[unlearner]

"so science marches on experiments or field work that can't possibly be done with the resources we possess"

Sometimes tests of theories are put forward for which science must wait for technology to become available.

"Biological systems do not get what they need for free."

Whatever. I think you ought to just concede that budget is not a demarcation criterion. This pettiness is unbecoming.

"Did the other couple of thousand researchers and investors sign a document concurring?"

Here you go again, trying to nitpick while missing the thrust of the argument. It really does not matter if only one in a hundred investors believe we will ever be able to assemble custom materials atom by atom. It doesn't matter if seventy per cent of the experts disagree with this goal. It is enough that some investors and some researchers DO have it as a goal. This contradicts your claim that no one has any interest in technology that would support my test. The fact is, my test will be achievable if certain industry leaders of nanotechnology achieve their goal.

"Yea, this is how you do science--you remake some warmed-over, unlikely, drivel out of an adolescent science fiction story and claim it's a significant scientific experiment."

No. I think I've read eight books on this subject in which this proposition was discussed and debated. Eric Drexler is the leading proponent of mimicking the assembly line at the atomic level. His detractors explain why this may not be possible. There are plenty of scientists working in this field who believe the objective is reachable. It is not science fiction.

[donh]

"Yea, this is how you do science--you remake some warmed-over, unlikely, drivel out of an adolescent science fiction story and claim it's a significant scientific experiment."

No. I think I've read eight books on this subject in which this proposition was discussed and debated.

Tell me in which of these books exists a lengthy discussion of your proposed experiment, in which, I'll remind you, every jot, whistle, and twig of a cellular creature would be created "from scratch" in a laboratory. By actual title, if you don't mind.