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Whenever I read sci-fi stories and there is talk of self replicating robots/factories/machines or even generation ships, there is a huge jump in technology/magi

Whenever I read sci-fi stories and there is talk of self replicating robots/factories/machines or even generation ships, there is a huge jump in technology/magic that is never discussed - what technology is used to replace semiconductors - because a portable semiconductor fab seems so outside the realm of possibility now. It would be such a revolutionary change that it's outside the realm of speculation besides handwaving at bioengineered replacements or easy atomic level manipulation ala The Culture series.

speed_spread 4y ago
I assume in those stories that nanotech has displaced photolithography in the fabrication of microelectronics. If you can get nanoassemblers to reliably produce a simple CPU, you can pick up the slack through software and bootstrap from there.
TeMPOraL 4y ago
My thinking is: there are many ways to make matter do compute. Semiconductor-based digital logic chips are only one of many possibilities. You can make an analog computer from just about anything, it's a matter of identifying things you can interpret as flows and stores (or, as the professors who taught control systems at my uni, faucets, drains and bathtubs), and arranging them just right. You can make a digital computer from just about anything too - it's a matter of identifying things you can interpret as a NAND gate, and stacking them just right. You can encode a neural network model as grooves in plastic sheets, stack them into layers, and have it naturally process incoming light. Etc. The possibilities are limitless, because computing is more about your mental model, and less about the substrate itself. So I imagine, the breakthrough for nanotech will be when someone figures out a way to make some kind of programmable computer that works at nanoscale, can be easily produced, and is somewhat robust against the environment. It doesn't need to be a fast computer - we're used to multi-GHz CPUs and multi-MHz microcontrollers, but at nanoscale, even an equivalent of an old 8008 will do, or even something much weaker: single nanobot doesn't need much compute. You'll be deploying them by thousands or millions at a time anyway, and you'll want to program them as a swarm anyway.
- throw_nbvc1234 4y ago
  Reminds me of the Cloudflare lava lamps https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/lava-lamp-encryption/ https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/lava-lamp-encryption...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

speed_spread 4y ago

I assume in those stories that nanotech has displaced photolithography in the fabrication of microelectronics. If you can get nanoassemblers to reliably produce a simple CPU, you can pick up the slack through software and bootstrap from there.

TeMPOraL 4y ago

My thinking is: there are many ways to make matter do compute. Semiconductor-based digital logic chips are only one of many possibilities. You can make an analog computer from just about anything, it's a matter of identifying things you can interpret as flows and stores (or, as the professors who taught control systems at my uni, faucets, drains and bathtubs), and arranging them just right. You can make a digital computer from just about anything too - it's a matter of identifying things you can interpret as a NAND gate, and stacking them just right. You can encode a neural network model as grooves in plastic sheets, stack them into layers, and have it naturally process incoming light. Etc. The possibilities are limitless, because computing is more about your mental model, and less about the substrate itself. So I imagine, the breakthrough for nanotech will be when someone figures out a way to make some kind of programmable computer that works at nanoscale, can be easily produced, and is somewhat robust against the environment. It doesn't need to be a fast computer - we're used to multi-GHz CPUs and multi-MHz microcontrollers, but at nanoscale, even an equivalent of an old 8008 will do, or even something much weaker: single nanobot doesn't need much compute. You'll be deploying them by thousands or millions at a time anyway, and you'll want to program them as a swarm anyway.

throw_nbvc1234 4y ago
Reminds me of the Cloudflare lava lamps https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/lava-lamp-encryption/ https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/lava-lamp-encryption...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]