Will consequential atomically precise manufacturing systems be developed before 2030?
15
closes 2030
13%
chance

Advanced nanotechnology, specifically atomically precise manufacturing (APM), holds potential for revolutionizing industries and technology. Ben Snodin, a researcher with a relevant PhD, defines "consequential APM" as a complex APM technology that can create a range of complex, very high-performance products for $1000/kg or less and with a throughput of 1kg every 3 days or less per kg of machinery. The development of consequential APM systems could have significant implications for a range of applications and industries.

Before January 1, 2030, will consequential APM systems be developed, as evidenced by credible reports or academic publications?

Resolution Criteria:

This question will resolve positively if, before January 1, 2030, credible reports or academic publications provide clear and strong evidence that at least one consequential APM system has been developed. For the purpose of this question, a "consequential APM system" is defined as:

  1. A complex APM system, with at least 99.9% of the nanoscale machines' atomic structures matching the desired design, and at least 99.9% of the products' atomic structures matching the intended design.

  2. The system operates in a vacuum and performs at least 10^6 operations per second.

  3. The consequential APM system creates a range of complex, very high-performance products with varying sizes from nanoscale to meter-scale and beyond.

  4. The system achieves a production cost of $1000/kg or less for the manufactured products.

  5. The system demonstrates a throughput of 1 kg of atomically precise products every 3 days or less per kg of machinery.

Examples of consequential APM systems include, but are not limited to:

  1. A consequential APM system capable of producing atomically precise graphene sheets with a purity of at least 99.999% carbon atoms and minimal defects (vacancies, substitutions, or Stone-Wales defects) not exceeding 1 defect per 10^6 carbon atoms, at a cost of $1000/kg or less and with a throughput of 1 kg every 3 days or less per kg of machinery.

  2. A system that can construct atomically precise nanowires with a diameter uniformity of at least 99.9% and minimal defects in the crystal structure (e.g., dislocations, vacancies, or substitutions) not exceeding 1 defect per 10^4 unit cells, at a cost of $1000/kg or less and with a throughput of 1 kg every 3 days or less per kg of machinery.

  3. A consequential APM system that constructs atomically precise protein structures for use in advanced drug delivery systems or therapeutics, with an accurate amino acid sequence error rate of no more than 1 in 10^4 amino acids, and a folding error rate not exceeding 1 in 10^3 proteins, at a cost of $1000/kg or less and with a throughput of 1 kg every 3 days or less per kg of machinery.


The question will resolve positively if credible reports or academic publications demonstrate the development of a consequential APM system meeting the criteria specified before January 1, 2030. If no such evidence is provided by the deadline, the question will resolve negatively.

Get Ṁ500 play money

Related questions

Will anyone create an infinite slide before 2030?
IsaacKing avatarIsaac
72% chance
What will be the maximum achievable flop utilization on the next generation of Nvidia server chips?
Will working be necessary in 2070?
JacobWood avatarJacob Wood
59% chance
Will >97% of all jobs be fully automated before the year 2075?
Meta_C avatarMeta C
48% chance
Will complex atomically precise manufacturing systems be developed before 2040?
MatthewBarnett avatarMatthew Barnett
39% chance
Will superposition in transformers be mostly solved by 2026?
LeoGao avatarLeo Gao
53% chance
Will most computers still run on silicon-based hardware in 2100?
MikeTearon avatarMike Tearon
53% chance
Will atomically precise manufacturing systems be developed before 2030?
MatthewBarnett avatarMatthew Barnett
15% chance
When will Quantum computing become viable?
Will someone in the world engage in stratospheric aerosol injection before the year 2030?
TomGoldthwait avatarTom Goldthwait
55% chance
Will AES-256 encryption be broken by 2070?
etirabys avataretirabys
37% chance
Will a robot be created that can fully substitute for a plumber before January 1st, 2040?
MatthewBarnett avatarMatthew Barnett
37% chance
R2-D2 by 2030?
cloudprism avatarHayden Jackson
38% chance
Will there be a new USB standard connector by 2033?
Widden avatarWidden
59% chance
Will a robot demonstrate exceptional speed and performance in extreme environments by 2040?
MatthewBarnett avatarMatthew Barnett
50% chance
On 1/1/2024 will I think J. Cannell is right about the minimal energy per bit-meter of interconnect?
ThomasKwa avatarThomas Kwa
37% chance
Will the "Carbon–cement supercapacitors as a scalable bulk energy storage solution" replicate by 2024 August 07?
Will neutrinoless double beta decay be observed before 2100?
JonathanRay avatarJonathan Ray
45% chance
Will a useful contact lens display be commercially available by 2030
VivaLaPanda avatarVivaLaPanda
29% chance
Will far-UVC or a successor technology be ubiquitous by 2033?
ZviMowshowitz avatarZvi Mowshowitz
23% chance
Sort by:
PatrickDelaney avatar
Patrick Delaney

How is the fact that gate dimensions between transistors being in the 10 nm range or less in memory manufacturing at massive scales for over a decade now not already qualifying for a yes resolution on this? Is this just fundamentally a bet on Moore's law and whether it will go sub 5-nm? What are you trying to do with this bet?

jacksonpolack avatar
jackson polackbought Ṁ10 of NO

Not sure the gpt-generated resolution criteria make sense

2 replies
MatthewBarnett avatar
Matthew Barnett

@jacksonpolack Can you be more specific?

jacksonpolack avatar
jackson polackpredicts NO

A consequential APM system that constructs atomically precise protein structures for use in advanced drug delivery systems or therapeutics, with an accurate amino acid sequence error rate of no more than 1 in 10^4 amino acids, and a folding error rate not exceeding 1 in 10^3 proteins, at a cost of $1000/kg or less and with a throughput of 1 kg every 3 days or less per kg of machinery.

Atomically precise manufacturing doesn't seem to apply to proteins. Protein structure and folding is dynamic, stochastic, and intimately related to the surrounding water - atomically-precise positioning of atoms or individual amino acids is irrelevant, given everything is moving around in water, so your precise positions are going to be quickly disturbed anyway. The error rate for translation/protein synthesis in biology is (from skimming a paper) already around 10^-4. Protein folding is when a protein goes from an unstructured, randomish, chaotic state in solution to a structured, functional state. It also occurs in water (whose reactivity and brownian motion is a bad match for APM). I'm not sure what the 'rate of protein misfolding' is for existing proteins, it would depend on the protein, but I can't imagine what a 'folding error rate' would even mean in an atomically precise manufactured protein.

I have less casual knowledge of materials science so I'm not sure what's wrong with (1) or (2) exactly, but they have the same vibe.