How far away are we realistically away from fields like biotech or nanotech going from the "next big thing" to "the...

How far away are we realistically away from fields like biotech or nanotech going from the "next big thing" to "the actual current thing"

Not that far.
Btw, I can build the insectoid on your pic, I just need a lab and funding.

Theoretically, I think we'd be closer to biotech than nanotech. Since we already use a little bit of biotech, and it might be less challenging from a technical standpoint to get the ball rolling on that one.

Elaborate plz.

Dude it's not even a nano machine,anyone who isn't a brainlet could put it together with the right tools and parts

It's not even a machine

...

>Insectoid
Arachnid. 8 legs.

both nanotech and biotech are fucked by patents and biotech is further fucked by heavy government regulation. space is currently the actual current thing

government regulation, yes. In what sense is biotech fucked by patents?

Arachnids have ten limbs.

Arthropoid.

Can't you just ignore the patents and use the information in them anyway? Isn't it actually MORE useful for there to be a central database of things other people have already invented?

Also, why pay attention to regulations so long as you're not likely to blow up the planet or something?

I'm surprised. I would've thought that Veeky Forums scientists wouldn't a be a bunch of government-worshipping pussies scared by possible civil suits being filed over using patented information.

The only people who are going to make it anywhere are people who ignore those "protections" (as tghey only protect the people already in power) and do whatever the hell they want anyway.

>Can't you just ignore the patents and use the information in them anyway?
Depends on whether you are using the information for a separate product or to create the same product. The latter, you cannot get away with.

>Also, why pay attention to regulations so long as you're not likely to blow up the planet or something?
The FDA needs to approve all pharmaceuticals before they go to market.

>I would've thought that Veeky Forums scientists wouldn't a be a bunch of government-worshipping pussies scared by possible civil suits being filed over using patented information.
Because you have no idea how the industry works.

>The only people who are going to make it anywhere are people who ignore those "protections" (as tghey only protect the people already in power) and do whatever the hell they want anyway.
No, the people who make it are either lucky, wealthy, or brilliant, or some combination of these attributes. Has nothing to do with ignoring the law.

Nothing like that will happen, sorry.

>space is currently the actual current thing
so we're in the 70s still

>Can't you just ignore the patents and use the information in them anyway?
Patent attorney reporting in.

In much of Europe you are allowed to work a patent, as we call it, without problems as long as it is for education or research. In the US it is far stricter.

Of course other laws also apply.

>Isn't it actually MORE useful for there to be a central database of things other people have already invented?
It can also be used to explore new ideas etc but sadly too few do this. I have done it a few times and have seen it result in new product lines.

I'd say nanotech is pretty big already? I've witnessed flexible electronics. Companies such as ASML and NXP are very prevalent here.

the sperm cell in the gif is about 50 nm long for reference.

Holy shit is that real? That's fucking crazy.

Yeay this is real.

that depends on what the fuck you mean by biotech or nanotech. Biotech in the form of pharmaceuticals is a pretty big business today. If you mean stuff like regrowing legs or making genetically engineered organisms for consumer products that's a bit far off. Nanotech, well semiconductors have features on the order of nanometers and that's a big business. If you mean nanobots, there have been a number of interesting developments in synthetic chemistry and we're finally starting to figure out how to engineer proteins.

I still don't understand the point of flexible electronics. Sure it makes things easy to deal with in the fabs as you don't have to have a brittle wafer to deal with anymore, but I really don't see the point of making consumer electronics flexible until we solve the issue of cycles to failure and figuring out how to mass produce the damn things. Current flexible electronics just can't last long enough, we're talking months to failure here. No point of putting that in wearables.

wew, big fucking deal. All they're doing is moving a piece of metal around with some magnets. There's no onboard power or control.

The point of flexible electronics is that it wasn't flexible and now it apparently can be. I mean its not worldbreaking but it does allow for new designs to be made.

Im more amazed by the fact that they managed to manufacture a machine that scale and are able to control it. Divide a millimeter in a million pieces thats a nanometer, its fucking tiny.

That still doesn't explain the point of making flexible electronics.
>> manufacture a machine that scale
Except the whole machine isn't that scale. The magnets and computers necessary to drive it around are much bigger than that. Also note that the scale bar is 20 goddamn micrometers we can fit a lot of transistors in that space. All they've done is make tiny metal helices. Big. Fucking. Deal. It makes for a nice demonstration, but there's not much more they can do with it

Sperm mech suits...
This is the age we are living in.