Oliver Sparrow wrote:
> "Steven Mix" <stevenmix at prodigy.net> wrote:
>> > Life is out there. Somewhere.
>> Off-topic, but what the hell? No doubt it is out there. I noted Vinge's
> hierarchy of explanations as to 'where are they'? Someone replied that
> getting about would be difficult. Doubtless, unless we understand what
> constitutes separation better than we do at present. Assuming the problem
> is intractable, and that there are reasons to explore (itself an
> assumption) then how would one go about it?
>> The answer has to be very small objects, hugely replicated, that can (a)
> unwrap themselves when they find a chunk of suitable matter and (b) produce
> more of themselves. A bacterium-sized nanomachine could be boosted to near
> light speed with relative ease - light or microwave pressure, for example -
Ya know Oliver, i was with up to about here. Then i go my doubts. What is
microwave pressure?
Are you referring to digitization? We're getting into a field which i know
just a little bit about.
But you know what THEY ; a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous.
>> and teratonnes of these could be made and sprayed about at random (in the
> galactic plane) in decades by anyone with the technology. If these are
> programmed to repeat the process, the galaxy would be fully populated by a
> generation of such machinery in a time not much longer than its diameter
> measured in light years. This offers a fairly tight test: either (a) this
> cannot be done or (b) there is nobody to do it or (c) it has been done,
> because it only has to be done once.
>> If it has been done, then the logical extension is to spray the local
> system with recording-transmitting nanomachines. Who knows, you may have
> just such a thing nesting in your cortex, transmitting your thoughts in
> polarized sneutrinoes, or whatever, to a database in the Oort cloud and
> thence to day time TV, somewhere far, far away. Paranoia starts here.
I wouldn't say "paranoia". Hell, if you had thought about this
any longer, you could write a terrific sci-fi drama. If you do, i'd like to
talk to you about directing it.
I'm really intrigued with the Oort cloud, is that a term from star trek, or
maybe deep space 9.
You can tell, i'm not much of a tv fan. As a matter of fact, i loathe the
thing.
Off the subject that's off the subject. TV , Now there's a culprit. Care to
discuss that some time? I could liven it up.
Oz
>> _______________________________
>> Oliver Sparrow
