Mondo Nano: Fun and Games in the World of Digital Matter (Experimental Futures)

In Mondo Nano Colin Milburn takes his readers on a playful expedition through the emerging landscape of nanotechnology, offering a light-hearted yet critical account of our high-tech world of fun and games. This expedition ventures into discussions of the first nanocars, the popular video games Second Life , Crysis , and BioShock , international nanosoccer tournaments, and utopian nano cities. Along the way, Milburn shows how the methods, dispositions, and goals of nanotechnology research converge with video game culture. With an emphasis on play, scientists and gamers alike are building a new world atom by atom, transforming scientific speculations and video game fantasies into reality. Milburn suggests that the closing of the gap between bits and atoms entices scientists, geeks, and gamers to dream of a completely programmable future. Welcome to the wild world of Mondo Nano . "A playful expedition through the emerging landscape of nanotechnology, offering a light-hearted yet critical account of our high-tech world of fun and games. This expedition ventures into discussions of the first nanocars, the popular video games Second Life, Crysis, and BioShock, international nanosoccer tournaments, and utopian nano cities. Along the way, Milburn shows how the methods, dispositions, and goals of nanotechnology research converge with video game culture. With an emphasis on play, scientists and gamers alike are building a new world atom by atom, transforming scientific speculations and video game fantasies into reality. Milburn suggests that the closing of the gap between bits and atoms entices scientists, geeks, and gamers to dream of a completely programmable future"--Publisher's description Contents 6 0. Press Start 8 1. Just for Fun 14 2. Digital Matters 46 3. Tempest in a Teapot 84 4. Massively Multiplayer Laboratories 115 5. Weapons-Grade Cartoons 142 6. Have Nanosuit—Will Travel 180 7. Nanopolitanism 208 8. My Little Avatar 243 9. Game Over— Play Again? 300 Acknowledgments 308 Notes 312 Bibliography 356 Index 406 Colin Milburn examines how nanotechnology research has developed in relation to video games, allowing for the creation of new technologies that enable the transformation of scientific speculation and video game fantasy into reality.