/sci/ - Science & Math

The other day at a fondue party my friends and I were talking about the future and I told them about molecular assemblers and they were like WHOA and I'm going to gift one of them a copy of The Diamond Age :3

mommy am I helping :3

>>3119475
Right up there with the second coming of jesus and the rapture

Now on to the dump.

>Love” is such a slippery word to begin with, like “God”.
>It is exactly whatever the speaker means by it at the moment, and thus impervious to any challenge. If one drills down too closely to its meaning, one finds it has moved and become something else; because when it becomes too clear what you are talking about, well, that can’t possibly be love.
>As my own mind is progressively shaped by the thoughts of those before me (those who once were me but not, and thus my own thoughts, but not) I find the concept of love neatly partitioning itself within my mental vocabulary, attaining a new crispness of expert familiarity.
>As with the many Inuit names for the handful of truly distinct things we just label snow, my mind has a unique name for each facet of love. With this simple arsenal, the slipperiness fades and the matter becomes downright ordinary.
>Perhaps I will endeavor to invent spoken words for these distinct concepts, introduce them implicitly to Laura over the course of time, give her mind the same handles that mine has, to see if this enables her to grasp it as I do.

>Having distinct facets laid out neatly before me also allows me another type of analysis: to see what is truly common amongst them all, and thus just what subconscious twinge it is that leads people to bind them all under one word—in effect, to see the true meaning of love.
It is, quite simply: to value.
>Love is the induction of something or someone into our implicit mental list of things which, in service of our own ultimate and unseen goals, need to exist. The various feelings of love are the ways in which that list perturbs our wants and focus in a given moment, the way each hypothetical action or outcome is assigned its emotional color in service of that love.
>There are many types of love, and many distinct mechanisms behind them, but the common thread is pain at the thought of an object of that love being removed from our sphere of existence. The converse is often true but not always, and this is the source of much confusion over the meaning of love. Not all love brings joy or pleasure.
>Love comes in many magnitudes, from the love of ice cream to the love of country to the love for one’s child.

>>3119501

>Some do not call it true love until it approaches or even surpasses love of self.
>And love comes from many directions, programmed into us gradually through an integration of emotional associations, or suddenly, through genetic im-peratives.
>Some do not call it true love unless it defies conscious explanation. Indeed, many forms of love explicitly defy the conscious mind, as they must to redefine what matters to us.
>Thus love is, in a sense, the very foundation of consciousness, the helm of our will, the spark of purpose that turns a calculator into a directed being. A machine without love—
and I mean love in the most mechanistic way—is just a machine. A machine with love, now that is a dangerous thing.
>A spider, a snake, a man, a tinc, an avatar, an elder. One must ask of each: what do you love?

>>3119485
A futurist of futurology is also welcomed.

>>3119494
I'm not a christian. I'm a agnostic deist who's mantra is reason.

>"Microbivore" is the name given to a speculative future micromachine containing numerous nanomachine systems, which function together as an artificial phagocyte (white blood cell.) A fleet of microbivores could be injected into a person and act as a supplement or even a complete replacement for their immune system. The microbivore concept was invented by Robert A. Freitas Jr., who has outlined their design in great detail. At present (2010) we lack the "atom-by-atom" molecular manufacturing technology required to construct such a device. Some futurists expect the dream of molecular nanotechnology (first concieved by Dr. Eric Drexler) to become a reality sometime next decade, (2020-2030) enabling a massive leap forward in our construction capabilities.

>Numerous pathologies exist that are caused by the presence of foreign organisms in the bloodstream. Infection by foreign blood-borne organisms is especially dangerous in individuals with compromised immune systems (such as those suffering from AIDS.) Current methods to control such organisms are largely ineffectual, or merely temporarily arrest their growth rather than wiping them out entirely. Most physicians would welcome the addition of syntheitc nanorobots capable of selectively annihilating such organisms.

>>3119513

>The microbivore design calls for a 3.4 micron (millionths of a meter) long, by 2 micron wide oblate spheroid shaped device, consisting of 610 billion structural atoms, and filled with roughly 150 billion gas/water molecules. The entire nanobot has a gross geometric volume of just over 12.1 cubic microns (including two normally empty internal materials processing bays totalling 4 cubic microns of displaced volume.) Its size ensures unobstructed passage through even the narrowest of human capillaries, which are approximately 4 microns in diameter. A single microbivore will consume 100-200 picowatts of continuous power while in operation, and will digest and eliminate pathogenic microbes at a maximum throughput of 2 cubic microns per 30 second cycle - enough room to internalize virtually any species of bacteria in a single gulp. The design includes 10-fold renundancy on most mechanisms, excepting the largest structural elements, to ensure high reliability.

> As with natural phagocytes, microbivores would devour, digest, and discharge any viruses, bacteria or fungi unlucky enough to be detected. The microbivore would use species-specific reversible binding sites to firmly attach itself to the microbe, which would then be directed to the ingestion port by telescoping robotic grapples in a similar fashion to the way a squid uses its tentacles to catch and hold its prey while consuming it.

>>3119516

>From the ingestion chamber, the targetted microbe would be blended by mechanical blades in a morcellation chamber, then passed to a digestion chamber where the processed remains of the invader would be chemically analyzed before being further broken down by a specifically selected sequence of 40 engineered enzymes, into biologically neutral effluent (mononucleotides, amino acids, free fatty acids, simple sugars and glycerol.) which would be released harmlessly back into the bloodstream through an exhaust port on the back of the device, where it could be used by the body's molecular machinery (cells) for its nutritional content.

>Getting microbivores into the body would be a matter of simply introducing them intravenously. Preliminary estimates suggest microbivores would be around 80 times more efficient, and about 1,000 times faster acting than our natural white blood cells.

>>3119523

> Once their mission is complete they could be programmed to exit the bloodstream via the intestines, if desired. Clinical use of microbivores, and the many other species of nanobots thus far imagined, could revolutionize the field of medicine. Mass fabrication and theraputic use of such devices (thanks to molecular nanotech) over the coming decades will lead to cures for many diseases, barring any unforseen insurmountable technical challenges, for many people alive today.
> For a more detailed analysis of the microbivore, see: Artificial Mechanical Phagocytes using Digest and Discharge Protocol.

Transhumanist Technologies Countdown

megascale engineering

>A respirocyte is a theoretical engineering design for an artificial red blood cell about a micron in diameter - a machine that cannot be constructed with current technology. Respirocytes are micron-scale spherical robotic red blood cells comprised of nanometer-scale components, containing an internal pressure of 1000 atmospheres of compressed oxygen and carbon dioxide. The intense pressure would be safely contained in two separate high pressure vessels likely made of pure diamond. At this intense pressure, a respirocyte could hold 236 times more oxygen and carbon dioxide than our natural red blood cells. Respirocytes are an elegantly simplistic design, powered by glucose in the blood and able to manage carbonic acidity via an onboard internal nanocomputer and a multitude of chemical/pressure sensors. 3D nanoscale fabrication will allow respirocytes to be manufactured in practically unlimited supply very inexpensively, directly from a computer design.
>An injection of such nanotechnological devices would enable a person to run at top speed for 15 minutes or remain underwater for four hours on a single breath. Because of their smaller form factor, 1µm diameter, compared with the 8µm diameter of a red blood cell, respirocytes would have potential unique medical applications including the prevention and treatment of ischemia (inadequate oxygen delivery to tissues.) Being smaller in diameter, respirocytes could squeeze into much thinner blood vessels, delivering vital oxygen to cells.

A transhumanist vision of the human body by 2030

>A respirocyte consists of three major design components: rotors to take in oxygen from the lungs and release it in the bloodstream; rotors to gather carbon dioxide from the bloodstream and release it in the lungs; and rotors to take in glucose from the bloodstream for generating energy in a process similar to cellular respiration. Preliminary studies have found that extremely smooth diamondoid surfaces would be practically invisible to white blood cells, making the devices biocompatible.
>Respirocytes were designed and analyzed in detail by Robert Freitas, a nanotechnology researcher at the Institute for Molecular Manufacturing. The paper describing the concept is titled, "A Mechanical Artificial Red Cell: Exploratory Design in Medical Nanotechnology." Nanomedical applications such as those envisioned by Freitas could become commonplace in the mid-to-long term futures of many of those alive today.
>Respirocytes would have interesting applications for diving. A diver with respirocytes in his/her bloodstream would be able to dive for hours on a single breath while avoiding both the bends and narcosis, since these afflictions are caused by breathing compressed air underwater (under pressure) which allows more nitrogen to dissolve into the bloodstream than at one atmosphere of pressure. Returning to the surface after prolonged submersion can cause the nitrogen dissolved in the blood to return to a gas (bubbles) more quickly than it can it can be removed.

>The dramatic enhancement of human performance made possible by respirocytes could cause the body to overheat. It is also possible that such enhancement to one part of the body will have unforeseen consequences to other bodily systems. Only with actual testing of nanotechnological respirocytes in a living body will determine for certain exactly how these devices will behave in the real world.
>Eventually, as we continue to enhance and replace the biological body one part at a time, artificial white blood cells will likely be developed to augment and ultimately replace the human immune system. Even sub-cellular systems such as the organelles, and even the entire nucleus within each of our cells are not beyond technological replacement - at least in theory.

> Platelets - or thrombocytes - are irregular, roughly spheroidal, 2 micron diameter, anuclear (nucleus-free) blood cells that have an average lifespan of just 5-9 days. Platelets circulate in our bloodstreams and are integral in achieving hemostasis (stoppage of blood flow) after injury. An average, healthy person has between 150,000 and 450,000 platelets per µl (microlitre) of blood. In the event of an injury, platelets gather at the site and activate, becoming sticky and clumping together to form a barrier to seal the damaged blood vessel and stop the bleeding. Platelets are also responsible for releasing clotting factors. The image shows a comparison, from left to right, of a red blood cell, an activated platelet, and a white blood cell. Nature's solution can be quite effective, but it does take valuable time.
>The clottocyte is a, yet theoretical, design by Robert A. Freitas Jr. for an artificial, mechanical platelet. The response time of a clottocyte would be on the order of 100-1000 times quicker than nature's platelets, achieving complete hemostasis in as short as one second.
>Clottocytes would have several distinct advantages over their natural counterparts. For instance platelet function can be adversely affected by drugs such as aspirin. Clottocytes would be immune to the effects of drugs, and could function optimally irregardless of chemical fluctuations in the bloodstream.

>>3119546
we sure have a huge ass in 2030

>>Clottocytes represent an example of a uniquely nanotechnological benefit that could not - even in principle - be achieved by biotechnology. Clottocytes could potentially be on the order of 10,000 times more effective at achieving clotting, by volume, than natural platelets, therefore being required at only ~0.01% of the concentration of platelets in the bloodstream. Clottocytes would be approximately 2 micron diameter spherical nanorobots, powered by serum oxyglucose, and controlled by an onboard nanocomputer. They would contain a compactly folded fiber mesh which could be unfurled in the immediate vicinity of a damaged blood vessel. The overlapping nettings deployed by activated clottocytes would trap blood cells and halt bleeding almost instantaneously.

I am just waiting for the day I can accept the blessings of the Machine God.

>>3119624

>>3119624

Ad Mech, fuck year!

>>3119640
Not bad, not bad

>>3119640

There is WAY too much flesh left in that priestes!
I eman, you can tell that she is a feemale, just by looking.
Here is a picture of a proper admech lady.

>>3119676
Upgrade slots.