Been wondering when this kind of thing will exist and be normalized.
Idle thoughts, what happens if you swallow one? Seems possible and not good.
Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
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Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#12AKA "smartdust" > The concepts for Smart Dust emerged from a workshop at RAND in 1992 and a series of DARPA ISAT studies in the mid-1990s due to the potential military applications of the technology.[2] The work was strongly influenced by work at UCLA and the University of Michigan during that period, as well as science fiction authors Stanislaw Lem (in novels The Invincible in 1964 and Peace on Earth in 1985), Neal…
eat your heart out pham nuwen
There are people who unironically like the Emergence out there in the wild.
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#13AKA "smartdust" > The concepts for Smart Dust emerged from a workshop at RAND in 1992 and a series of DARPA ISAT studies in the mid-1990s due to the potential military applications of the technology.[2] The work was strongly influenced by work at UCLA and the University of Michigan during that period, as well as science fiction authors Stanislaw Lem (in novels The Invincible in 1964 and Peace on Earth in 1985), Neal…
eat your heart out pham nuwen
I have given up hoping he will ever finish the "zones" series. It's been ten years since _Children of the Sky_.
Better almost that he never wrote CotS and left us hanging. :(
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#14Obligatory plug for Diamond Age, in which wealthy aristocracy used clouds of smart pollution ( oops I mean dust ) to protect citizens and wage war.
With noted consequences like nano-scale warefare among the bots, and wasting diseases caused by chronic exposure to "toner".
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#15Devices similar to this were a major plot point in the second book of the 'Zones of Thought' sci-fi series by Vernor Vinge[1]. It is a really great series that is often recommended on HN. My favorite thing about the series (as it relates to this story) is the way Vinge writes about about the consequences of uncovering code/programs/hardware that was developed thousands or millions of years in the past. There are so many layers to these ancient programs that you never truly know what you are unleashing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Deepness_in_the_Sky#Localize...
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#16We will monitor pollution by (checks notes) dispersing a huge swarm of tiny robots, themselves made of heavy metals, that are infeasibly difficult to recover or recycle.
We have covered the earth with nanobits to track air quality and the results are astonishing. The atmosphere is full of nanobots.
"Nanobots Used to Track Air Quality Ironically Make Air Quality Much Worse"
Sounds like an Onion headline honestly.
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#17Been wondering when this kind of thing will exist and be normalized. Idle thoughts, what happens if you swallow one? Seems possible and not good.
How about breathing one in?
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#18Devices similar to this were a major plot point in the second book of the 'Zones of Thought' sci-fi series by Vernor Vinge[1]. It is a really great series that is often recommended on HN. My favorite thing about the series (as it relates to this story) is the way Vinge writes about about the consequences of uncovering code/programs/hardware that was developed thousands or millions of years in the past. There are so m…
My first thought was about A Deepness in the Sky.
Like, the implications of these things are fascinating and scary.
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#19I for one welcome our new nanobot overlords.
Re: Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance
#20Been wondering when this kind of thing will exist and be normalized. Idle thoughts, what happens if you swallow one? Seems possible and not good.
Lithium ion battery toxicity is…
Why is this a thing? I shouldn’t need to worry about swallowing gnat-sized batteries! But it’s Not Good, yes.