raeleen

So can I make the question more general, since there seem to be some smart physics types here? How would YOU make a power source for nanomachines? Imagine you have the ability to build whatever you want at the molecular or atomic level. What would you use?

Hi everyone, sorry! I don't know much about quantum physics. So what you're saying is fusion works well at large scales but not so much at the nanoscale. Ok. I didn't know a nanolaser is impossible! I just assumed it was. I guess I will abandon my hopes for fusion-powered nanorobots

Hi everyone! I really like nanotechnology and I really want to know how biological systems could help create a new ecosystem of nanomachines! I wonder about power. Specifically, could nanotech systems do a better job of tapping nuclear power than macroscale systems? I have read about the National Ignition Facility and using lasers to create fusion. Would it be possible to build a device much smaller than NIF which uses nanolasers fuse individual nuclei of fusionable (please excuse if that's not a word!) isotopes? How big would such a nanomachine have to be and what parts would it need? Would you use lasers, electromagnetic fields, or something else? How would you collect the energy the reaction produces and make it useful? I am thinking of nanoscale fusion as a way to produce power for other nanomachines, not the entire power grid! So the amounts of power would be very small, but you'd be using that power for very tiny machines. I am not asking how you could replace a large scale plasma fusion reactor. I am afraid my knowledge of physics is limited so sorry if there's anything in my question that's wrong or doesn't make sense. Please ask me if you want clarification! This is pie in the sky stuff. I don't care about what is practical today. I care about what is possible.

hi jackson33, I am not really interested in arguing politics! I am happy that in my university it is a monoculture of liberals I was mostly interested in Wikileaks because of the power of information. I don't really know what to think about whether that power is good or not, but it is power!

lol I don't want to start a big argument, but it IS a big pet peeve of mine when people tack "science" onto things that are obviously NOT, like computer science, political science, military science. we are learning python in my bioinformatics course and I don't see anything scientific about it! if you ask me scientists come up with the models and the math and all the "computer science" people do is type it into a computer. how scientific is that?

I can't see what is wrong right off the bat. Can you please quote what you think isn't convincing in the study so we can talk about it? So is Silicon the only other life element that people think could possibly exist?

Hi thanks for your reply. I'll check out the discussion if I get to 30 posts! Should I not post stuff like this in the Computer Sciences forum? In my opinion Computer Science doesn't count as a real science! Sorry to be inflammatory!

Hello all! I think we leave in really exciting times where the power of information is becoming even greater! It is best seen these days in Wikileaks. I don't know how many of you have been following this story but they are distributing information from the government of America over the Internet which includes state secrets! It is hard to say what they're doing is good or bad. I would like to think it's good but we still don't know what all is in the files they have! All of that having been said the power they can have just by having a web site is pretty amazing to me. Wikileaks may be the most powerful web site that has ever existed.

I saw a story today about a theory of the universe where they examined the Cosmologic Microwave Background and determined that it means the universe may have existed forever! http://www.economist.com/node/17626874 Their analysis shows that the universe may start very small then get large until it is eventually devoured by black holes and loses mass and becomes small again. This cycle repeats over and over for all eternity. I have always wondered if the universe has just existed forever. It is one of those questions that science may never answer until it is too late, but it is fun to think about. I know religious people who ask me what is the scientific answer for if the universe existed forever or where does it come from, and I have to just shrug and say I don't know. It would be very interesting if science could give us answers to these pressing and in some ways deeply philosophical questions.

Yes but in this case the arsenic is in their nucleotides and a unit of heredity! That's far more significant than incorporating arsenic into your metabolism. My professor discussed the potential of silicon based life but said it was unlikely for the reasons already given and because carbon is so prevalent in the universe. I REALLY wonder, I don't know about astronomy much, but when they are looking for plants that potentially harbor life, although we could never check except by going, if they are being too specific. I have always wondered if life on Earth is remotely similar to life on other planets. Does evolution converge upon the elements that we are made out of? Does it converge on quadrupeds as land-goers? Does it converge on humanoids as the sentient species? Or is Earth just a fluke? Very interesting questions, at least to me

I'm going to get a glass of bubbly

Hi everyone! First time poster! I am an undergraduate student studying molecular biology. I am certain you have all heard NASA's recent announcement wherein they discovered lifeforms which can utilize arsenic in lieu of phosphorous as a fundamental component of their genome. I've always wondered what possible elements life systems can consist of, and when I say life systems, I don't just mean the ones that exist on earth, but POTENTIAL life systems anywhere in the cosmos. I have never felt that life is limited to the compounds of us earth-based creatures, and that somewhere out there, elsewhere in the universe, are creatures with a TOTALLY UNIQUE biochemistry which looks nothing like the earth-based lifeforms we are familiar with. NASA has proven that life is not limited to the compounds that we're familiar with. What other possible combinations of elements could be involved in life systems???