Wellstone

Wellstone is a theoretical substance envisioned as a kind of programmable matter.

Programmable Matter (n): any physical substance whose properties can be adjusted precisely and repeatably through electrical or optical stimulation.

In the summer of 1998, In a discussion on artificial atoms and programmable matter, Wil McCarthy and Gary E. Snyder of Pioneer Astronautics coined the term "quantum wellstone" (or simply "wellstone") to describe this hypothetical but plausible form of programmable matter. Wil McCarthy has used the term in his fiction.

The concept includes the ability to program matter itself - to change it, with the click of a cursor, from hard to soft, from paper to stone, from fluorescent to super-reflective to invisible. Wellstone would be a super quantum dot substance.

Books

Hacking Matter: Levitating Chairs, Quantum Mirages, and the Infinite Weirdness of Programmable Atoms, Wil McCarthy, Basic Books, 2003 ISBN 046504428X

In this book he discusses nanotech, quantum dot cellular automata, and even Picotechnology.

External links

• Wired 9.10 Ultimate Alchemy
• http://www.wilmccarthy.com/
• FAQ: Quantum Dots and Programmable Matter by Wil McCarthy
• Wil McCarthy's HACKING MATTER

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