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| Science Forum Index » Nanotechnology Forum » Maybe Nanotechnology isn't such a good thing.... |
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| Bob Dobbs... |
 Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:01 pm |
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Recent activities in Russia got me thinking. What if they are the first to
build an assembler?
Imagine clouds of assemblers wafting around the stratosphere, each with GPS
devices and programmed to disassemble anything that lies in a certain area?
They could completely wipe out their enemies, and nobody would be able to
defend themselves.
[Moderator's Note: This will not turn into a discussion of the situation in
Georgia and South Ossetia, as that would be completely off-topic.] |
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| Jim Logajan... |
| Posted: Wed Aug 13, 2008 11:54 am |
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"Bob Dobbs" <bobdobbs at (no spam) dejanews.com> wrote:
[quote:ed2d00ad58]Recent activities in Russia got me thinking. What if they are the
first to build an assembler?
Imagine clouds of assemblers wafting around the stratosphere, each
with GPS devices and programmed to disassemble anything that lies in a
certain area?
They could completely wipe out their enemies, and nobody would be able
to defend themselves.
[/quote:ed2d00ad58]
Many things are possible. But they are not all equally probable. I cannot
rule out such a sequence of things happening, but it seems very highly
improbable.
Strictly from a technical standpoint, not only do they have to invent an
assembler, but it has to:
1) Be able to power itself somehow in the wild. A non-trivial problem right
there. (Solar energy you say - well, if that is the case, sounds like the
buggers would be more useful as power sources than weapons!)
2) Avoid disassembling its assembler pals. Always a good idea to avoid
"friendly disassembly" (equivalent to "friendly fire.")
3) Replicate in the wild - otherwise it is going to take quite some time
for them to disassemble much of anything. More likely their targets are
going to die of old age before they die of being disassembled. (I'd like to
know how many of these things there are to start and how fast they can
disassemble stuff given their likely energy source(s).)
No doubt other objections exist merely on technical grounds. From a
motivational point of view, the "first" assembler is likely to have so many
other uses that the inventors are likely to apply it to other useful
problems first. |
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| Bob Dobbs... |
| Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 4:22 pm |
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"Jim Logajan" <JamesL at (no spam) lugoj.com> wrote in message
news:7qOdncPBxN0hjD7VnZ2dnUVZ_r7inZ2d at (no spam) supernews.com...
[quote:a004b54e22]
"Bob Dobbs" <bobdobbs at (no spam) dejanews.com> wrote:
Recent activities in Russia got me thinking. What if they are the
first to build an assembler?
Imagine clouds of assemblers wafting around the stratosphere, each
with GPS devices and programmed to disassemble anything that lies in a
certain area?
They could completely wipe out their enemies, and nobody would be able
to defend themselves.
Many things are possible. But they are not all equally probable. I cannot
rule out such a sequence of things happening, but it seems very highly
improbable.
Strictly from a technical standpoint, not only do they have to invent an
assembler, but it has to:
1) Be able to power itself somehow in the wild. A non-trivial problem
right
there. (Solar energy you say - well, if that is the case, sounds like the
buggers would be more useful as power sources than weapons!)
[/quote:a004b54e22]
If they want to disassemble humans, they could use blood sugar as a power
source, just like virii. A few of these devices could enter through your
eyes and replicate enough copies to do the job in a few short hours.
I think this scenario alone would make it worth doing whatever it takes to
be the first with an assembler. |
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| ... |
| Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 11:16 pm |
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Guest
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On Aug 14, 5:22=A0pm, "Bob Dobbs" <bobdo... at (no spam) dejanews.com> wrote:
[quote:58f97b39a6]"Jim Logajan" <Jam... at (no spam) lugoj.com> wrote in message
news:7qOdncPBxN0hjD7VnZ2dnUVZ_r7inZ2d at (no spam) supernews.com...
"Bob Dobbs" <bobdo... at (no spam) dejanews.com> wrote:
Recent activities in Russia got me thinking. What if they are the
first to build an assembler?
Imagine clouds of assemblers wafting around the stratosphere, each
with GPS devices and programmed to disassemble anything that lies in a
certain area?
They could completely wipe out their enemies, and nobody would be able
to defend themselves.
Many things are possible. But they are not all equally probable. I cann=
ot
rule out such a sequence of things happening, but it seems very highly
improbable.
Strictly from a technical standpoint, not only do they have to invent a=
n
assembler, but it has to:
1) Be able to power itself somehow in the wild. A non-trivial problem
right
there. (Solar energy you say - well, if that is the case, sounds like t=
he
buggers would be more useful as power sources than weapons!)
If they want to disassemble humans, they could use blood sugar as a power
source, just like virii. A few of these devices could enter through your
eyes and replicate enough copies to do the job in a few short hours.
I think this scenario alone would make it worth doing whatever it takes t=
o
be the first with an assembler.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
[/quote:58f97b39a6]
I am in complete agreement with you. We MUST develop true Molecular
Nanotechnology ASAP. Another danger is that molecular factories will
allow them (terrorists, enemies, etc) to build conventional weapons
like explosives and more, fast, cheap, and easier in a decentralized
way. I like Drexler's idea of the Limited Assemblers programmed to
produce a cheap cornucopia of consumer goods while limiting certain
things, but, at the same time : 1 We know people will hack into it and
use it for more general construction and 2 Who decides what is safe
and harmless and what is not? I for one think we should be allowed to
assemble guns and knives and armor for self protection, but govts wont
like that probably. |
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