[ExI] von Neumann probes (was Re: fermi paradox)

[Bryan Bishop]

On Saturday 08 December 2007, spike wrote:
>  For that reason it seems a waste of both information and energy to
> carry matter across vast stretches of emptiness without first having
> maximized the information content of the matter being hurled.

Yes, which also brings us back to some other ideas, i.e. interstellar 
lasers for pure information transfer. We already have lasers that 
operate on our bodies (laser eye surgery is a popular one)- and in the 
future, why not on distant planetary bodies? Then you've maximized 
information content while *eliminating* matter.  I have not done any 
calculations on how much energy this would require.

- Bryan