It also has to somehow control not only this new atom but all the existing atoms in the region.No problem, you say: our nanobot will have an additional manipulator arm for each one of these atoms.

• 因此，当奈米机器人的操作手臂选取一颗原子，并打算将它插入预定的位置时，它马上面临一个根本困难：除了这个新原子之外，它必须以某些方式同时控制该区域内所有原本就存在的原子。