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Robotic Nanotech Swarms on Mars... in 2034
Roland Piquepaille writes "NASA is testing a shape-shifting robot called 'TETwalker' for tetrahedral walker, because it looks like a flexible pyramid. It has been tested in the lab and at the McMurdo station in Antarctica to test it under conditions more like those on Mars. Now, it is on the way to be -- really -- miniaturized by using micro- and nano-electro-mechanical systems. These robots will eventually join together to form 'autonomous nanotechnology swarms' (ANTS). When it's done, in about thirty years, these nanotech swarms will 'alter their shape to flow over rocky terrain or to create useful structures like communications antennae and solar sails.' So in 2034, nanotechnology will land on Mars. Read more for other details and references about the TETwalker and the ANTS project."
"NASA's nano-robots get out of control and take over Mars. The robots replicate and build a massive robot army with the intent to come back to Earth and kill us all."
What I wonder is why robots in movies usually feel the need to kill humankind?
I don't know about these ant things... arm them with just a nanoliter of Cyanide, and you've got one Hell of a pack of fire ants.
It is part of the Illuminauti plan to set up their own shadow government on Mars before the humans arrive. Hail Dischordia! Hail Graud!
Save Sam and Max!
Took some digging.
Will they have the ability to reproduce themselves?
After the initial exploring and scientific investigations - we could have other uses for the nanobots.
It'd be pretty cool if they could spread all over Mars and begin terraforming.
We could have different "species" of nanobots - ones to fix nitrogen, another to break down CO2 into O2, etc etc. Mars would be livable in a couple hundred/thousand years.
"It's difficult to tell from this vantage point whether they will consume the captive earth men or merely enslave them. One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the ants will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves."
God spoke to me.
For those who are curious...e rs/ants.html
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/roboticexplor
...as has been pointed out by Robert Zubrin numerous times?
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It's been interesting watching the discussion evolve from "This is neat in theory" fifteen years ago to "Today we've got a prototypical nanocomputer" months ago. To think that such great things will be accomplished with machines so tiny and technology inconceivable a decade ago. It's been a pleasure to watch the intelligent design of these electronic critters by benevolent creators from the ground up and has given me shall we say ample room to consider the possible origins of biological life.
And now we're talking about terraforming, or making a world to suit ourselves, with this irreducibly complex material. Heady stuff, to say the least.
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
They want to send nanotechnology swarms onto another planet in order to burrow into the core and create a vast nanotech brain. The planet will gain self-awareness in a matter of seven years and will decide humanity is its greatest threat, altering the course of its orbit to crash into Earth.
All brought to you by NASA. Thanks, NASA!
...that we're currently experiencing a ROLAND PIQUEPAILLE swarm?
Cheers,
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
"NASA scientists were red-faced today when their nanotech swarms crashed and refused to move anywhere. One scientist was heard to mutter something about 'Damn 32-bit time_t'".
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Here. The page has more details and link to movies.
It is those artificial AI intelligences that I fear the most, I tell ya.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
"We can barely handle environmental damage here. Now you want to send nanotechnology "swarms" onto another planet because... we'll learn a whole lot?!"
You'd rather they unleash them here?
"Derp de derp."
Great, someone went and invented replicators.... we are screwed, SG1 would probably be too busy to save us...
The relevant original links:
Here and Here.
Check your facts. A pyramid can have any polygon for a base. The Egyptian pyramids (among others) happen to have square bases.
Sorry - those terms are already reserved for telemarketers and Jehovah's Witnesses, respectively. :)
Physicist, consultant, science communicator
Q:"What about when the nanobots breed out of control?"
A:"We send bigger robots to eat them up"
Q:"And what about when the bigger robots get out of control?"
A:"We send huge platoons of godzillas to incinerate them"
Q:"What about when the godzillas breed and cover the planet?"
A: "Galactus is one phone call away"
Q: "What about....?"
A: "Don't worry. We've laced the godzillas with rat poison. Galactus eats Mars and quickly dies. No danger to Earth."
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
What is the concern with this blog? It's the absolute dearth of original information.
Let's look at the composition of a few recent blog entries, in characters:
Note that most of the "self-written" portions are vapid statements such as "But where is nanotechnology involved in this project?"
So, we have 52% of the text coming from plagiarism, ~ 23% of the text coming from introducing / pointing out links, and ~ %25% of the text coming from saying the obvious. That's the problem with the blog.
The technique used on the site is barely better than the spam search engines that link to (and excerpt from) Wikipedia.
It all goes downhill from first post
Titan
- Lakes and rivers
- Clouds and real weather
- Water spouting volcanoes
- Complex organic compounds
- Giant ringed planet in the sky (at least on a clear day, if they ever happen???)
Need I say more?Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
NASA's budget has been a political football since it was started. Currently, it's cut to very little. They are talking about closing parts of the ISS. For budgetary reasons.
Does anyone reading this actually think that in 30 short years NASA will be put above politics, get proper funding, discover intelligent management, escape from hyde-bound buerocracy, develop functional nanotechnology capable of teraforming a planet and doing it right?
Remember, 30 years AGO, we were all expecting to have bases on the moon by now. Unearth some of those plans and weep.
But don't ask anyone to be excited about this one. This is nothing but ink on paper, drawn with the rosiest of contact lenses.
I'll make a technology prediction about 30 years from now: if our species still exists, there will still be politics and politicians who are willing to exploit the fears of the Great Unwashed and skuttle real technological development and advancement in the name of short-term political gain.
I took up my prozac with exlax this morning. Now I can't get off the toilet, but I feel good about it.
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"...these nanotech swarms will 'alter their shape to flow over rocky terrain or to create useful structures like communications antennae and solar sails.'"
Why am I suddely reminded of Lemmings?
"Sometimes you have fun, and sometimes the fun has you"
I for one welcome our new Roland Piquepaille overlords !