Nano-machine Replacements for Plastic Bags- A Progress Report by Grok

There are myriad alternative ways to replace plastic bags or at least scale up the size of the plastic in order to avoid very small micron sizes that allow easy absorption into biological cells. One of the more interesting one is that of nano-machines. I had a conversation with Grok- prompting Alex as he is known alternatively;

Gary- Could semi-intelligent nano-machines form bags that serve like plastics yet when their purpose is served, collapse into a powder or maybe a cube for recycling as another bag?

Grok- Thought for 39s

"Yes, the concept of semi-intelligent nano-machines forming bag-like structures that function like plastics and then collapse into a powder or compact cube for recycling is theoretically feasible, drawing from emerging research in programmable nanomaterials, molecular robotics, and self-assembling systems. While we're not there yet for everyday consumer products like grocery bags, foundational technologies demonstrate assembly and disassembly on command at the nanoscale, with potential pathways to scale up for macroscopic applications.

Core Principles and Feasibility-At the heart of this idea are "smart" nanomaterials or molecular machines that can respond to external triggers (e.g., chemical signals, solvents, light, or temperature) to organize into functional structures and later break down controllably. These aren't fully autonomous "intelligent" nanobots like in science fiction, but rather engineered molecules or particles with programmed behaviors:

• Self-Assembly: Nano-machines could use weak intermolecular forces (like hydrogen bonding or DNA hybridization) to link together, forming a flexible, impermeable network similar to plastic polymers. For a bag, this might create a thin, durable sheet that holds shape under normal use.
• Disassembly on Command: Once the bag's purpose is served, a trigger could disrupt those bonds, causing the structure to collapse. This might result in a fine powder (dispersed nanoparticles) or, with more advanced control, a self-organized cube (via directed reassembly into a compact form). The components could then be recycled by reassembling them into new bags, minimizing waste.
• Semi-Intelligence: The "intelligence" comes from built-in molecular controllers or circuits that process signals autonomously, allowing the system to decide when to assemble/disassemble without constant external input.

This aligns with sustainable manufacturing goals, where materials are designed for infinite recyclability without energy-intensive melting or chemical breakdown.Supporting Research and ExamplesRecent advancements show this isn't just hypothetical:

• Swarm molecular robots, propelled by kinesin motors along microtubules, can self-assemble into bundled structures via DNA signals from a coexisting molecular controller. An "assemble" command aligns them into formations, while a "disassemble" signal disperses them automatically. This autonomous process, regulated by a DNA circuit, could inspire scalable systems for dynamic materials. phys.org Though currently microscopic, extending this to larger scales might involve hierarchical assembly (nano to micro to macro).
• A self-assembling electrolyte for EV batteries uses aramid amphiphile molecules that spontaneously form nanoribbons in water, which can be pressed into a solid structure. Immersion in organic solvents causes rapid disassembly—like dissolving cotton candy—separating components for easy recycling. news.mit.edu Researchers note this reversible process could adapt to packaging, such as bags that assemble for use and collapse into recyclable forms on a solvent trigger, avoiding traditional plastic pollution.
• Broader nanotech design principles advocate building disassembly directly into products, such as using reverse assemblers to break items into reusable elemental components or enabling biodegradation into harmless parts. azonano.com Proposals like a "Law of Disassembly" emphasize ensuring all nanotech items have at least one safe breakdown pathway, which could apply to macroscopic items by programming nano-units to revert to a powder or cube state for collection and reuse.

Other work, like self-folding origami robots or programmable 2D nanosheets, further supports the idea of materials that change form autonomously. herox.com +1Challenges and Prospects

• Scaling Up: Current demos are at nano/micro scales (e.g., for drug delivery or batteries), not macro like bags. Achieving uniform assembly over square meters would require trillions of nano-machines working in concert, plus ensuring mechanical strength comparable to plastics.
• Cost and Viability: Production of such nano-machines (e.g., via DNA synthesis or chemical engineering) is expensive now, but costs are dropping with biotech advances. Quantitative viability could emerge if raw materials are cheap and recycling loops are closed.
• Triggers and Safety: Disassembly might use benign triggers (e.g., water or mild solvents) to form powder, or magnetic/electric fields to compact into a cube. Ensuring they don't accidentally disassemble (e.g., in rain) or pose health risks (e.g., inhalable powder) is key.
• Timeline: Prototypes for niche applications (e.g., medical or military) might appear in 5–10 years, with consumer packaging following as regulations push for zero-waste materials.

In summary, while full implementation requires further R&D, the building blocks exist, and this could revolutionize plastics by making them truly circular and eco-friendly."

Semi-Auto Nail Puller

I don't know if it already exists, yet if not someone should invent an electronic nail puller for. Useful on large roofs in need of replaced plywood or osb, a nail puller shaped like a Colt model 1911 with a powerful new battery instead of a magazine- or perhaps like a grease gun, would punch into the wood in a circle (adjustable) around a nail head to a depth of a quarter of an inch, tighten and extract- perhaps ejecting a nail like a spent cartridge.

A semi-auto nail puller would be a useful tool.

On Criticism of Self-Publishing

 I opt for writing positively. Being a critic is all too easy. Human nature seems to enjoy dissing others. If one hasn't anything positive to say then sometimes it is better to leave it unsaid. In literature there is a profusion of publishing that occurred with the advent of computers and the internet. Anyone can publish anything they like, precociously on-line without wait, review maturation or delay- instant gratification that trolls will follow up with attacks. There is something of an existential nature to publishing including an unlimited stream of AI generated books offered for sale. That is a phenomenal 21st century communication development. 

I used to give away 200 books a month of a particular cosmology-creation analysis e-book and then, during the Obama administration, that dropped to zero from my on-line self publisher. I literally could not give away books- just zero visibility. So in my opinion, without a regular publisher with an advertising budget selling books of any sort will be difficult. People have also moved on to preferences for videos and sometimes audio books because reading requires a little discipline. I believe harsh criticism without standing can be a misplaced activity with time better spent on production. Quality writing should receive some recommendation. Commend those with As or Bs, encourage those with Cs and understand those with Ds and Fs, yet withhold dumping abuse on those poor souls. Internet fraud is a better thing to be vigilant about; in all its various forms.

A Note on Nominalism, Realism, Epistemology and Philosophy of Language

 Logicians with linguistic philosophy tend to avoid make errors with words. There are various forms of symbolic logic, like predicate, propositional and term for instance. The entire point about formal logic is that valid statements need be technically supported. Though syllogistic logic isn't symbolic logic- syllogisms are classical, there are 256 possible forms of syllogism and only 23 are valid forms. With words and thinking with words one realizes that words too need be supported as one considers propositions about things; such as 'the sky is blue' or 'oceans have a lot of water'. A proposition in logic is a statement that is either true or false.

The philosophy of language is a fascinating subject. W.V.O. Quine in Ontological Relativity covered a lot of ground and discussed Saul Kripke's book 'Naming and Necessity'. In that book Kripke basically considered the nature of words and their meaning and if names are realist or nominal. That is do names and words have meanings that are just made or created with use and change or disappear over time, or do they have a real meaning independently of the use that lasts. For example will the name Winston Churchill mean anything in 1000 years. Kripke was a neo-realist. I tend to opt for Quine's view of nominalism. It does make a difference though- Plato's Republic and the theory of forms was based on realism rather than nominalism. The debate has continued about 2500 years in all sorts of fields and modern ideas about truth values- there actually are several theories of truth formally defining what it is. I tend to like disquotation theory that is a kind of verification paradigm. One says that A is A and one verifies that it is the case that A is A. Language is of practical value in communication and that can just be what is useful. Christian theological ideas are different than secular ideas though. Jesus is Truth because God is the source of everything- so in that context God is the only truth and everything else is contingent or emergent and partial lol.

One other point though- words and language exist in mind rather than in nature.  Water doesn't have a label on its molecules that say hydrogen or oxygen and water doesn't have an implicit water label on it- people make up those words

I wanted to point out my technical error, that I did correct, in writing noumenal rather than nominal. That was something like a complex typo; I am more used to discussing Kant's noumenon and phenomenal relationships rather than nominalism. Nominalism versus realism is the language debate. Kant's Critique of Pure Reason began a technical exploration of what it is that one perceives of the world that probably started with Plato. Kant named the things that one perceives phenomenal, and the things that a human cannot ever perceive, noumenal. Sartre made up terms like in-itself, for-itself and for-others etc. And I believe those are consistent with Kant's categories of noumenon, and phenomenon.

Trump Doctrine and Greenland; Macron's Nuuk

 President Trump, after eliciting comparisons to the Monroe Doctrine in his posture toward the western hemisphere such that it is also known as the Trump Doctrine, has been very active in negotiating Art of the Deal paradigmata in regard to Greenland. The president is so busy on various global affairs that it is challenging to keep track of all of these unexpected approaches to diplomacy that has set European politicians aflame.

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/trumps-year-anarchy

President Trump may have realized, unlike previous presidents, that the new European Union has brought those former more sedate post-W.W. Two recovering nations into a status comparable to the new China. Each is experiencing the maturity of growth to global power. China seeks to flex its global political and economic muscles as does the new European Union. The EU leadership seems to feel the United States will treat it as it formerly treated the E.C. in the post W.W. 2 decades and regard Russia as it did the former Soviet Union. While the EU has grown and continues to grow in power, military assets and geography, as does China, the United States largely remains the same. The President may have realized that allowing the EU to own Greenland- located in the western hemisphere, presents a potential threat to the United States equal to that of China owning Greenland.

The E.U. as a large military, economic and political unit that functions as if it were a nation in some respects, with a national political identity will not always agree with the United States on critical issues, and in the future it may exploit Greenland's location and resources for leverage or even attack upon the United States. Nuuk Greenland is 300 miles closer to Washington D.C. than Los Angeles. A missile launched from Nuuk would need only 10 or 15 minutes to hit Washington D.C. The EU expects U.S. support in expanding eastward into Ukraine. The BIden administration actually funded that and helped isolate the U.S.A. from good relations with Russia.

https://www.politico.eu/article/trump-calls-rutte-sets-greenland-summit-leaks-macron-text-taunts-canada-slams-uk/

It may be, except for President Macron who likes to express the French foreign legion's attitude of never respecting authority, that European leaders still respect the authority of the U.S. President in regard to sovereign concerns in the western hemisphere. Macron may feel that he has a beast in the fight- with Quebec being a French speaking province and France being one of the few democracies that continued to have colonies into the 1950s and 60s (i.e. Algeria and Vietnam).

It is difficult to know what President Trump really plans to do with the cards he holds internationally. Apparently he likes to play them at the high stakes table of global security and trade. Certainly the United States has some that would feel that standing pat at the table while China, the EU and the BRIC block rise wouldn't be a good plan- that the United States would proportionately continue to diminish in relative power. Certainly Macron can count on the Democrat party to act as a fifth column that hates Trump and prefers an 'enlightened’ European viewpoint on the U.S. President who they feel, as Macron said indirectly at Davos, that President Trump is a bully.

I am not sure that President Trump cares what the French President thinks. At least he did not go full Monty Python and say; "I fart in your general direction" in reply.

A Boating Story

Another boating story; In late October 2018 I went to Juneau and bought a 13’ skiff to return to Wrangell on the inside passage. I had taken a 2.5 h.p. motor with me on the ferry to power the vessel homeward. There were a million things to buy and get done before I set off. First thing that occurred when I pushed the used boat away from the boat ramp was that the drain plug was gone and water started rushing in the stern. So I returned to the ramp, pulled the boat out of the water and got a drain plug. Later in the day I finally took off motoring down Gastineau channel toward Taku Inlet. It is few miles and the water was calm, the sky overcast and somewhat dark with a wind forecast of 15 to 20 mph. A little strong for safety yet within theoretically acceptable limits. The temperature was in the 30s F for a low.

Waves increased a little as I ventured toward more open water. It was slow going with the 2 and a half- maybe 5 m.p.h. It is perhaps 15 miles to the far side of Taku Inlet from Gastineau Channel approximately. About 4 miles southward the Channel ends and the confluence of water from four directions occurs; water from the bay known as Taku Inlet with famous Taku winds from the Taku Glacier and Taku River, Frederick Sound and Stephens passage all with different tidal flow directions and volumes. The wind and waves continued to increase yet when I reached the point of no return the waves that had not been too visible increased to be quite a bit larger. They tended toward rolling down from the Inlet in the direction of Doty Cove on Admiralty Island. I had to go parallel to the prevailing wave direction to reach the far side, and the waves became at least six feet high and quite irregular as water from other directions entered in. Wind increases notably when one reaches the Taku Inlet wind funnel.

I was in a survival situation with no place to go beside forward. I should have felt some emotion yet I realized that if the boat capsized- and that was even likely, I would drown and die of hypothermia and the boat would end up several miles downwind on the shore of Admiralty Island. The waves were too high and tightly spaced to risk running with them. The bow would have buried itself in a wave trough or pitch-poled most likely, and going against them was an idiot’s choice. Instead I tried to surf them a little angling somewhat forward, speeding in troughs and sometimes surfing along crests while trying to let them pass beneath as I continued toward Slocum Bay on the south side of Taku Inlet. 

The experience was surreal as my survival was in a state of suspense for an hour. There was no or little emotion for that was obviously without purpose. The experience was like watching a movie. To remain alive required constant attention to motion from several directions- wind, waves and prayer without ceasing. Even though I got a little water splashed into the gas tank when I ran out of gas three times and had to refuel, eventually I drew closer to the Slocum Bay. John Slocum incidentally was the first solo sailor to sail around the world- he was lost at sea on a different solo voyage.

When I made it to Slocum Bay I continued south along the mainland into Frederick Sound and spent the night at Limestone Inlet. I anchored and the rain began to pour. I anchored in the water instead of letting the boat rest on the mudflats because the area is strong brown bear turf. A pair of teenagers were killed by a brown bear years before while they were dressing a deer they’d shot at Taku Harbor a couple of miles away. In the middle of the night a very strong wind from the north flew down a mountain and slammed my boat into the rocks downwind were it bounced and dent the boat in the dark. Eventually I got my collapsed tent over the boat out of the way and started the motor to run to the other side of the bay where a crabber had left his pots in the only deep place suitable for anchoring out of the wind in Limestone Inlet. I put the boat on the mudflats and watched uneasily through the night for the approach of brown bear. That was the start of the journey.

On Emotions

 II think of emotions as if they are machine or assembly language, and consciousness as a higher level language that is self-aware. I took several computer programming courses in the early 1980s and so like to use that as a way to illustrate emotions. I believe that emotions are a primitive holdover and forerunner of the development of the conscious and subconscious thought- they are all on a spectrum. Emotion is less accurate than conscious thought, yet it expresses imperatives meaningful to those experiencing them- fear, love and hate are examples. Usually one has good cause to experience sudden emotions- they can recognize circumstances faster than rationalization sometimes. 

I feel like emotions are something of a self-reflection event too. They are for-oneself, and something that one cannot communicate directly to others, as one may language representing conscious thought. Philosophers have a criterion of solipsism- the belief that one can only really know one's own mind exists, and what it experiences- anything else is contingent. That is a hard idea to be aware of in a social environment, yet technically that is accurate. Sartre wrote that God is the only one who could know one's own mind and that of another as the other experiences it simultaneously (or at all). Emotion is a lesser primitive communication system occurring within one-self. Yet it is so powerful- I wonder what the origin is of that? 

So pragmatically one has to accept the naive reality perspective on relationships. A woman can bring herself and bonding to a man. The right woman brings happiness. Actually I believe that scientists have shown some sort of bio-chemical bonding occurs to a certain degree as well. Emotionally one might enjoy emergent experiences perhaps, as time and a relationship move on. Soldiers and philosophers usually are better off being objective and rational rather than emotional, yet not perhaps, always. I would think that people find conscious fulfillment in another before emotional. I would not even know how to program or store emotional satisfaction in a mind, or know if that can be done. To what extent does emotion have a memory for-itself? Or do emotions just have their own governor different than a conscious mind's?