Wave of the future or decline of civilization? You decide.
Posts Tagged ‘humor’
Singing Tesla Coils
Sunday, March 29th, 2009Death by Tech: Fermi Paradox
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009This week on Death by Tech I will be featuring another somewhat obscure death scenario: aliens! Stay tuned…
What is it?
The basis of this idea is rooted in the musings of a number of prominent physicists, astronomers and generally smart people. Here is how it goes: first, there is the argument of scale. The Milky Way contains 250 billion stars, and the universe itself has approximately 70 sextillion stars in the visible spectrum alone. Estimates on how many civilizations we might share the galaxy with - based on the Drake equation (which is controversial, at best) - range from 5 to 5000. Enrico Fermi takes this further, assuming that the nature of intelligent life is to explore and expand, and points out that even with slower-than-light space travel, it would take somewhere around five to fifty million years for a civilization to colonize the galaxy. This may seem like a long time, but on a geological time scale it is relatively insignificant. This begs the question, which Fermi so impertinently asks: Where is everybody?
It's quiet. Too quiet...
This may not seem to have anything to do with death, but bear with me. Theories on why we haven’t seen any signs of alien civilization vary (one of my favorites theorizes that it is the nature of intelligent life to destroy itself) but most people interested in it figure that it is an interesting theoretical problem that will be solved as our technological capabilities increase. But it could be something more insidious. Here are some of my thoughts on why we haven’t heard from anyone:
Aliens ate their brains. And they're coming for us...
Or…
OM NOM NOM
Or…
ZERGLING RUSH KEKEKEKE
You get the picture.
Likelihood?
Well, we’re not dead yet. There’s no way to tell, but there is certainly something ominous about the oppressive silence of the universe. It could be that we’re just not advanced enough for anyone to take notice of us (or maybe they have their own form of prime directive), so while the threat is pretty low, as we advance our technology, space could get very dangerous very fast.
Pain Factor?
Another unknown. If it’s alien facehuggers, probably pretty high. If earth is just going to be bulldozed to make room for a galactic superhighway, you probably won’t notice.
Guide: How to Live Forever (Or close enough…)
Sunday, March 15th, 2009Exclusive (Well, not really) information on how to live forever. Secrets of everlasting life revealed! Want to know more? Read on!
Death by Tech: Gray Goo
Thursday, March 5th, 2009New weekly segment: Death by Tech!
Think the future is all flying cars and cyberspace? Well think again. The future, in addition to bringing a whole slew of useful technologies, carries with it exciting new ways to shuffle off this mortal coil. So in honor of these thrilling developments, this segment will cover a fun and unique way to die every week.
This week: Gray Goo
Smokey the Nanobot: Our first line of defense
What is it?
Gray goo is a scenario that hinges heavily on self-replicating nanobots. The idea is that somebody creates and releases nanobots with insufficient or weak parameters that fail to stop the nanobots from replicating out of control. The nanobots then start eating shit, and not just the shit they’re supposed to. All the shit. Buildings, trees, people. Everything that can be converted into more material. This produces the ubiquitous ‘gray goo’ which consumes the world and us along with it.
Likelihood?
Unclear. Most nanotech engineers think it’s pretty preposterous, and it would take a monumental human error to make it even likely, but that doesn’t rule it out. Several scientists have speculated that this scenario is not only possible, but likely and dangerous. Most of them are fringe wackos, but not all.
Pain factor?
Very high. Imagine being eaten alive by a predator. It takes big chunks out of your flesh, dismembering you piece by piece. Now imagine being eaten alive by a billion tiny predators that disassemble you piece by piece on a molecular level. I’m not sure exactly how horrible death would be, but I suspect it’s pretty incomparable.
There you have it! Your first ‘Death by Tech!’. Pretty soon you’ll be prepared to enter the world of the future with anxiety and paranoia, as well you should.
UPDATE: Someone with more resources and artistic skill than me out-funnied this post by making a movie on the same subject. Check it out.
Schrödinger’s lolcats
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009
The Singularity and You!
Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009You may have heard a little bit about this ’singularity’. You may have asked yourself, ‘what does this singularity have to do with me? What’s all the fuss about’? Well worry not dear reader. I am here to answer all your questions.