Ryujin
Legend
Thing of it is, they don't just create water.Agreed. I wouldn't say it's "willy nilly" if doing so would end the enslavement of an entire species, and prevent countless wars, though.
Thing of it is, they don't just create water.Agreed. I wouldn't say it's "willy nilly" if doing so would end the enslavement of an entire species, and prevent countless wars, though.
William Gibson thought computers stored data on crystal when he wrote Neuromancer if I recall correctly...I expect my sci fi writers to know some actual science and now that I think of it technology also.
In an interview he said that he went to Radio Shack and bought his first computer. Went home and set it up, and was then disappointed at the whirring noises from the fan and disks.William Gibson thought computers stored data on crystal when he wrote Neuromancer if I recall correctly...
One problem is that science and technology in some areas change very very rapidly. Unfortunately a lot of the writers does not even have pop culture knowledge of the fields...
It's true. And that's kind of icky when you think about it.Thing of it is, they don't just create water.
We, right now, can grow organs in a lab. And meat.Why? Star Trek replicators are pretty out-there, and nothing else assembles complex molecules quite so well as living beings. We certainly show no sign of lessening our dependence upon our surrounding biosphere anytime soon.
You don't need a replicator to create water. High school chemistry classes can do it.Why? Star Trek replicators are pretty out-there, and nothing else assembles complex molecules quite so well as living beings. We certainly show no sign of lessening our dependence upon our surrounding biosphere anytime soon.
I remember it was something like that. That was the interview I recalled.In an interview he said that he went to Radio Shack and bought his first computer. Went home and set it up, and was then disappointed at the whirring noises from the fan and disks.
Well, we are; we are industrialising cultured meat and have cracked the chemistry of synthetic starch and have engineered a number of bacteria and the like to produce some funky chemicals.Why? Star Trek replicators are pretty out-there, and nothing else assembles complex molecules quite so well as living beings. We certainly show no sign of lessening our dependence upon our surrounding biosphere anytime soon.
It's true. And that's kind of icky, when you think about it.
According to established Star Trek lore, replicators can create more than water: they can create food, clothing, medicine, currency, weapons, and more. Somehow the Federation is able to thrive alongside this technology, but other species...aren't? Instead, only "certain people" are allowed to have a post-scarcity economy...and guess who gets to decide who's worthy.
Sensors detect a political allegory approaching, warp nine. Changing course.
Engineered bacteria isn't going away from the sort of thing I'm talking about - it is that thing. Engineering lifeforms to become your industrial process.Well, we are; we are industrialising cultured meat and have cracked the chemistry of synthetic starch and have engineered a number of bacteria and the like to produce some funky chemicals.
Not every product of biology has to go inside a living being. Cars don't care about the chirality of the petrochemicals that fuel them, or the rubber that cushions their wheels. Humans would still find wool or cotton perfectly wearable even if it were produced by creatures or plants with opposing chirality.We are a long way yet but are taking steps on the road.
As for alien, it is likely that the chirality issue, makes our biome useless to aliens.
Artificial synthesis is one way to solve those issues. Tailored biology is another. Again, technological advancement doesn't necessarily mean advancement away from biological solutions.Then there are the practicalities of getting living aliens here. which are such, that in my opinion, the issue permanent space habitation with the ability to pretty much synthetise what they want from relatively simple precursors, will be solved and established engineering long before they get here.