An aerospace engineer, sci-fi novelist and science columnist, Wil McCarthy (wilmccarthy.com(1)) was Art's main guest on Friday night. He discussed forthcoming technologies involving "programmable matter," which could take the form of "quantum dots," which are similar to transistors but much smaller. These "artificial atoms," have the ability to transform our world by changing the composition objects are made of.

"Malicious hackers may have the ability to reprogram the material around us in a way that does not suit our purposes. They could for example imbed sensors in your wall that you didn't know were there and spy on you. Or they could turn your walls transparent so that you didn't have any privacy…They could even potentially collapse buildings," McCarthy said, outlining the potential downside of the technology.

But "the real promise is magic," McCarthy said. We could have "programmable houses," with "windows that move across the wall to track the sun," and ceilings that could become light sources that could change from sunlight to moonlight to firelight.

1. http://www.wilmccarthy.com

Bumper Music

Bumper music from Friday April 18, 2003