Birthing our Successors?

I've been completely fascinated with the whole biological computer concept. Instead of silicon chips, these living computers, also known as DNA computers or biocomputers, uses biochemistry and proteins such as DNA to process information it receives.

And recently, two different research teams from Stanford and MIT have designed genetic receptors for living cells. These groovy devices work as transistors inserted into living cells. These tell the cells to "light up" when certain defined criteria are met.

So, is it goodbye silicon-based pc? Do we rush out to greet our new organic laptops? LOL, I hope our organic tablets don't get motion sickness.

Yuck. Anywho, well, maybe someday. I'm not too concerned with the very Bradbury style future. This is one of those advancements where the near future opportunities are just as cool as the futuristic ones.

A couple ideas mentioned in the source articles sounded intriguing. A genetic transistor injected into a cancer patient that notifies any cancerous cells to destroy themselves. Water sources that monitor their own health and notify technicians if there is a problem. Even the amazing chance that construction engineers will grow buildings and bridges instead of building them.

My fictional, over imaginative mind immediately screams, "Biological weapon!" This could be provided with sniper-like pinpoint accuracy instead of mass destruction. Transistors will tell the healthy cells of a political or government enemy to destroy themselves. Ooh, or maybe something more sudden. Brain aneurysm, clot-causing heart attack. Imagine, assassinations remotely done in complete silence.

Even if we were mature enough to stick with only humanitarian endeavors, which I highly doubt, there is cause for concern. I mean, we are instilling intelligence in basic living things. How will these simple functioning cells react to consistent, long-term transmittal of "intellectual instruction". For all we know, human intelligence evolved from some kind of spark of intellectual guidance.

As a fellow member of a species unique to all other species on Earth, I'm not sure I suddenly want to compete with some other species with special consciousness.

By giving basic biological elements the path to "conscious problem solving" are we potentially paving the future evolution of those biological elements? Right now it's reactive... but at what point could it become proactive and evolve independent thought? I can't help but think we might be birthing something that'll be bigger than a computing machine.

What did David say in Prometheus? "Big things have small beginnings."

Maybe someone needs to make sure the researchers are aware of the Three Laws and suggest for them to design something similar for their biological device as Asimov did in the positronic device as they go along their merry scientific way.


Sources:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/350549/description/News_in_Brief_Analog_circuits_boost_power_in_living_computers
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn23337-dna-transistors-pave-way-for-living-computers.html

Brainstorming Thursday: Intergalactic Travel

So, as part of the whole "Call to Action" drama I instigated over the last couple weeks, I've decided to launch a little post series called... well, called the title you read above.

Enter trumpets and angels and all the other cool celebratory crap....

BRAINSTORMING THURSDAY!

Oops, sorry, didn't mean to shout. The trumpets died down right as I spoke.

Alrighty, back to reality, or as close to it as I can get -- which isn't very far.

Part of what I love about story research is all the little side trips I get to take. I'll be scouring for an acceptable antidote or medical technology and come across something that triggers another thought or idea entirely.

Let's take Sunday's post for example. On that post, HERE for your convenience, I talked about the speed of the galaxies in the universe and how it'll make a positioning system nearly impossible. Ergo, that means intergalactic travel will be near impossible... at least in my lifetime or several lifetimes.


Source: Nasa Images



But... (enter brainstorming about now) but... what if some crazy scientific kook or kooks just couldn't wait? What if she/they needed, absolutely needed for some reason, to see the neighboring galaxy? And what if it was far enough in the future science had started real/serious intergalactic travel research?

Now there, my geeky friends, is the core of a potential story.

Yeah, the rate of galactic rotations and the fast expansional gaps between galaxies is still the driving barrier for successful intergalactic travel. But, say this group... driven by this woman who has a spiritual reason for needing to venture out... has timed the motion of both the rotation and the expansion to pinpoint when a potential Goldie locks planet in a neighboring galaxy's solar system will be near enough to ours to transport a research vessel via some spacetime manipulation technology?

Maybe there's some belief of this particular planet, solar system and/or galaxy.

Wouldn't it be a gas - partial pun intended - if once they were there, the technology used to get back either malfunctioned or they miscalculated and ended up somewhere else entirely?

Long story short, what would happen if they couldn't get back? You've got, say, a crew of 50 in an unknown galaxy and no way to return home.

Anything could happen from here. They could search out the original planet to get the returning coordinates back on track and something happens along the way. They could find they're at another location with potential for life. Or, even... oh yeah, maybe some other "presence" diverted their trip and brought them to this new point.

Ooh, maybe the spacetime technology has something to do with interconnectining universe filaments. I don't know, that might be taking the brainstorm too far.

"Okay, pull back AR, pull back."

Oh man, this is exciting!

What do you all think would happen once they got there? Or, what do you think her/the groups motivation is? How do you think they ended up in the wrong place? Or, did they end up in the right place and a block of some sort is keeping them from returning?

I love brainstorming. Sometimes it threatens to throw my current WIP off course, but I try to contain it by jotting down the idea and allowing a little exploration into the concept. Then I ruthlessly tuck it away for a future project.

Need a map?

Mix in a little hydrogen, helium and dark matter, let it bake for about 8 billion years until little clumps of self-sustaining galaxies appear.

The "stirring" of a galaxy happens a lot faster and is more streamlined than we ever thought. Instead of necessary "fuel gases" drifting in loose currents to the center of the galaxy as we originally thought, taking 8 billion years give or take a million, those gases speed through filament "rivers", reaching the center in only a billion years.

This explains the fast spin of galaxies, which scientists couldn't previously understand.

Now, why am I sharing this with you? Well, it stemmed from my interest in intergalactic travel and the recent Russian earthquake.

Huh, you ask?

I know on the surface the two don't really pair up, but hang in there, I'm getting to the point. Ride the AR thought process with me.

GPS systems went haywire after Russia's 8.2 earthquake. Sent the world trembling with aftershocks all over this hunk of rock we call home.

Then, this morning I read an article about the newly discovered way galaxies are formed and sustain. Click HERE to read it.

The article was exciting in regards to my opening thought above, but it caused a side thought. Particularly the section that read: "Researchers didn't understand how the outer material could be spinning so fast."

Now, I know I've already covered the obstacles to space travel before, but another insurmountable and disappointing truth hit me. At least undefeatable in my lifetime.

If we are to go intergalactic with our travels, we'll have to master the whole spacetime manipulation thing. I mean, fusion and proton travel methods just aren't going to cut it for intergalactic. Maybe for interstellar, but even that's a serious commitment. At the rate the universe is expanding, and the growing distance between galaxies, we'll never get there.

But, if we master the whole Einstein move and pinch spacetime to accommodate our natural thirst to conquer all known things and places, we'll need a universal GPS system.

WARNING: AR veer-off moment hitting about now...I could name it UPS for Universal Positioning System but then I wouldn't be able to type it without giggling. I mean, I'm sure if we ever get that advanced UPS will be a primary user of the universal GPS system and all, but still, a bit ego-ish to name it after them, right?

But with the rate of expansion between us, and the rate of spin for galaxies, how can we ever manage to maintain a positioning system of that scale. I mean, one Russian earthquake managed to disrupt our measly planetary system.

How will we ever keep up?

If we can't get the spacetime worked out and an efficient, manageable positioning system developed we'll never leave this solar system, let alone the galaxy.

Okay, AR, don't panic. (Like the Hitchhikers reference there?)

We just need to be patient. Every day science is breaking what it knew and learning brand new things all together. No, it won't happen in my lifetime, but maybe in one of my next lifetimes.

Patience, AR, patience.

Round and Round She Goes...

Fictionally, writers have used the ever-questionable gravity conductors to generate and control gravitons. The coolest being Star Trek, which generated and distributed them into the hull plating. But, aside from pseudo-science experiments around gravitomagnetic torque effect that have no real scientific community confirmation and have not been duplicated, this "gravity generating" technology has not come to fruition.

So, for the purposes of this post, let's stick with concepts that are from more traditional avenues of artificial gravity. Okay, before we begin, I want to clarify that when we talk about this kind of artificial gravity, we're not talking about gravity at all.

What we're talking about is centripetal force (the counteracting of mass by a proportional rotational acceleration). Basically, spinning to give the feeling of weight to one's body. Think the spinning ride at your local amusement park but in a more effective and useful way to allow astronauts and, hopefully, space travelers the ability to function and remain healthy in space.

Studies performed and being performed indicate humans don't need a constant round-the-clock form of gravity to remain conditioned, and they don't believe humans would even need standard earth gravity either. Half earth's gravity and several hours a day could, in theory, suffice to sustain body health and prevent "deconditioning" during a space travels. (Deconditioning is the physical results of zero gravity, such as loss of bone mass and performance deterioration of the circulatory and neurological systems, among other clinical issues.)

The most popular solution scientists are exploring is centrifuge systems. The question of specific centrifuge structure to use for space travel depends on some decisions: continuous artificial gravity vs periodic artificial gravity sessions, and compartment systems or individual systems...to name a couple.

Quirky fact: Path of least resistance - in a large vessel or station sized rotational system the occupants would need to walk/move in the same direction as the rotation or dizziness and nausea could ensue. Also, depending on the size/structure, even turning your head could cause these symptoms.

I think in the short term regular "centrifuge sessions" in individual chambers is a sound and cost-effective solution. This is because those first missions will be a small professional crew only and a good testing ground for the technology.

Building too large too fast is not the way to go in space exploration. One vacuum step at a time, people. But it is exciting to jump ahead and imagine the evolution as our exploration evolves.

1. Individual centrifuge chambers at regular daily sessions for first long distance crew missions and colonization of Mars, moons and satellites.
2. Multi person chambers round the clock/Individual chambers at regular sessions for broader space travel with small passenger/crew mixture.
3. Compartment-size systems round the clock for mid and large size transport vessels with large crews needing gravity in their workspaces, but not needing gravity in the payload and common areas. Also could be for larger capacity passenger vessels. Passengers situated in artificial gravity quarters and crew in artificial gravity workspaces with non-gravity areas such as cargo areas and common areas.



4. Then we reach the vessel-size systems where all areas would have artificial gravity.

There are a million different ways centrifuge systems can be explored and executed. These are just my brainstorms on the concept. Let me know your thoughts, ideas or heck, even your disagreements. Below are a few links I used when exploring the idea. Some are older articles, but hey, the issues been around for a while with no other real solutions being presented.

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1995/gravity-1129.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/spaceodyssey/healtheffects.shtml

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast01oct_1/

http://www.esa.int/esaHS/ESAGO90VMOC_astronauts_0.html

http://www.space.com/8384-artificial-gravity-tests-space-astronauts.html

http://www.spacedaily.com/news/gravity-05m.html (artificial gravity workout system)

http://www.space.com/1089-artificial-gravity-nasa-spins-study.html

http://www.popsci.com/entertainment-amp-gaming/article/2009-01/artificial-gravity-fact-and-fiction

http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2009-02/physics-artificial-gravity-part-two

http://what-when-how.com/space-science-and-technology/artificial-gravity/

Not Just Up, But Also Down

In Isaac Asimov's Robot City 3, Refuge by author Rob Chilson, spacers Derec and Ariel end up hiding out on Earth. Ariel is very sick with a virus the spacer civilization knows nothing about, and is in fact, a death sentence for them.

Little did they know that Earth was her salvation, as the overpopulated civilization they assumed was backwards and prejudice against anything progressive was very advanced in healthcare technology and treatments. Looking back it made sense, for both the reader and the main characters.

Not only were they advanced in healthcare, they were also advanced in population management. With 8 billion people to house, feed, and keep clean it's a big task. One they accomplished by making a big planetary-level cultural transition.

They moved underground.

When it came out in the late 80s this very concept was shocking and most people believed it to be too radical. "Never happen," my own stepdad said when I exclaimed this as the answer (at my ripe, wise age of 13). "People need open space. No one will want to be restricted inside like that." He was very insistent.

Oh how a lot of things have changed, in just a quarter of a century. Yeah, we're not quite to the point of extreme as Asimov's future Earth world, where people are frightened of the "above ground"...but we're well on our way to being comfortable inside for the majority if not our whole day.

A report just came out from the Federal Highway Administration revealing young drivers 19 and younger dropped over 18% to less than half the age segment and people under 30 make up only 22% of drivers since 1998. Adding to this shift, Gartner research firm found 46% of drivers aged 18 to 24 would choose Internet access over a car. Article HERE.

So, if they are not getting drivers license, how are they getting around? Well, studies indicate that almost half are socializing via internet routes (FaceBook, Instant Messenging, Twitter, etc). If they are getting together, it's using the increasing transportation network (subways, transits, and whatnot). The levels of these two factors depends on the size of the city they are located in.

This trend fits perfectly in the end state of Asimov's world. As people shifted inside, they next shifted down. In overpopulated countries all over the world, there are already underground living/working/consumer communities going down several levels. To be exact, 26 countries have started to turn to underground city concepts in answer to overpopulation.

The shift to underground living answers another need of a heavily populated world. Food production. With people living underground, it leaves the surface available for the production to feed billions of people. Fertile ground, which is now used for subdivisions and city blocks, could be enough land to feed areas where agriculture development is unattainable.

This would be an answer to hunger.

I know it'll be centuries before humans are comfortable living underground to the extent of Asimov's future Earth, if they ever get there. And there are mounds of issues to overcome like high earthquake zones and water and waste infrastructure barriers. And some will never feel comfortable in the "mole" environment.

But then again, that's how Asimov's world ended up with Spacers and Earthers, wasn't it?

So, what do you think about the underground concept? Do you think we'll ever to the extent of Asimov's Earth world? Why or why not?