12The Nanomeme Syndrome: Blurring of fact & fiction in the construction of a new science Jim Gimzewski and Victoria Vesna Abstract In both the philosophical and visual sense, ‘seeing is believing’ does not apply to nanotechnology, for there is nothing even remotely visible to create proof of existence. On the atomic and molecular scale, data is recorded by sensing and probing in a very abstract manner, which requires complex and approximate interpretations. More than in any other science, visualization and creation of a narrative becomes necessary to describe what is sensed, not seen. Nevertheless, many of the images generated in science and popular culture are not related to data at all, but come from visualizations and animations frequently inspired or created directly from science fiction. Likewise, much of this imagery is based on industrial models and is very mechanistic in nature, even though nanotechnology research is at a scale where cogs, gears, cables, levers and assembly lines as functional components appear to be highly unlikely. However, images of mechanistic nanobots proliferate in venture capital circles, popular culture, and even in the scientific arena, and tend to dominate discourse around the possibilities of nanotechnology. The authors put forward that this new science is ultimately about a shift in our perception of reality from a purely visual culture to one based on sensing and connectivity. Micromegas, a far better observer than his dwarf, could clearly see that the atoms were talking to one another; he drew the attention of his companion, who, ashamed at being mistaken in the matter of procreation, was now very reluctant to credit such a species with the power to communicate. (Voltaire, 1729 pg. 24) Introduction Nanotechnology is more a new science than technology, and the industry being constructed around it, predictably uses old ideas and imagery. During its current rise to prominence, a strange propagandist “nanometer” has emerged in our midst without being clearly realized by any of the participants. It is layered with often highly unlikely ideas of nanotech products that range from molecular sensors in underwear, smart washing machines that know how dirty the clothes are, to artificial red blood cells and nanobots that repair our bodies, all the way up to evil swarms of planet-devouring molecular machines. Sensation-based media happily propagates this powerful and misleading cocktail combining scientific data, graphically intense visualizations together with science fiction artwork. In the past few years, mixed up nanomemes have emerged, where the differences between science fiction novels, front cover stories and images of reputable journals such as Science or Nature are becoming differentiated by the proportion of fiction to fact rather than straight factual content. Venture capitalists, the military, governments around the world as well as educational institutions seduced by this syndrome are portraying nanotech as the savior of our rapidly declining economies and outdated military systems. Dovetailing on the recent frenzied exponential rise and fall of information technologies, and also to a degree by biotechnology, the need for a new cure-all has been identified. Two terms often used interdependently are nanoscience and nanotechnology. Surprisingly, the term nanotechnology predates nanoscience. This is because the dreams of a new technology were proposed before the actual scientific research specifically aimed at producing the technology existed. The term nanotechnology, in its short lifetime, has attracted a variety of interpretation, and there is little agreement, even among those who are engaged in it,3as to what it actually is. Typically, it is described as a science that is concerned with control of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules. Nano is Greek for dwarf and a nanometer (nm) is one billionth of a meter, written in scientific notation as 1 x 10-9 m. Historically, the word nanotechnology was first proposed in the early seventies by a Japanese engineer, Norio Taniguchi, implying a new technology that went beyond controlling materials and engineering on the micrometer scale that dominated the 20th Century. [1] One thing is certain however – as soon as we confront the scale that nanotechnology works within, our minds short circuit. The scale becomes too abstract in relation to human experience. Consequently, any intellectual connection to the nanoscale becomes extremely difficult. Scientists have tried to explain this disparity by comparing the nanometer to the thickness of a human hair: the average thickness of a human hair is ~5 x 10-5m, which is (50,000) nm. Or, the little fingernail: around 1 cm across, which is equal ten million nanometers. Recently, Nobel Laureate Sir Harry Kroto described the nanometer by comparing the size of a human head to that of the planet earth -- a nanometer would be the size of a human head in relation to the size of the planet if the planet were the size of the human head. [2] But, even that is difficult to intuitively grasp or visualize. What type of perceptual shift in our minds has to take place to comprehend the work that nano science is attempting and what would be the repercussions of such a shift? And, how does working on this level influence the way scientists think who engage this work? In our opinion, media artists, nano-scientists and humanists need to join forces together and envision such possibilities. [3] On another level, as a metric, the nanometer itself does not do justice in describing nanotechnology, but is rather the starting point of understanding complexity. Even the concept of precise fabrication at the ultimate limits of matter does nanotechnology injustice because it implies an industrial engineering model. When working on this kind of scale, we immediately reach the limits of rational human experience, and the imaginary takes over. Researchers, science fiction writers and Luddites alike have gone into overdrive with the fantasies associated with the world driven by nanotechnology. One prevalent fear is mind control, while the dream is, as always, of immortality and power. By some mysterious juxtaposition of events, the beginning of the 21st century is symbolized by the decoding of the genome, fears of distributed terrorist cells and nanotechnology as the big promise of total control of matter from the atom all the way up living systems. In the last