12/26/2005

Mars Hopping Microrobots

Robots.net has a piece on small spherical robots that NASA considers to pour over Mars in order to research the entire surface of the planet. These could be considered the forerunners of planet-transforming nanoseeds.

Mars Hopping Microrobots

Why robots?

Why are robots so important to the future survival of the Human Race? As I postulate in The Novosolarian Codex, we will have to develop very advanced robots to achieve the Exodus. And a lot of them as well. This is important for a lot of reasons.

First of all, we need scouts. Humans timespan is still extremely limited, and to investigate the Solar System, and later on, the Galaxy, will be a mind-bogglingly timeconsuming challenge. It will be vary dangerous for humans (a little less so for robots), and it is assumed that artificial minds will not be plagued by boredom and similar byproducts of spacetravel. Hordes of robotic probes will pave the way to space for us.

They will investigate entire solar systems for asteroids, planets and orbital positions of interest for habitation or material/energy resources.

After they find attractive places to colonize, they will prepare the arrival of humans by constructing more robots, energy plants, habitation units, bases, cities, spaceports, farms. These robots will probably have some nanotechnological properties, they might even be planet-transforming nanoseeds.

Once we arrive, they will build defenses, robotic service units, industrial production plants, spaceships and planetary transportation infrastructure.

We will ourselves be blended with or modified by the robots. Organs will be replaced by artificial or improved variants to prolong our lifespan. Bones will be protected against the inevitable weakening in space by alloys or modifications. Nanorobots will patrol our bodies and remove dangerous agents or mutant cells.

12/16/2005

Widespread, easily available space travel

What does the concept "widespread, easily available space travel" as defined in the Novosolarian Codex actually mean? The basic principle must be that we want to improve the human condition and liberate technology. So the first evident answer is the Space Elevator. The idea of a system that with a very small amount of energy moves large amounts of people and related stuff into orbit. Once we are there, going places are cheap.

Well, yes, the space elevator is the cheap way of reaching if not the stars, then the planets, but it is not the FREE way. If it is ever brought into reality it will be the most heavily patrolled and controlled means of transportaion in the history of humanity. It will definitely not be a tool for the liberation of the masses. Governments will control who can and when they can use the space elevator. And it will be a prime target for terror attacks.

What we need is something similar to the skycar. A system that can be documented, replicated, improved on, is individual and independant. Why is the car so important to Americans? It is the ultimate symbol of individual independence. We need something like that for space travel. The only present relevant projects are, IMHO, Skycar and Spaceship One/Scaled Composites.

We don't have it yet, but once we have a system that can bring individuals into space without the consent and discernment of their governments, we have true personal freedom.

Thud! Review: Rock Solid!!!!!

Terry Pratchett has more than done it again - Thud! is another masterpiece. Pratchett has increasingly been writing novels that not just mimic/debate elements from our world in a Discworld setting (like "Movin Pictures"), but are now about the discworld itself (yeah, right, I know there's all sorts of terror/mideast/mulim-christian references). Thud! is such a novel, describing new elements of dwarf and troll culture, a curse, weird happenings beneath Ankh-Morpork and (his grace) Samuel Vimes (or "Insert Name Here", as his Gooseberry calls him) at his very best, and the invention of a new board game, while we are at it. A definite page-turner. Exiting, extremely funny, scary, original, free of restraints and practically written for quotes. The pleasure of pure genious. Harry Potter, go ghugh yerself. Only drawback is the fact that Terry is more or less only able to get around writing one book every year. A piece of advice for the man: You are on a winning streak right now, exploit it and keep that keyboard clicking.

12/15/2005

The Novosolarian Codex

The next 200 years are crucial to the survival of humankind. It is very difficult to describe exactly was has to happen to still be there at that deadline downstream in time, but if we project forwards and then back again in time, some thing as are evident:

We have delevoped widespread, easily available space travel and have started to use it for colonizing the planets and asteroids of our system.

We have conquered a lot of the basic limitations of the body, including cancer, infections, autoimmune decease, organ replacement etc.

We have developed a global/civilizationwide network of readily available computational power that makes us independant of place and time when conducting the business of being human.

We have developed artificial intelligence in artificial bodies that equals or rivals our own capacities and helps us meet our goals.


We have delivered on the promise of nanotechnology and genetics in order to solve the above challenges.

These things HAVE to have happened in order to secure the survival of humanity beyond this period in time. If they don't, we won't. It is as simple as that.

The basic assumption here is that no global religion, administrative system, political movement or nation construct will be able to prevent, harness or destroy the underlying currents of religion, nation or tribe. So we need to break free of each other.

On the other hand, these developements do not guarantee the continued freedom and existance of humanity on their own. We will still see the abuse of power, atrocities, dictature, bigotry, sexism, terrorism, curruption etc. They will forever be part of human existance. We will have to create safe havens, pockets of resistance.

Any political philosophy claiming that one day all people will behave because of The Rule of God, Democracy, Money or whatever, is doomed to fail. There will never be One Brotherhood Of Man under any flag. But we can have our Paradise, our Zion, our Ur if we create them independently in the Universe.