Posted on 03/29/2015 10:11:22 PM PDT by CharlesOConnell
A good man's book, pithy and realistic look at miliatry life overlaid by a slight sci-fi overview with intriguing technical implications.
amazon.com/Trial-Ice-Star-Too-Book-ebook/dp/B00GGP8H12
Trial by Ice (A Star Too Far Book 1) [Kindle Edition] Casey Calouette $2.99
Military use of nanites and drones is woven into a tale that is only peripherally science-fiction, more properly military fiction by someone who has been there and seen that.
The anti-personnel drones are much less extreme than those in Philip K. Dick's 1953 Second Variety, free on Kindle, the original book rather faithfully portrayed in the 1995 film Screamers, the full version of which is available on Youtube with Spanish subtitles.
"The edge of a red and black case poked out from beneath the corpse. He rushed back and ripped it free. Nanite patches. He smiled and wiped his nose. He sat again and smiled at the corpse. The box contained combat nanites, each patch good for a few hours. Stimulants, pain suppressors, antibiotics, antivirals, clotting agents, and reconstructive bots. He fumbled to remove the lid and grasped a patch with his frozen claw-like hand. He couldnt get it open. William paused and took a breath. He gripped the liner with his teeth and pulled with his good hand. The lining shimmered as it was activated by the oxygen. He smoothed it on the side of his neck and felt the initial sting. The burn softly slid into a dull itch. The pain in his knees subsided and he relaxed. A wave of darkness slid near his vision before allowing the light to settle back in."
Calouette, Casey (2014-01-12). Trial by Ice (A Star Too Far Book 1) (Kindle Locations 48-54).
"He looked over at the man and back to the box on his lap. Clark. His name was printed on the container. The man would have gone instantly unconscious when his legs were ripped off. The nanites would generate a coma-like state when trauma reached a certain massive level.
(Kindle Locations 54-56).
"His legs were thrashed and bruised and he could feel the warmth of the nanites sealing up the tear in his side. He was almost giddy with the painkillers and wanted to laugh out loud when the Midshipman had sparred with the Engineer. Oh man, this is going to be good, he said. Specks of light danced on the edge of his eyes. He could sleep, he could feel it coming, but he was afraid.
(Kindle Locations 231-234).
The patches, well run out soon. Each is good for a few hours. They are stabilizers, not for long term use. What happens? Some will wake up, or some will just die. The anticoagulants and nanites are the only thing keeping some of them alive.
(Kindle Locations 300-302).
Most will bleed out internally once the core nanites shut down.
"(Kindle Location 400).
Nanites generate heat. As they work and repair they each give off a tiny bit of energy. Add that up and you get a net heating effect. Too many nanites and they can cook altogether, though they normally self-regulate. What about on us? No work, no heat. They may make a bit of energy, but not as much as the seriously wounded."
(Kindle Locations 497-500).
That, that is the miracle: the nanites decide. Or whoever controls the nanites.
"(Kindle Location 759).
"The wound was slick with a crimson sheen but the flow of blood had stopped. The nanites were working.
(Kindle Locations 2133-2134).
"Avi sighed. Id kill someone to get a comms. William agreed. Everyone had nanites implanted that would work off of a local comm network. Unfortunately without the proper hardware they simply sat idle. During the day it was easy enough, but now things would become a bit more difficult.
(Kindle Locations 2350-2353).
"It is a nanite virus carrier. You drop those when you need to control a population, doesn't kill them, just makes them sick, like a flu." "Oh shit." "We're inoculated, but they can explode if handled before finding a host," Eduardo said as he kicked it. "Kerry, too?" "He'll shit, he'll shit a river of dead nanites, but he'll be fine." "We've got a problem ," Sebastien said, dropping another hollow injector. "Where did you find it?" Eduardo asked. "On a civilian." "Oh..." Vito replied as he laid a fresh bandage down. "Three days, Vito?" "Maybe four." " Til what?" William asked. " Til the entire civilian population is so sick, they'd turn in their own grandmothers." William turned and stomped on the empty canister. "Is he going to live?" "I think so," Vito said.
(Kindle Locations 2415-2426).
Well not for long, theyll be out of here once they realize what happened, William said as he helped Avi down. Sebastien tapped his ear instinctively and nudged William. Can you hear it? William shook his head and watched as a smile spread across Sebastiens face. Comms? Sebastien crunched his jaw and slid it from side to side. Toothpick, this is Lumpy, I read you. Check Naval comms channel for the Gentleman. William had forgotten about any communications system. He, along with all personnel, had a set of nanites implanted in the jaw.
(Kindle Locations 3083-3088).
"Alarms dropped away as the nanites swarmed the damaged armor and worked to mend the seam."
(Kindle Locations 4037-4038).
Michael Behe Unrefuted on the Flagellum
cross.tv/61771
I asked Professor Michael Behe, author of Darwin's Black Box, if the bacterial flagellum, powered on the biochemical assembly level by an organic electric motor, is the basis for nanites.
He replied, "Yes".
Sounds like Michael Crichton’s “Prey”, which is a great read. Funny how the article referred to Screamers. If we had Screamers at our borders, illegals will drop to zero.
Uh, no.
No, no, no.
NO.
Look up “grey goo.”
Kinda disappointed at the response. Gray Goo and Prey are Frankensteinian. This is about the realistic future of nanoids, industrial and strategic applications. Please read the quotes.
You mean quotes like this one: "It is a nanite virus carrier. You drop those when you need to control a population, doesn't kill them, just makes them sick, like a flu."?
Call it naive science fiction that is utterly clueless about Complexity interactions and leave it at that. Nanites would have massive control problems. Interaction with the immune system would be a nightmare - and that's for the 'helpful'ones. The weaponized ones? Oh, they'll never get out of control, sure. Grey Goo is the perfect term for them, and delusion is the term for people who would unleash such a horror. We can't even stop the common cold. So hey, let's just start unleashing self-propelled, autonomous, molecular machines inside the human body and into the biosphere by the trillions. What could go wrong? LOL!
Your link was very informative. I sat through the whole video.
Well yeah, there's that.
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