4 ms·
I have often thought that technologically advanced civilizations would not have FTL travel or transporters or the like, rather, they would be masters of specced
by at_a_remove 7y ago
I have often thought that technologically advanced civilizations would not have FTL travel or transporters or the like, rather, they would be masters of specced-out materials engineering, producing items by placing just the right atom here and a different one over there to uniquely suit the purpose of whatever it was.
- ape4 7y agoIf you could do that... what are some other possible products?
- izzydata 7y agoReplicators, brain backups maybe. Probably plenty of seemingly sci-fi technologies.
- quesera 7y agoPopular treatment: Engines of Creation, Drexler 1986. There are newer options, but this is basically the beginning of post-Feynman Nanotechnology. Version 2.0 (2007) of the book is a free PDF: https://web.archive.org/web/20140810022659/http://www1.appstate.edu/dept/physics/nanotech/EnginesofCreation2_8803267.pdf https://web.archive.org/web/20140810022659/http://www1.appst...
- N1H1L 7y agoTechnically we already do that. Molecular beam epitaxy is layer by layer growth of crystals, some of which like superlattices can only be engineered from the ground up. Source: My PhD is in Materials Science
- sunstone 7y agoI do this in my sleep. But then, so does everyone else.