I once had a teacher who, on the first day of class, walked in, declared loudly, “The beginning is the end,” and then promptly sat down to continue class without another word. We were perplexed. Surely he had not intended
to start the session on such a somber note.However, he had a purpose.
The beginning is often surmised to be the start of the new. However, it is also the end of the old: the end of the known as we enter the unknown. This was how I entered this program. Laden with preconceptions and our stances on right and wrong, we entered the new, releasing the old and the past. I loosened my grip on my staunch beliefs to hear the entire picture. Futuristic notions of large robots and computerized images were defenestrated as we started from the most basic of known biological units: the atom. And there we began, from bottom to top.
A potential nanobot working in the artery of an organism
As the two weeks passed, a new world was introduced to me. Until now, I had imagined that the microworld was the nanoworld. The fact that a nanometer is a billionth of a meter absolutely mind boggles me. How is it possible that such a “nanocosm” exists in every particle of our being? I’m still perplexed. Perhaps I will never wrap my mind around the idea that our macroworld is shifting towards a world that is invisible to mankind.
However, as the last words of that teacher said, “The end is the beginning.” And while this is the end of the program, it is only the beginning of my scientific journey. The rest is still undiscovered.
The unpredictable horizon
Links
http://www.zyvex.com/nano/
http://www.kurzweilai.net/meme/frame.html?main=/articles/art0583.html
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macrocosm
http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2006/10/end-of-physics.html
http://searchcio-midmarket.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid183_gci514407,00.html