Zyvex is developing positional assembly systems at the micron, sub-micron and molecular scale. Called exponential assembly, this replicative technology starts with a single robotic arm on a wafer which then assembles more robotic arms on a facing wafer by picking up parts already laid out in precisely known locations. Cut off from power, control signals and parts, a micron-sized robotic arm would function about as well as one of its larger cousins taken from one of today's automated assembly lines that was dropped into the middle of a forest. Calif. They have since been reviewed at two subsequent Foresight conferences. Because our understanding of this developing technology is and will continue to evolve, the guidelines will evolve with them representing our best understanding of how to ensure the safe development of nanotechnology.
Several chapters are available on the web .
A Dialog on Dangers by K. Eric Drexler, 1988. This prescient work foreshadowed many of the positions adopted in later debates on nanotechnology. Available on the web . Some Limits to Global Ecophagy by Biovorous Nanoreplicators, with Public Policy Recommendations , by Robert A. Freitas Jr. Available on the web , this survey of some potential weapons applications of nanotechnology also describes defensive systems to protect against them.