GURPS - Space Opera? - Page 9

Inky · 05-28-2020, 05:08 PM

The "Kill the Moon" problem*. For most readers nanotech avoids that because they don't know it well enough for it to be obvious whether what the book's describing makes sense or not, and mentioning real science that you've heard of makes it more interesting than just saying "force fields", but it is tiresome if you're one of the few who do and it doesn't.

I'm the same way about Star Trek repeatedly pulling new elements out of thin air, or compounds that to someone who understands how chemical names actually work are a contradiction in terms. (Chemistry seems to be a particular weak point of theirs.) As for nanotechnology, I know enough to be afraid, as Girl Genius puts it, but not enough to see anything obviously impossible about most of the nanotechnology that appears in fiction, but I take your word for it!

* (If you don't know what I'm talking about, it was an episode of Doctor Who a few years ago that made the mistake of making the science a bit too basic - meaning that every viewer who remembered even high school science could see that it wouldn't work like they said it would.)

AlexanderHowl · 05-28-2020, 08:01 PM

In general, dry nanotech fries when exposed to sunlight, their surface area to volume ratio is far too high for them to survive, and they have real problems when it comes to energy supplies and radiating heat. Wet nanotech does not generally have that issue, the body protects them, provides them with energy in the form of sugar, and takes care of the excess heat through perspiration, though it is limited by what the human body can take.

Fred Brackin · 05-28-2020, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

In general, dry nanotech... and they have real problems when it comes to energy supplies and radiating heat.

Free range nanites also have capability problems. When I looked for the fastest bacterium on record the nanites in UT were either 1000 or 10,000 x as fast.

There are "muscle" problems generally as well. When it comes to "eating" things nanites and macroscopic robots might be on the same order of magnitude as the interface between the robots and their target is roughly 2 dimensional but the "muscles" that power the "jaws" are 3d and have a normal mass-to-power ratio.

Generally, when you see nanites in fiction that move and act in the macroscopic world in significant ways it's ^. Nanites could be more efficient than bacteria (maybe) but we'd be talking 2x and not 1000x.

AlexanderHowl · 05-28-2020, 11:47 PM

I agree. Of course, wet nanotech is probably more useful for the changes that it can cause to the human body. For example, there is a South African family that has something like Skeletal Strengthening in real life through a genetic mutation, so wet nanotech should be able to do the same to a human without the genetic mutation (though calcium and protein intake would need to increase dramatically). Other positive genetic mutations could likely be replicated by wet nanotech without causing any changes to the genes of recipient (alternatively, wet nanotech could probably compensate for some negative genetic mutations, like Brittle Bone Disease).

05-28-2020, 05:08 PM	#81
Inky Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: UK	Re: GURPS - Space Opera? The "Kill the Moon" problem. For most readers nanotech avoids that because they don't know it well enough for it to be obvious whether what the book's describing makes sense or not, and mentioning real science that you've heard of makes it more interesting than just saying "force fields", but it is tiresome if you're one of the few who do and it doesn't. I'm the same way about Star Trek repeatedly pulling new elements out of thin air, or compounds that to someone who understands how chemical names actually work are a contradiction in terms. (Chemistry seems to be a particular weak point of theirs.) As for nanotechnology, I know enough to be afraid, as Girl Genius puts it, but not enough to see anything obviously impossible about most of the nanotechnology that appears in fiction, but I take your word for it! (If you don't know what I'm talking about, it was an episode of Doctor Who a few years ago that made the mistake of making the science a bit too basic - meaning that every viewer who remembered even high school science could see that it wouldn't work like they said it would.) __________________ Looking for online text-based game at a UK-feasible time, anything considered, Roll20 preferred. http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=168443

05-28-2020, 08:01 PM	#82
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: GURPS - Space Opera? In general, dry nanotech fries when exposed to sunlight, their surface area to volume ratio is far too high for them to survive, and they have real problems when it comes to energy supplies and radiating heat. Wet nanotech does not generally have that issue, the body protects them, provides them with energy in the form of sugar, and takes care of the excess heat through perspiration, though it is limited by what the human body can take.

05-28-2020, 11:47 PM	#84
AlexanderHowl Join Date: Feb 2016	Re: GURPS - Space Opera? I agree. Of course, wet nanotech is probably more useful for the changes that it can cause to the human body. For example, there is a South African family that has something like Skeletal Strengthening in real life through a genetic mutation, so wet nanotech should be able to do the same to a human without the genetic mutation (though calcium and protein intake would need to increase dramatically). Other positive genetic mutations could likely be replicated by wet nanotech without causing any changes to the genes of recipient (alternatively, wet nanotech could probably compensate for some negative genetic mutations, like Brittle Bone Disease).