This reminds me of the swarm in Crichton's book or maybe the robot in Terminator 2.
1 posted on
03/30/2005 6:36:41 AM PST by
Arkie2
To: KevinDavis
2 posted on
03/30/2005 6:37:25 AM PST by
Arkie2
To: Arkie2
30 years away, huh? Will my aero-car arrive before that, or after?
3 posted on
03/30/2005 6:39:31 AM PST by
ClearCase_guy
(The fourth estate is a fifth column.)
To: Arkie2
Tetwalkers move by toppling over. It's a very reliable way to get around."
I can vouch for that - I spent a lot of my college years toppling over.
To: Arkie2
I don't think it's going to take 30 years.
And yes, it reminds me of the Crichton book too.
5 posted on
03/30/2005 6:41:00 AM PST by
iceskater
("Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." - Kipling)
To: Arkie2
If they can reproduce themselves, then we can terraform Mars with them.
6 posted on
03/30/2005 6:42:43 AM PST by
techcor
(DUmmy screed: "To insanity, and beyond!")
To: Arkie2
Pyramids huh?
9 posted on
03/30/2005 6:45:00 AM PST by
cripplecreek
(I'm apathetic but really don't care.)
To: Arkie2
These "Tets" are a mechanical version of a "simplex". The "Downhill Simplex Method" is a decades old math technique for optimizing high dimensional, nonlinear functions. It is really nifty to watch as the simplex constantly changes its shape and size so that it basically oozes down the functional surface until it finds a minimum. Its actions remind people of an amoeba.
This Tet is a 3D simplex (actually 4D if you count time) and using arrays of them seems an excellent way to handle the many tasks and vagaries involved in space pioneering.
10 posted on
03/30/2005 6:55:00 AM PST by
nevergiveup
(I AM that guy from Pawtucket!)
To: Arkie2
Anyone remember the sci-fi fantasy book "Trillions"?
Alien micromachines land on Earth, scare the bejeebers out of mankind, and then leave.
But they were morphing machines capable of interconnecting to form any shape.
12 posted on
03/30/2005 7:00:55 AM PST by
Darksheare
(She sashayed into my heart, her insurance should cover the damages.)
To: Arkie2
Wasn't Crichton's book about the nanomachines titled "Prey"?
14 posted on
03/30/2005 7:05:27 AM PST by
the lone haranguer
(Sola Scriptura, Sola Fide, Sola Gratia)
To: Arkie2
Dear NASA: please send more crunchy things. They were delicious. -Planet Zygon 3
16 posted on
03/30/2005 7:07:27 AM PST by
Sender
(Team Infidel USA)
To: Arkie2
Augh! Shades of the REPLICATORS!! (SG-1...)
17 posted on
03/30/2005 7:10:48 AM PST by
redhead
(I'm sorry...I think my giveadamn is busted)
To: Arkie2
Do you have any links to NASA web pages? This is very interesting.
If I said that a few days ago I was daydreaming of a Fulerene structure with linear actuator links and reconfigurable nodes, would anyone believe me? Not that it matters anyway.
Day late and a dollar short again.
To: Arkie2
The only downside is that the NanoSwarms are powered by human flesh, but I'm sure that won't be a big problem.
19 posted on
03/30/2005 7:58:20 AM PST by
inkling
To: Arkie2
To: RightWhale; Brett66; xrp; gdc314; sionnsar; anymouse; RadioAstronomer; NonZeroSum; jimkress; ...
22 posted on
03/30/2005 9:29:26 AM PST by
KevinDavis
(Let the meek inherit the Earth, the rest of us will explore the stars!)
To: Arkie2
"Tetwalkers move by toppling over. It's a very reliable way to get around."
Hey, if it works for Ted Kennedy...
25 posted on
03/30/2005 9:47:50 AM PST by
reagan_fanatic
("Darwinism is a belief in the meaninglessness of existence" - R. Kirk)
To: Arkie2
Swarm, T2, Replicators....forget all that.
This is the start of the BORG people! WE are the start of the Borg! :O
To: Arkie2
"Tetwalkers move by toppling over. It's a very reliable way to get around." So are wheels, hoverfans and leg assemblies.
29 posted on
03/30/2005 11:33:49 AM PST by
Centurion2000
(Nations do not survive by setting examples for others. Nations survive by making examples of others)
To: Arkie2
I have an acre of mosquitoes that are smarter than that and they don't build any pyramids.
30 posted on
03/30/2005 1:15:42 PM PST by
RightWhale
(50 trillion sovereign cells working together in relative harmony)
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