[5] In 1931, Boris Zhitkov wrote a short story titled "Microhands" (Микроруки), where the narrator builds for himself a pair of microscopic remote manipulators and uses them for fine tasks like eye surgery.
When he attempts to build even smaller manipulators operated by the first pair, the story goes into detail about the problem of regular materials behaving differently on a microscopic scale.
In his 1956 short story titled "The Next Tenants", Arthur C. Clarke describes tiny machines that operate at the micrometer scale – although not strictly nanoscale ("billionth of a meter"), they are perhaps the first fictional example of the concepts now associated with nanotechnology.
[6] Lem's 1964 novel The Invincible involves the discovery of an artificial ecosystem of minuscule robots, although like in Clarke's story they are larger than what is strictly meant by the term 'nanotechnology'.
Robert Silverberg's 1969 short story How It Was when the Past Went Away describes nanotechnology[clarification needed] being used in the construction of stereo loudspeakers, with a thousand speakers per inch.
[5] The 1984 novel Peace on Earth by Stanislaw Lem tells about small bacteria-sized nanorobots that look like normal dust (developed by artificial intelligence placed by humans on the Moon in the era of cold warfare) that later come to Earth and are begin replicating, destroying all weapons, modern technology and software, while leaving living organisms (as there were no living organisms on the Moon) intact.
The 2006 children's novel The Doomsday Dust (book 4 in the Spy Gear Adventures series by Rick Barba) features a nanite swarm as the villain.
[citation needed] Further uses of the concept could include using parts of its body as a tracking to perform several tasks, or merging with another nanomorphs to form a greater one, or gliding/flying like an ornithopter (by molding itself into a giant, articulated kite).
A common improvement is the ability to cover itself with specific colors and textures in a realistic manner (the ultimate being to look like a human, à la doppelgänger).
In the Expanse series, the protomolecule was created by a race of ancient aliens and sent to star systems across the galaxy to terraform planets into habitable worlds and develop a gateway network to facilitate interstellar travel.
Numerous violent conflicts occurred between factions of humanity, notably the United Nations, Martian Congressional Republic, Outer Planets Alliance, and Laconian Empire, for control of this technology.
One of the first mentions on a television show was an announcement to students over the school loudspeakers in the 1987 Max Headroom episode, "Academy" that, "Nanotechnology pod test results are posted in the Submicron Lab for your viewing."
In another episode, an experiment by Wesley Crusher gone awry led to nanites developing a collective intelligence and interfering with ship systems, eventually being deposited on a planet to establish their own civilization.
Kryten's nanobots grow bored of their duties and take over the ship Red Dwarf, leaving the crew to try and recapture it aboard the smaller Starbug.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra, the main plot is to save the world from a warhead containing deadly nanobots called the "Nanomites", which if detonated over a city could destroy it in hours.
In the 2014 film Transcendence, the uploaded consciousness of Will Caster (Johnny Depp) uses nanotechnology to turn himself, and the local townsfolk, into a self-healing defense force with superhuman strength.
A very dangerous technology in the wrong hands, it provides a number of superhuman abilities to the protagonist along with novel approaches to weaponry such as the coveted Dragon's Tooth Sword.
In Metal Gear Solid (1998) the protagonist got nanomachines to supply and administer adrenalin, nutrients, sugar, nootropics, and benzedrine and to recharge a Codec's battery.
Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008) featured a great deal of nanotechnology, such as the Sons of the Patriots, an artificial intelligence/nanomachine network that regulated and enhanced the actions of every lawful combatant in the world.
[9] In the manga series Battle Angel Alita: Last Order, nanotechnology is referenced numerously and its use is heavily restricted, owing to the loss of Mercury as a potential planetary colony due to a grey goo catastrophe.
In Dx13: Nano A Mano[10] - a manga series by Kirupagaren Kanni - the protagonist uses nanobots to create a giant mecha, which is remotely controlled by custom-built equipment such as electronic glove, microphones, cameras, etc.
In the anime and manga series To Love-Ru, the Transformation Weapons Golden Darkness and Mea Kurosaki have nanomachines within them, in the same manner as Eve from Black Cat.
In the LEGO franchise BIONICLE, it is eventually revealed that all characters from the 2001–2008 storyline are biomechanical nanobots (though roughly human-sized, given the size of the gigantic robot they inhabit (12,192 km tall)).
In several X-Men storylines, nano-sentinels appear, either used to modify human beings into Prime Sentinels (including the character Fantomex), or to infect mutants and attack their cells.