How freakin sweet is this?

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Fabulous fabrications

STAR TREK had the replicator—a device that could assemble any object, atom by atom. The Nutri-Matic vending machine concocted drinks molecule by molecule in “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, personalising them by analysing an individual's taste buds, metabolism and brainwaves (though then, it has to be admitted, turning out a beverage that tasted almost, but not quite entirely, unlike tea). Now, for those still stuck on Earth, Neil Gershenfeld, the director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Centre for Bits and Atoms, has built version 1.0 of the personal fabricator, and it is already being deployed around the world.

http://economist.com/science/displayStory.cfm?story_id=3786368

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I've been waiting for something like this (more of a home version). If everyone had access to a fabrication device then the the inequality between rich and poor would drop significantly. This would literally be 'the means of production'. All anyone would have to afford is the raw materials. Of course this may lead into even more gross consumption than is already taking place. Its an amazing step to actuallizing ideas by none scientists/industrialists.

While some may laugh, alchemy is a viable science. After all, everything is just made of protons neutrons and electrons. Change the values in each atom, you change the atom.

However, there are 2 problems with this. One is that we haven't made a machine small enough to do the job, and the second is that it would require a lot of energy to accomplish.

On the other hand, alchemy would be a great leap forward for the recycling initiative. It would certainly open the way for nuclear power as an acceptable energy source.

wonder if the food will taste as bad as the microwave shit that's been out for years?

It couldn't be any worse than my cooking. LOL.:D

It will probably be worse than the current microwave food, but even more convenient. No worrisome trips to the store to bother with.

While some may laugh, alchemy is a viable science. After all, everything is just made of protons neutrons and electrons. Change the values in each atom, you change the atom. Theyre doing some crazy stuff with nano tech right now, but not quite that crazy. One of the main problems is people inhaling the shit and getting lung problems from the microscopic bits.

Originally posted by 500lbguerilla
Theyre doing some crazy stuff with nano tech right now, but not quite that crazy. One of the main problems is people inhaling the shit and getting lung problems from the microscopic bits.


LOL!!!!!!! job hazard of being the guy who chipped stone into tools in the stone age, fibrosis of the lungs. job hazard of a nano guy, inhaling robots that give him cancer. sometimes it just doesn't pay to go to work.

Originally posted by Echo2
It couldn't be any worse than my cooking. LOL.:D

can't be any worse than the shit i ate in the army.

Originally posted by Evil Homer
While some may laugh, alchemy is a viable science. After all, everything is just made of protons neutrons and electrons. Change the values in each atom, you change the atom.

However, there are 2 problems with this. One is that we haven't made a machine small enough to do the job, and the second is that it would require a lot of energy to accomplish.

On the other hand, alchemy would be a great leap forward for the recycling initiative. It would certainly open the way for nuclear power as an acceptable energy source.

The third problem is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. In order to predictably change atoms in this way, you need to know accurately both the position and motion of the particles. In time we may overcome this, but currently that is the problem.

AHHHHCH!!!! what is it? it was suppose to be mashed potatoes, but...........

Originally posted by Imagineer
The third problem is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. In order to predictably change atoms in this way, you need to know accurately both the position and motion of the particles. In time we may overcome this, but currently that is the problem.

What does it say on Heisenberg's grave?






Heisenberg was buried SOMEWHERE around here!!!

Oh man. Chemistry jokes are the shiznat.


I'd say that Alchemy would probably never be worth it. What's the point of turning lead into gold when you'd have to use such incredibly expensive instruments and so much energy, and you can only do it atom by atom anyway? And since the only way to find out the position of an atom is by hitting it with another particle (in which case its position and velocity both change), it's going to be pretty hard to make that possible.

Originally posted by sputnik
What does it say on Heisenberg's grave?






Heisenberg was buried SOMEWHERE around here!!!

Oh man. Chemistry jokes are the shiznat.
That's a physics joke...Werner Heisenberg was a physicist...

EDIT: That's not even an original joke. His epitaph actually is "He lies somewhere here."

Ohh! Denied!


While some may laugh, alchemy is a viable science. After all, everything is just made of protons neutrons and electrons. Change the values in each atom, you change the atom.
Viable science? I'll laugh! HA! Certainly not now... or in the next 50 years... probably not within the next 100, and I'm thinking it's doubtable within the next half a milenium. That would require power only reserved for the deepest of the densest, hottest, most powerful stars in the galaxy. Protons and neutrons don't randomly shift around, and definately not enough to actually make anything.


The third problem is Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. In order to predictably change atoms in this way, you need to know accurately both the position and motion of the particles. In time we may overcome this, but currently that is the problem.
Unless we discover a particle MUCH smaller(I'm talking smaller than Planck length) than all of the others and has absolutely no relation to causing the universe to run whatsoever, it's not going to happen. No amount of technological advancement will allow us to break the very laws of nature, not now, not ever. If we could, well then this wouldn't be the same world... and it wouldn't be behaving the same now... or now... or now... or now... I think you get the point.

yes yes, i know all that. I know that it will almost certainly never become practical or even usefull, but in theory it could work. However, "In theory, Communism works! In theory."

Originally posted by BorgHunter
That's a physics joke...Werner Heisenberg was a physicist...

EDIT: That's not even an original joke. His epitaph actually is "He lies somewhere here."

Wait...that's actually what it says on his grave? You have GOT to be kidding me. That is the hilariousness of the century.

Actually I like W.C. Fields proposed epitaph better. "All things considered, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

it wouldnt matter if we could make food appear from thin air, the same people who want to deny gentically engineered food to starving africans would deny them that too. we wouldnt want the africans to die of some yet unkown disease at some unkown time would we? its better they just starve to death tomorrow.

Originally posted by Travh20
it wouldnt matter if we could make food appear from thin air, the same people who want to deny gentically engineered food to starving africans would deny them that too. we wouldnt want the africans to die of some yet unkown disease at some unkown time would we? its better they just starve to death tomorrow.

the problem with genetically engineered seeds is that there have been no full understanding exactly the consequences of letting this out into our environment. it is already known that certain genetically engineered corn will kill butterflies. all things in nature are connected. there are some species of plants in the world that are dependent on one kind of insect for pollination. some people are VERY allergic to genetically engineered corn. also, genetically engineeered corn either can not save the seed from them for next year, or it is illegal to do so. making poor people dependent on the companies. many of these genetically engineered seeds are made so along with dependency on harsh chemical fertilizers, and pesticides.
you can devise a stronger plant on a more common sense way. it is called the law of nature, weed out the weak and keep the strong that develops itself according to the environment you live in.
i grow a garden organically, using heirloom seeds, and my seed stock gets stronger as time goes by and the ground i use, which was poor and worn out and poisoned in the past, is becoming more fertile and productive.

again the fear of a company making a profit is by far the biggest issue here

Originally posted by Travh20
again the fear of a company making a profit is by far the biggest issue here

they wouldn't make one if their work and research wasn't subsidized by the government.

tehy would if they could sell their products to people who need it

Originally posted by Travh20
tehy would if they could sell their products to people who need it

they wouldn't have needed it if they didn't get conned in abandoning the seeds and growing methods that were time honored and worked before the modern method of seeds they can't save, and petro-chemical industry harsh chemical fertilizers. you want to compound the problem? amerika grows enough food to feed almost everyone on the planet at this time. BUT at the cost of the environment. the chemical pesticides have unbalanced the natural checks and balances of nature. the harsh chemical and mined fertilizers drive beneficial bacteria and earthworms from the soil, causing a higher need for them, and causing soil compaction, reduced soil fertility, etc.. it takes years to reverse this. which i have done where i plant. it takes years. hybrid and gentically engineered seeds make a dependency that is not needed. it seems that the more modern scientific agriculture gets involved the worse things get.
for many years now, if a farmer gets lazy and does not gather manure from his barns and spreads it on his fields every year, and depends on chemical fertilizers, he gets on the subsidy train and has to have his soil tested, and HAS to use harsh chemical and mined fertilizers for the government to pay for it. and then causing a compounded problem.
africa probably wouldn't have the problem it does if they stuck with the old tribal ways of birth control before islam and christianity forbade it, kept the old ways of crop growing, etc..