 Aug. 2014. Web.
Robotic Self Healing Chair. BotJunkie, Oct.-Nov. 2017. Web.
Small Cubes That Self-assemble. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oct.-Nov. 2013. Web.

Spinning Carbon Nanotubes (2005). CSIRO, 2014. Web.

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