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   rec.arts.sf.science      Real and speculative aspects of SF scien      45,986 messages   

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   Message 44,703 of 45,986   
   Mikkel Haaheim to All   
   Re: Really long-lasting tech   
   10 Dec 16 11:22:13   
   
   From: mikkelhaaheim@gmail.com   
      
   Le samedi 10 décembre 2016 05:19:33 UTC+1, johnny1...@gmail.com a écrit :   
   > On Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 5:41:28 PM UTC-5, Thomas Koenig wrote:   
   >    
   > >    
   > > So - really long-lasting technology needs constant maintenance,   
   > > unless you want to postulate materials that are far different   
   > > from what we have today.   
   >    
   > We don't _intend_ our technology to show that kind of endurance, today, so   
   we don't usually design with that in mind (with the exception of certain   
   architecture and buildings and a handful of other stuff).   
   >    
   > It's true that we can't currently built megayear-scale tech, but if we sat   
   down and _tried_ to design electronics or other machines to last for centuries   
   unmaintained, and spent appropriate time and effort to do so, we might be able   
   to do something in    
   that centuries league.   
      
   Perhaps. We could certainly do better than our current efforts. However, one   
   of the problems with improving current tech is that the scale becomes   
   increasingly minute. When we start talking about circuits that are only a few   
   atoms thick, those circuits    
   tend to become increasingly fragile (there are lots of physical processes that   
   can alter molecular scale connections and compositions, especially ionising   
   radiation).   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   

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