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<blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 6853700" data-attributes="member: 8835">Umbran kind of covered this, but I'm left wast left with as case of &quot;frp, drp, erp, gack, bdah!&quot; when I read this.Sure, I enjoyed ID4 as much as the next guy.&nbsp; But as a software developer&nbsp; I know that code is constrained by the CPU used.&nbsp; You can't cross the boundaries.&nbsp; So whatever chip is on the probe, likely isn't an Intel x86 architecture (or whatever we call the current AMD/Intel CPUs in production now).You also can't really send more data than you can use.&nbsp; A virus has to be nimble.&nbsp; I can't send a virus that can infect a probe AND has the brains to build an AI AND has the mission for the AI in the size of the attack payload&nbsp; that the probe can handle, let alone when it gets to the Earth as transmitted data, it's going into a data file, not an executable.&nbsp; Nobody executes the bytes coming back from a probe, let alone any subsystem, because the contract between two systems is data, not exectuable code (remote firmware updating aside, which is also one directional).&nbsp; If a virus is not executed, it does not have any bite.So , sci-fi aside...Odds are good any structure we find is dead.&nbsp; It might have old tech or old viruses.&nbsp; And yes, if we brought any of those artifacts home and somehow wake them up, that might be risky.&nbsp; But our initial futzing around with probes is actually pretty safe.&nbsp; The sending of code or germs is largely one way, until we get a way to transport back to earth.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Janx, post: 6853700, member: 8835"] Umbran kind of covered this, but I'm left wast left with as case of "frp, drp, erp, gack, bdah!" when I read this. Sure, I enjoyed ID4 as much as the next guy. But as a software developer I know that code is constrained by the CPU used. You can't cross the boundaries. So whatever chip is on the probe, likely isn't an Intel x86 architecture (or whatever we call the current AMD/Intel CPUs in production now). You also can't really send more data than you can use. A virus has to be nimble. I can't send a virus that can infect a probe AND has the brains to build an AI AND has the mission for the AI in the size of the attack payload that the probe can handle, let alone when it gets to the Earth as transmitted data, it's going into a data file, not an executable. Nobody executes the bytes coming back from a probe, let alone any subsystem, because the contract between two systems is data, not exectuable code (remote firmware updating aside, which is also one directional). If a virus is not executed, it does not have any bite. So , sci-fi aside... Odds are good any structure we find is dead. It might have old tech or old viruses. And yes, if we brought any of those artifacts home and somehow wake them up, that might be risky. But our initial futzing around with probes is actually pretty safe. The sending of code or germs is largely one way, until we get a way to transport back to earth. [/QUOTE]

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