 |
| My own first brush with nanotech came in the form of The Magic School Bus. |
Nanotechnology is a common branch of science to use in
fiction, as seen by the well-used “Fantastic Voyage” trope. The plot of
shrinking a submarine with people inside down in order to enter a human body
and, usually, fix something inside the person is used throughout all genres.
The idea, originally stemming from the 1966 sci-fi movie of
the same name, is so popular to use within narratives, especially on
television, because it bridges the gap between the present and the future. It
blurs the line between what technology is currently capable of and what it may
one day be capable of. Nanotech itself has advanced technology to such a point
that tiny things feel futuristic. “Nanotechnology in fiction” has its own
Wikipedia page because of how much its used for its fantastical futurism.
In the video above, the 2014 Samsung Keynote explores the nanotechnology of an extremely thin and bendable plastic screen. One of the speakers bends the screen back and forth as the video on it continues to play. While Samsung is laying the groundwork for bendable phones and tablets today, the products are still currently years away from the market. But the technology is there. With advancements such as this happening at top speed, it isn’t surprising that nanotechnology is used within fiction to explore the both the present day and the future.
""Fantastic
Voyage" Plot." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.
<http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FantasticVoyagePlot>.
"Fantastic Voyage." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 22
May 2015. <http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/FantasticVoyage>.
"Nanotechnology in Fiction." Wikipedia. Wikimedia
Foundation, n.d. Web. 22 May 2015.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanotechnology_in_fiction>.
Rubin, Ben Fox. "Ahead of the Curve: Samsung, LG and
the Bendable Phone - CNET." CNET. N.p., 29 Dec. 2015. Web. 22 May 2015.
<http://www.cnet.com/news/ahead-of-the-curve-samsung-lg-and-the-bendable-phone/>.
Hi Martina,
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog brought up some interesting ideas. I hadn't thought of the Magic School Bus, Jimmy Neutron, and other kids shows that had used this similar trope, of being microscopic and invading the human body, which ties directly into nanotechnology. Humans have a fascination with the extremely small and out of sight, and it both engages and frightens us to know that there are forces at work inside and outside our bodies that we will likely never see. I think nanotechnology will shed a lot of light on this subject and help it to not be so foreign to humans. Thanks for your thoughts!
Martina,
ReplyDeleteI found it really interesting that when looking at nanotechnology, you chose to research technology. I feel like when people think 'nanotech' they think about spy gear, alien technology, biological weapons, and robots. I never thought about phone screens or smaller scale, more accessible tech present in our every day lives. Nanotech has actually been around for decades but every year it seems even father away. We fantasize about the future without realizing it's here.