The most recent issue of Financial Partner magazine (2MB PDF file) was about nanotechnology—the technology of manufacturing very tiny things, even down to the level of manipulating individual atoms. As noted in the magazine, major advances have been made recently in this field, some involving agriculture. It appears that even more significant advances are just around the corner.What will the world look like when nanotechnology is commonplace? If you want to contemplate some mind-boggling possibilities, I recommend The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. The title of this science fiction novel comes from the fact that nanotechnology makes it very easy to manufacture stuff in this near future world. It is so easy to make stuff that many things are made out of diamond structures, even windows. In fact, it is so easy to make stuff that basic foodstuffs are free. Think about the implications of that for commodity agriculture.
