The next step in nanotechnology | George Tulevski

Translator: Leslie Gauthier Reviewer: Joanna Pietrulewicz

Prevoditelj: Tilen Pigac - EFZG Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

Let's imagine a sculptor building a statue,

Zamislimo kipara koji gradi skulpturu,

just chipping away with his chisel.

razbijajući kamen svojim alatom.

Michelangelo je to elegantno opisao rekavši,

Michelangelo had this elegant way of describing it when he said,

"Every block of stone has a statue inside of it,

"Svaki komad kamena sadrži skulpturu u sebi,

a zadatak kipara je otkriti ju."

and it's the task of the sculptor to discover it."

But what if he worked in the opposite direction?

No, što ako bi radio u suprotnom smjeru?

Not from a solid block of stone,

Ne iz čvrstog kamenog bloka,

but from a pile of dust,

nego iz gomile prašine,

somehow gluing millions of these particles together to form a statue.

spajajući na neki način milijune ovih čestica kako bi formirao skulpturu.

I know that's an absurd notion.

Znam da je to apsurdna ideja.

It's probably impossible.

Vjerojatno neizvediva.

Jedini način na koji možemo dobiti skulpturu iz prašine je

The only way you get a statue from a pile of dust

is if the statue built itself --

da se skulptura sama isklesa --

if somehow we could compel millions of these particles to come together

kada bismo samo nekako mogli okupiti zajedno milijune ovih čestica

to form the statue.

kako bi formirale skulpturu.

Now, as odd as that sounds,

No, koliko god to čudno zvučalo,

that is almost exactly the problem I work on in my lab.

upravo je to problem na kojem radim u svom laboratoriju.

Ne gradim kamenom,

I don't build with stone,

I build with nanomaterials.

gradim koristeći se nanomaterijalima.

They're these just impossibly small, fascinating little objects.

Radi se o nevjerojatno sitnim, fascinantnim malenim stvarima.

They're so small that if this controller was a nanoparticle,

Tako su maleni da kad bi ovaj upravljač bi nanočestica,

a human hair would be the size of this entire room.

ljudska dlaka bila bi veličine ove sobe.

And they're at the heart of a field we call nanotechnology,

Oni se nalaze u srcu nanotehnologije,

which I'm sure we've all heard about,

za koju smo zasigurno svi čuli,

and we've all heard how it is going to change everything.

i svi smo čuli kako će ona sve promijeniti.

When I was a graduate student,

Kad sam bio na diplomskom studiju,

it was one of the most exciting times to be working in nanotechnology.

bilo je to najuzbudljivije doba za rad u nanotehnologiji.

There were scientific breakthroughs happening all the time.

Nova znanstvena otkrića bila su posvuda.

The conferences were buzzing,

Konferencije su bile prepune,

there was tons of money pouring in from funding agencies.

mnogo je novca stizalo iz fondova.

And the reason is

Zato što,

kad objekti postanu jako mali,

when objects get really small,

they're governed by a different set of physics that govern ordinary objects,

njima upravljaju drugačiji zakoni koji upravljaju običnim objektima

like the ones we interact with.

poput onih s kojim smo mi u kontaktu.

To nazivamo kvantnom mehanikom.

We call this physics quantum mechanics.

Ona nam kaže da možemo utjecati na njihovo ponašanje

And what it tells you is that you can precisely tune their behavior

just by making seemingly small changes to them,

radeći naizgled male promjene na njima,

like adding or removing a handful of atoms,

poput dodavanja ili oduzimanja atoma,

ili savijanja materijala.

or twisting the material.

It's like this ultimate toolkit.

To je poput najmoćnijeg alata.

You really felt empowered; you felt like you could make anything.

Osjećate se pouzdano; osjećate se da možete napraviti bilošto.

And we were doing it --

Mi smo se time bavili --

a pod mi mislim, čitava generacija diplomskog studija.

and by we I mean my whole generation of graduate students.

We were trying to make blazing fast computers using nanomaterials.

Pokušavali smo napraviti super brza računala koristeći nanomaterijale.

We were constructing quantum dots

Stvarali smo kvantne točke

that could one day go in your body and find and fight disease.

koje bi jednog dana u tijelu pronalazile i uništavale bolest.

There were even groups trying to make an elevator to space

Postajale su i grupe koje su pokušavale napraviti dizalo u svemir

using carbon nanotubes.

koristeći ugljične nanocijevi.

You can look that up, that's true.

Možete to provjeriti, istina je.

Anyways, we thought it was going to affect

Uglavnom, mislili smo da će to utjecati

all parts of science and technology, from computing to medicine.

na čitavu znanost i tehnologiju, od računarstva do medicine.

And I have to admit,

I moram priznati,

I drank all of the Kool-Aid.

popio sam sav Kool-Aid.

I mean, every last drop.

Sve do zadnje kapi.

But that was 15 years ago,

No, to je bilo prije 15 godina

i --

and --

fantastic science was done, really important work.

odličan napredak je postignut, zbilja važan posao.

We've learned a lot.

Mnogo smo naučili.

Nismo nikad uspjeli prebaciti tu znanost u nove tehnologije --

We were never able to translate that science into new technologies --

into technologies that could actually impact people.

tehnologije koje bi zaista pomogle ljudima.

And the reason is, these nanomaterials --

Razlog je taj, što su, ovi nanomaterijali --

they're like a double-edged sword.

poput dvosjeklog mača.

The same thing that makes them so interesting --

Stvari koje ih čine toliko zanimljivima --

their small size --

njihova mala veličina --

also makes them impossible to work with.

ih čini nemogućim za raditi s njima.

Doslovno je poput izrade skulpture iz hrpe prašine.

It's literally like trying to build a statue out of a pile of dust.

And we just don't have the tools that are small enough to work with them.

I jednostavno nemamo alate koji su dovoljno mali da rade s nanomaterijalima.

But even if we did, it wouldn't really matter,

No, čak i kada bi ih imali, ne bi baš i imalo utjecaja,

because we couldn't one by one place millions of particles together

jer ne bismo mogli staviti skupa milijune čestica jednu po jednu

to build a technology.

da napravimo tehnologiju.

So because of that,

I tako, zbog toga,

sva obećanja i svo uzbuđenje

all of the promise and all of the excitement

su ostali samo to: obećanja i uzbuđenje.

has remained just that: promise and excitement.

We don't have any disease-fighting nanobots,

Nemamo nano-robote koji bi se borili protiv bolesti,

there's no elevators to space,

nema dizala u svemir,

and the thing that I'm most interested in, no new types of computing.

i stvari koja mene najviše zanima, nema novih načina upotrebe računala.

Sada, ta posljednja, ona je stvarno važna.

Now that last one, that's a really important one.

We just have come to expect

Očekujemo

kako će tempo napretka kod računala ići u nedogled.

the pace of computing advancements to go on indefinitely.

We've built entire economies on this idea.

Cijela gospodarstva su izgrađena na toj pretpostavci.

And this pace exists

A taj tempo postoji

because of our ability to pack more and more devices

zbog naše sposobnosti da upakiramo sve više naprava

onto a computer chip.

na računalni čip.

And as those devices get smaller,

A kako te naprave postaju manje,

they get faster, they consume less power

postaju brže, troše manje snage

and they get cheaper.

i postaju jeftinije.

And it's this convergence that gives us this incredible pace.

I to je ta konvergencija koji nam daje ovaj nevjerojatan tempo.

As an example:

Na primjer:

if I took the room-sized computer that sent three men to the moon and back

kada bih uzeo računalo veličine sobe koji je poslao tri čovjeka na Mjesec i natrag

and somehow compressed it --

i nekako ga smanjio --

compressed the world's greatest computer of its day,

smanjio najbolje računalo na svijetu u ono vrijeme,

so it was the same size as your smartphone --

da bude iste veličine poput vašeg smartphone-a --

your actual smartphone,

vašeg stvarnog smartphone-a,

that thing you spent 300 bucks on and just toss out every two years,

onu stvar na koju trošite 300 dolara i zamijenite ga svake dvije godine,

would blow this thing away.

zasjenio bi ovo računalo.

You would not be impressed.

Ne biste bili impresionirani.

It couldn't do anything that your smartphone does.

Ne može učiniti ništa što vaš smartphone može.

It would be slow,

Bilo bi sporo,

you couldn't put any of your stuff on it,

ne biste mogli spremiti nikakve stvari na njega,

možda biste mogli odgledati prve dvije minute

you could possibly get through the first two minutes

of a "Walking Dead" episode if you're lucky --

"Walking Dead" epizode ako imate sreće --

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

The point is the progress -- it's not gradual.

Stvar je da napredak -- nije postepen.

The progress is relentless.

Napredak je nemilosrdan.

It's exponential.

On je eksponencijalan.

It compounds on itself year after year,

Nadograđuje se iz godine u godinu,

to the point where if you compare a technology

do točke gdje, ako usporedite tehnologiju

from one generation to the next,

jedne generacije sa idućom,

they're almost unrecognizable.

ne može ih se prepoznati.

And we owe it to ourselves to keep this progress going.

I dugujemo sebi samima da nastavimo s tim napretkom.

We want to say the same thing 10, 20, 30 years from now:

Želimo reći jednu te istu stvar za 10, 20, 30 godina:

look what we've done over the last 30 years.

gledajte što smo postigli u posljednjih 30 godina.

Yet we know this progress may not last forever.

A ipak, znamo kako taj napredak možda neće trajati vječno.

In fact, the party's kind of winding down.

Zapravo, zabava se pomalo stišava.

To je poput "zadnje runde", jel'da?

It's like "last call for alcohol," right?

If you look under the covers,

Ako pogledate ispod površine,

prema mnogim parametrima, poput brzine i performanse,

by many metrics like speed and performance,

the progress has already slowed to a halt.

napredak je već usporio do zastoja.

So if we want to keep this party going,

Stoga, ako želimo da se zabava nastavi,

we have to do what we've always been able to do,

moramo raditi ono što smo uvijek bili sposobni uraditi,

and that is to innovate.

a to je inovirati.

So our group's role and our group's mission

Dakle, uloga i misija naše grupe je

is to innovate by employing carbon nanotubes,

inovirati pomoću ugljikovih nanocijevi,

because we think that they can provide a path to continue this pace.

jer mislimo kako one mogu otvoriti put da nastavimo s ovim tempom.

They are just like they sound.

One su baš onakve kakvima i zvuče.

They're tiny, hollow tubes of carbon atoms,

One su sitne, šuplje cijevi od ugljikovih atoma,

and their nanoscale size, that small size,

i njihova nano veličina, ta malena veličina,

gives rise to these just outstanding electronic properties.

poboljšava ta izvanredna elektronska svojstva.

And the science tells us if we could employ them in computing,

I znanost nam govori da, ako ih možemo upotrijebiti u računalstvu,

možemo vidjeti i do deset puta veliko poboljšanje u izvedbi.

we could see up to a ten times improvement in performance.

It's like skipping through several technology generations in just one step.

To je poput preskakanja nekoliko tehnoloških generacija u samo jednom koraku.

So there we have it.

I to vam je to.

Imamo ovaj stvarno važan problem

We have this really important problem

i imamo ono što je u osnovi idealno rješenje.

and we have what is basically the ideal solution.

The science is screaming at us,

Znanost viče na nas,

"This is what you should be doing to solve your problem."

"Ovo bi trebao raditi da riješiš svoj problem."

So, all right, let's get started,

Dakle, dobro, počnimo,

učinimo to.

let's do this.

But you just run right back into that double-edged sword.

Ali onda opet trčite ususret dvosjeklom maču.

To "idealno rješenje" se sastoji od materijala s kojim je nemoguće raditi.

This "ideal solution" contains a material that's impossible to work with.

I'd have to arrange billions of them just to make one single computer chip.

Morao bih posložiti milijarde njih samo da napravim jedan računalni čip.

To je ta ista zagonetka, to je kao onaj besmrtni problem.

It's that same conundrum, it's like this undying problem.

At this point, we said, "Let's just stop.

U ovom trenutku, rekli smo: "Ajmo prestati.

Let's not go down that same road.

Nemojmo ići istim putem.

Let's just figure out what's missing.

Pokušajmo samo shvatiti što nedostaje.

What are we not dealing with?

Čime se ovdje bavimo?

What are we not doing that needs to be done?"

Što to ne radimo, a trebali bismo učiniti? "

It's like in "The Godfather," right?

To je poput "Kuma," zar ne?

When Fredo betrays his brother Michael,

Kad Fredo izdaje svog brat Michael-a,

we all know what needs to be done.

svi znamo što treba učiniti.

Fredo's got to go.

Fredo mora otići.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

But Michael -- he puts it off.

Ali Michael -- on to odgodi.

Fine, I get it.

Dobro, shvaćam.

Their mother's still alive, it would make her upset.

Njihova majka je još živa, to bi je uznemirilo.

We just said,

Stoga smo rekli,

"What's the Fredo in our problem?"

"Što je Fredo u našem problemu?"

Čime se ne bavimo?

What are we not dealing with?

What are we not doing,

Što mi to ne radimo,

a treba učiniti kako bi postigli uspjeh?

but needs to be done to make this a success?"

And the answer is that the statue has to build itself.

I odgovor je da se skulptura treba sama izgraditi.

We have to find a way, somehow,

Moramo naći načina, nekako,

to compel, to convince billions of these particles

da nagovorimo, uvjerimo milijarde tih čestica

to assemble themselves into the technology.

da se skupe zajedno u tehnologiju.

We can't do it for them. They have to do it for themselves.

Ne možemo to učiniti za njih. Moraju to napraviti same.

And it's the hard way, and this is not trivial,

A to je težak put, i to nije trivijalno,

but in this case, it's the only way.

i u ovom slučaju, to je jedini put.

Now, as it turns out, this is not that alien of a problem.

Sada, kako se ispostavilo, taj problem nije toliko stran.

We just don't build anything this way.

Jednostavno ne gradimo ništa na taj način.

People don't build anything this way.

Ljudi ne grade ništa na taj način.

But if you look around -- and there's examples everywhere --

Ali ako pogledate okolo -- i ima primjera svugdje --

Mother Nature builds everything this way.

Majka Priroda gradi sve na taj način.

Everything is built from the bottom up.

Sve je izgrađeno od temelja.

You can go to the beach,

Možete ići na plažu,

you'll find these simple organisms that use proteins --

pronaći ćete te jednostavne organizme koji koriste proteine --

basically molecules --

u osnovi, molekule --

kao podložak za ono što je, u osnovi, pijesak,

to template what is essentially sand,

vadeći ga iz mora

just plucking it from the sea

and building these extraordinary architectures with extreme diversity.

i gradeći te izvanredne arhitekture sa ekstremnom raznolikošću.

And nature's not crude like us, just hacking away.

A priroda nije sirova poput nas, da samo hakira.

She's elegant and smart,

Ona je elegantna i pametna,

building with what's available, molecule by molecule,

gradeći pomoću onoga što je dostupno. molekulu po molekulu,

izrađujući strukture sa složenošću

making structures with a complexity

and a diversity that we can't even approach.

i raznolikošću kojoj se mi ne možemo i približiti.

And she's already at the nano.

I ona je već na nano razini.

Ona je tamo već stotinama milijuna godina.

She's been there for hundreds of millions of years.

We're the ones that are late to the party.

Mi smo ti koju kasne na zabavu.

Stoga smo odlučili da ćemo koristiti isti alat koji priroda koristi,

So we decided that we're going to use the same tool that nature uses,

and that's chemistry.

a to je kemija.

Kemija je alat koji nedostaje.

Chemistry is the missing tool.

And chemistry works in this case

I kemija funkcionira u ovom slučaju

because these nanoscale objects are about the same size as molecules,

jer su ti objekti nano veličine otprilike iste veličine poput molekula,

so we can use them to steer these objects around,

pa ih možemo koristiti kako bi ih usmjeravali,

baš poput alata.

much like a tool.

That's exactly what we've done in our lab.

To je baš ono što napravili u našem laboratoriju.

We've developed chemistry that goes into the pile of dust,

Razvili smo kemiju koja ide u hrpu prašine,

u hrpu nanočestica,

into the pile of nanoparticles,

and pulls out exactly the ones we need.

i izvlači upravo one koje su nama potrebne.

Then we can use chemistry to arrange literally billions of these particles

Tada možemo koristiti kemiju da doslovno posložimo milijarde tih čestica

into the pattern we need to build circuits.

u uzorak koji nam je potreban da izradimo strujne krugove.

And because we can do that,

I zato jer možemo to napraviti,

we can build circuits that are many times faster

možemo izraditi strujne krugove koji su puno brži

than what anyone's been able to make using nanomaterials before.

od bilo čega što je dosad bilo izrađeno koristeći nanomaterijale.

Chemistry's the missing tool,

Kemija je alat koji nedostaje,

and every day our tool gets sharper and gets more precise.

i svaki dan naš alat postaje oštriji i precizniji.

And eventually --

A naposljetku --

and we hope this is within a handful of years --

i nadamo se kako će to biti u okviru nekoliko godina --

we can deliver on one of those original promises.

možemo ispuniti jednu od tih prvotnih obećanja.

Now, computing is just one example.

Sada, računalstvo je samo jedan primjer.

It's the one that I'm interested in, that my group is really invested in,

To je onaj za koji sam ja zainteresiran, za koji je moja grupa je stvarno zagrijana,

but there are others in renewable energy, in medicine,

ali postoje i drugi u obnovljivoj energiji, medicini,

in structural materials,

strukturalnim materijalima,

gdje znanost govori da se napravi pomak prema nano.

where the science is going to tell you to move towards the nano.

Tu se nalazi najveća korist.

That's where the biggest benefit is.

But if we're going to do that,

Ali ako ćemo to napraviti,

the scientists of today and tomorrow are going to need new tools --

znanstvenici sadašnjosti i budućnosti će trebati nove alate --

tools just like the ones I described.

alate poput onih koje sam predstavio.

And they will need chemistry. That's the point.

I trebati će im kemija. To je poanta.

The beauty of science is that once you develop these new tools,

Ljepota znanosti je, kada jednom razviješ te nove alate,

they're out there.

oni su dostupni.

They're out there forever,

Oni su dostupni zauvijek,

and anyone anywhere can pick them up and use them,

i bilo tko bilo gdje ih može uzeti i koristiti

and help to deliver on the promise of nanotechnology.

i pomoći u ispunjenju obećanja nanotehnologije.

Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it.

Hvala vam za vaše vrijeme. Cijenim to.

(Pljesak)

(Applause)