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Musings of science
Jan. 17th, 2012 05:58 pm[Error: unknown template qotd]
#EDIT: Bit too perfect a question not to add it to my post (afterwards XD)
Recently I've given teleportation a lot of thought. Not as in the Star Trek kind, because Sheldon Cooper PhD (etc) already explained with some very valid (and no doubt, internet-inspired) arguments. However, the alternative options are still limitless and as I walked home today, several valid uses come to mind (from a pure Sci-Fi, no medical knowledge kind-of-mind):
Cancers/Growths
We no longer have to cut, no chemo, no nothing. You step into a box with a full-body scanner and a teleportation device. The scanner emits soundwaves that excite the cancerous cells, making them vibrate. The scanner then picks them up, and the teleporter disintegrates them into electrical current/photons/whatever it turns them into. On demand, the computer can reconstruct the cells and/or replace the emptiness in the body with tissue.
Surgery/Therapy
A teleporter would well be able to fix a broken arm or a ruptured spleen without the need for incisions. Anaestatic could even be applied very locally. Likewise, bone marrow extractions could take place without most risk of damage to vital bones/organs. Sutures are no longer needed, eliminating the risk of external scarring and limiting internal scarring, insuring a better lifestyle (for most, I for one enjoy my scars - they tell stories). Facial (or any, for that matter) reconstruction? No problem. Sample and reproduce. Once again, minimal scarring. I'm talking dermal regenerators (from Star Trek, as well).
Archaeology
The one dangerous thing about taking a shuffle and digging for fossils is the likelyhood of damaging your finds. With teleportation? Not so much. Replace the fossil that is ported out with sand from the top layer, limiting the dangers of collapse and further damage. Reconstruction? Let the computer sort it out. Essentially it would become a copy of the original, of course, but no-one would be capable to see that, as the replica is exact in every way, including wear. (A risk being of course that people in it for the money will be up for a disappointment, as most finds will drastically decrease in value!)
Probes
Whether we're talking about medical ones (or pacemakers, would work as well) or space exploration ones - both will have one significant advantage. The hardest part of the journey would be respectively the part through the skin and leaving earth's atmosphere. The latter costing a load of fuel and increasing payload. Knitting on the space exploration part, the probes would obviously have to be unmanned, but could be "beamed" straight into space.
So yeah, that's the bullshit that my mind sometimes produces. Wonderful dreams, but I'm afraid that's it for now. I hardly think any self-respecting physicist is actively working on teleportation anyway, as it's so far-fetched in the way that we think about it. But with 3D-printers being just around the corner and the 3DS already being equipped with a 3D-camera, how far are we really from a sampler that can sense material, and then reproduce it?
I ordered the poster and a shirt today. VP had a nice catch in store for me: Skipping the calculation, I ordered for €29 Euro's in stuff (exc. shipping) and entered the coupon. directly, the discounts were removed and I had to pay €66 - €30 = €36 for it (exc. shipping). I removed the T-Shirt, which reduced the price to €16 inc shipping, and then ordered the T-Shirt after that, which then cost me €11, inc shipping. All they got was extra processing time and two seperate orders. I feel really sorry for them on one hand, but on the other, that's the way they're playing it, and I'm adapting... I'm always happy with their quality, and usually with their prices as well. ^_~
I slept very well last night, and woke up a little slow and groggy, which proceded to last all morning at work. Still got some good coding done though. Finished one of my projects, more or less. I'm not good enough to properly code things straightaway, so I'm still double-checking my code for bugs and user-friendliness.
#EDIT: Bit too perfect a question not to add it to my post (afterwards XD)
Recently I've given teleportation a lot of thought. Not as in the Star Trek kind, because Sheldon Cooper PhD (etc) already explained with some very valid (and no doubt, internet-inspired) arguments. However, the alternative options are still limitless and as I walked home today, several valid uses come to mind (from a pure Sci-Fi, no medical knowledge kind-of-mind):
Cancers/Growths
We no longer have to cut, no chemo, no nothing. You step into a box with a full-body scanner and a teleportation device. The scanner emits soundwaves that excite the cancerous cells, making them vibrate. The scanner then picks them up, and the teleporter disintegrates them into electrical current/photons/whatever it turns them into. On demand, the computer can reconstruct the cells and/or replace the emptiness in the body with tissue.
Surgery/Therapy
A teleporter would well be able to fix a broken arm or a ruptured spleen without the need for incisions. Anaestatic could even be applied very locally. Likewise, bone marrow extractions could take place without most risk of damage to vital bones/organs. Sutures are no longer needed, eliminating the risk of external scarring and limiting internal scarring, insuring a better lifestyle (for most, I for one enjoy my scars - they tell stories). Facial (or any, for that matter) reconstruction? No problem. Sample and reproduce. Once again, minimal scarring. I'm talking dermal regenerators (from Star Trek, as well).
Archaeology
The one dangerous thing about taking a shuffle and digging for fossils is the likelyhood of damaging your finds. With teleportation? Not so much. Replace the fossil that is ported out with sand from the top layer, limiting the dangers of collapse and further damage. Reconstruction? Let the computer sort it out. Essentially it would become a copy of the original, of course, but no-one would be capable to see that, as the replica is exact in every way, including wear. (A risk being of course that people in it for the money will be up for a disappointment, as most finds will drastically decrease in value!)
Probes
Whether we're talking about medical ones (or pacemakers, would work as well) or space exploration ones - both will have one significant advantage. The hardest part of the journey would be respectively the part through the skin and leaving earth's atmosphere. The latter costing a load of fuel and increasing payload. Knitting on the space exploration part, the probes would obviously have to be unmanned, but could be "beamed" straight into space.
So yeah, that's the bullshit that my mind sometimes produces. Wonderful dreams, but I'm afraid that's it for now. I hardly think any self-respecting physicist is actively working on teleportation anyway, as it's so far-fetched in the way that we think about it. But with 3D-printers being just around the corner and the 3DS already being equipped with a 3D-camera, how far are we really from a sampler that can sense material, and then reproduce it?
I ordered the poster and a shirt today. VP had a nice catch in store for me: Skipping the calculation, I ordered for €29 Euro's in stuff (exc. shipping) and entered the coupon. directly, the discounts were removed and I had to pay €66 - €30 = €36 for it (exc. shipping). I removed the T-Shirt, which reduced the price to €16 inc shipping, and then ordered the T-Shirt after that, which then cost me €11, inc shipping. All they got was extra processing time and two seperate orders. I feel really sorry for them on one hand, but on the other, that's the way they're playing it, and I'm adapting... I'm always happy with their quality, and usually with their prices as well. ^_~
I slept very well last night, and woke up a little slow and groggy, which proceded to last all morning at work. Still got some good coding done though. Finished one of my projects, more or less. I'm not good enough to properly code things straightaway, so I'm still double-checking my code for bugs and user-friendliness.
