Bits to Atoms (and Atoms to Bits)

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According to Neil Gershenfeld, we might be close to a third digital revolution, one in which matter and information merge. The vision is interesting, the ontological shift and implications challenging, but the actual delivery shows the limits of the hype. At the "fabrication laboratory", dubbed the Fab Lab, at MIT, where Gershenfeld is the director of the Center for Bits and Atoms (CBA), researchers design and manufacture ordinary things readjusting ordinary atoms. There is no magic creation of it from bit. Disappointing? Not quite. The Lab is worth a virtual visit, just do not expect to see an ontology of res extensa pop out of an ontology of res informatica.

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