It really amuses me that there's so much hype about this. Like so many things in molecular biology, most of the things we know happen because of so-and-so, but we really have no idea what's actually going on and why. Most of pharmacological R&D is total trial-and-error. I mean, scientists may make very very educated decisions about how to proceed, however nobody really has the big picture.
They say they did this by analysing publicly-available data using Sun workstation computers. The company believes its rough draft comprises the 105,000 genes of the human genetic blueprint...(snip)... The scientists say that chromosome 21 has 33,546,361 base pairs of DNA arranged into 127 genes.
So what? So we have a huge list of genes, arranged into the right order. This information cannot be fully utilized until they can completely simulate complex biological systems. Right now, it's as if they have the assembly code to the biggest, most complex program ever written, but with no documentation and no clear understanding of the processor.
I would image that creating a wormole is akin to "splitting" space -- pulling apart a section and creating a bridge (extending thorugh the 4th dimension) from one "side" to another. Wow, that sounds like a lot of rubbish. Let me try again. Rubber sheet / 2-D space analogy: Pretend your chest is a 2-Dimensional universe (never mind that your body is a distorted torus). Pinch both your niplpes and pull them until you can make them touch each other in the middle. Hold them like that for a couple months until the skin between them grows together and your nipples merge into one. Now imagine the process in reverse and that's how you create a wormhole! I read some crazy sci-fi novel by Robert L. Forward (can't remember the title) about making wormholes with the help of crystalline creatures that excreted negative matter...oh and other weird stuff.
Perhaps that could be done. I'd just like to point out that before people came along, whales communicated through relayed songs thousands and thousands of miles all over the Earth--and I'm sure they weren't just saying, "hi! hello! age check?" Of course, engine noise and hunting has completely destroyed any remnents of the original world-wide relay chat system.
I also read your proposal and I find it a fascinating idea, however I must agree with previous post.
I find it ridiculous that people can actually expect to get paid for each copy of software. Software support is where it makes sense for an exchange of money to take place, because though we have externalized memory, we haven't externalized know-how. People answering phones or email are providing a real, tangible service. Data is completely abstract and I will defend software piracy and the open-source movement to the end (that is, just short of getting arrested for it).
My prediction is that the software-writing industry will die down and be replaced by the software-supporting industry. However, even THAT will be replaced someday when human understanding is also externalized.
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I would image that creating a wormole is akin to "splitting" space -- pulling apart a section and creating a bridge (extending thorugh the 4th dimension) from one "side" to another. Wow, that sounds like a lot of rubbish. Let me try again. Rubber sheet / 2-D space analogy: Pretend your chest is a 2-Dimensional universe (never mind that your body is a distorted torus). Pinch both your niplpes and pull them until you can make them touch each other in the middle. Hold them like that for a couple months until the skin between them grows together and your nipples merge into one. Now imagine the process in reverse and that's how you create a wormhole! I read some crazy sci-fi novel by Robert L. Forward (can't remember the title) about making wormholes with the help of crystalline creatures that excreted negative matter...oh and other weird stuff.
Perhaps that could be done. I'd just like to point out that before people came along, whales communicated through relayed songs thousands and thousands of miles all over the Earth--and I'm sure they weren't just saying, "hi! hello! age check?" Of course, engine noise and hunting has completely destroyed any remnents of the original world-wide relay chat system.
I find it ridiculous that people can actually expect to get paid for each copy of software. Software support is where it makes sense for an exchange of money to take place, because though we have externalized memory, we haven't externalized know-how. People answering phones or email are providing a real, tangible service. Data is completely abstract and I will defend software piracy and the open-source movement to the end (that is, just short of getting arrested for it).
My prediction is that the software-writing industry will die down and be replaced by the software-supporting industry. However, even THAT will be replaced someday when human understanding is also externalized.