The Amazing Cellular Repair device was Re: [extropy-chat] Futures Past

[Eugen Leitl]

On Tue, Oct 11, 2005 at 04:57:49PM +1000, Brett Paatsch wrote:
> Whilst looking through my hardcopy files for the Fahy article on the
> feasibility of brain repair I found these diagrams on a "Merckle-Drexler
> scenario" for a "Nanotechnology derived Cell Repair Device". The
> source (which does contain the Fahy article, is an Alcor publication
> from 1993).
> 
> See if you can see what's wrong with the picture.

An artists conception of a machine-phase device.
 
> Here's the device. http://www.entrepitec.com.au/page2A.html
> 
> Here's the device shown against a background with red blood
> cells.  http://www.entrepitec.com.au/page3A.html

More or less accurate scale. Compare with http://moleculardevices.org/howbig.htm
(flash required, zoom down to the erythrocyte level and down do the smallest
scale, then look down at the rendered picture).
 
> Here's the same device drawn approaching a synapse. 
> http://www.entrepitec.com.au/page4A.html

This is silly, of course.
 
> Hint. A red blood cell has a diametre of around 2000 to
> 8000 nanometres. 
> 
> A synaptic gap might be about 5 nanometres across. The lipid 
> membrane of a cell is about 6 nanometres. 

You can about fit the neon pump or the planetary gear across
a lipid bilayer membrane (see bottom http://moleculardevices.org/howbig.htm )
 
> Sadly, what seems possible to us when we are younger and
> less knowledgeable *because* we are less knowledgeable does
> not always remain possible. 

I'm not sure what your point is trashing a single picture, done
by an artist (these usually don't have scientific training).

-- 
Eugen* Leitl <a href="http://leitl.org">leitl</a>
______________________________________________________________
ICBM: 48.07100, 11.36820            http://www.leitl.org
8B29F6BE: 099D 78BA 2FD3 B014 B08A  7779 75B0 2443 8B29 F6BE
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: Digital signature
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20051011/e4ddb430/attachment.bin>