Sci-Fi Civilian Vehicles, Equipment and Technology

Reliable brain-machine interface devices that work seamlessly and efficiently are probably a decade or two away. It's really hard to project the rate of progress with such a difficult technology.

"Injectable nanomachines" that program such devices? That's entirely in the realm of fiction. We have no idea how we could even begin to approach such a task, never mind accomplish it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Not sure what you mean by "reliable", but mind machine interface research has gone on for decades, and different examples exist.

As you say, however, nanos are another thing entirely.

Frankly, i think any brain-mind interface is going to take more akin to centuries to be truly functional.

If we look at what we can currently do, then sticking in some rods and reading some basic thoughts is doable. But what you're asking, a complete brain interface that is also connected via nanites would require our understanding of the human brain to be essentially total and complete. And we are simply nowhere, nowhere near that.

Brain interfaces are thus going to be more akin to simple instruments (like what we already use them for, but more practical and small) for a long while. Proper ones will require breakthroughs to many hard problems, in some cases some of the hardest problems known to man.

One thing I've created for science fiction settings is the Server-Box. A civilian market AI that is used by people who want to play old multiplayer games by themselves, it simulates a server and players with settings for how much of a power fantasy you want to play.

It's also found use by people into old MMOs whose servers were shut down years ago as its server simulation allows them to return to the days of yore.

How many actual people can play on it at once?

Edited by DeMarquis on Jan 13th 2022 at 12:50:20 PM

The computing power of this thing needed to generate hundreds if not thousands of players to accurately and immersivity simulate an online environment allows it to support a bunch of players, I don't really have an upper limit picked out. I would say that owners can sync Server-Boxes together to ease workload, and actual living players help reduce the workload needed to sim AI players.

Now in a way of being a little bit controversial but wanting to do a little bit of sci fi I will ask.

What kind of tecnology do thing should or would like devop for people with disabilities or neuroatypical problems? I will said is a issue Sci dosent take too well and I dont want stuff that is "a cure for autism" or other nonense but rather how do you think tecnologic will help to deal wtih those issues for the better.

"My Name is Bolt, Bolt Crank and I dont care if you believe or not"

I do not have a disability, but one approach would be universal design; that is things and buildings that everyone can use, regardless of disability. For example, eliminating stairs

"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow

How critical was the vacuum tube to the development of the transistor?

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

We'd likely have been slower to realize the potential of field effect transistors if we hadn't explored it with vacume tubes first. It's entirely possible that vacume tubes are a necessary middle step as MOSFE Ts were invented as a means of improving the vacume tube.

Indeed. It's difficult to play "what could have been" with technology, but it does seem like the invention of the vacuum tube was part of a straight line path to the transistor. Both of them solve a core problem in computers: making decisions based on inputs.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 18th 2022 at 10:05:11 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

Hm.

I ask the question because I got feedback on an aspect of my worldbuilding that vacuum tubes were something of an historical fluke and not a strictly necessary iteration on the way to solid-state electronics. It didn't seem right based on how technological advancements usually work, but I don't know enough about the history of computing to argue, and if it was true it would be an interesting detail to include. It sounds like that was wrong, though.

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Apr 18th 2022 at 8:38:32 PM

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

I'm not an expert on that subject. Don't cite me! If you want to have an alternate history in which the vacuum tube was never invented, go for it.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

>How critical was the vacuum tube to the development of the transistor?

In historical terms, very. Experiments for better radar technology led to the accidental discovery of the diode, which in turn laid the foundation for transistors and solid state technologies.

In technical terms? virtually not at all. The principles, underlying technology etc are all very different. Any civilization with a decent understanding of quantum mechanics will inevitably figure it out.

The key here is that the crystal detectors used for early radio (1900's or so) were actually very primitive semiconductor devices. This was not understood at the time, and it's investigations into this working that led to semiconductors. In our history, this happened because of the obsessions of one man and his accidental development of better diodes. It's easy to see however that this can go both ways: a slightly different topic of interest for scientists at the time, and you'd have semiconductors before vacuum tubes. A slightly different interest in things like radar (due to no WW 2) and you would have decades of vacuum tubes use more.

Since we seem to have exhausted vacuum tubes, I hope nobody minds if I change the subject.

What are the potential downsides of an Apollo style fuel cells? It seems like it provides both oxygen And power in abundance with the only drawback being that it explodes if you screw up the wiring.

I think you've got it. Most of the issues with hydrogen are about storing the hydrogen safely. And then some processes for getting hydrogen (for example, extracting it from natural gas) aren't that green.

Still, they're quite useful when you need power in space or underwater, which is why they're used for spacecraft and non-nuclear submarines.

"Enshittification truly is how platforms die"-Cory Doctorow

The problem with hydrogen as a fuel is that it's an absolute bitch to store. In gaseous form it's extremely light and therefore takes up a large volume even when compressed. Because of its incredibly low molecular weight it has a tendency to find ways through any barrier you put up. In other words, it leaks out of fuel tanks and there's nothing we can do to entirely stop it.

In liquid form it requires cooling to 20 K, which requires a lot of energy, plus bulky insulation. Even as a liquid it's less dense than other fuels, again requiring very large tanks.

The benefits of hydrogen are that it's the most efficient chemical fuel we can use that's stable enough to be worthwhile, its exhaust product is water, and it can be made from water. The drawback is, well, all of the above. Working with it is an immense technical challenge.

I don't know the lifetime of the Apollo fuel cells; the ones on the Space Shuttle were only good for a few weeks, meaning missions had to be relatively short.

Edited by Fighteer on Apr 27th 2022 at 10:30:38 AM

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

devak - sorry, I missed your reply, thank you, that answers my question perfectly!

Edited by Noaqiyeum on Apr 28th 2022 at 12:45:04 PM

The Revolution Will Not Be Tropeable

The fictional world I set my stories in does store metallic hydrogen in carbon-based cages. That clathrated metallic hydrogen though is hard to produce and (like in Real Life [1]) cannot be recharged and discharged at will, so it's only usable as an explosive.

"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman

Metallic hydrogen has the potential for insane specific impulse when used as a fuel, but storing it stably is complete fiction right now.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

I'm thinking catalyzed methane fuel cells might be a more practical option for small craft power generation. I hear there was a recent breakthrough in that field.

If so, link it. First I'm hearing.

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"

https://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i43/Best-Effort-Yet-Make-Direct.html#:~:text=Currently%2C%20methane%2C%20a%20primary%20constituent,efficiently%20than%20combustion%2Dbased%20methods.

Apparently this process uses a platinum catalyst. Does this catalyst replace oxygen, or is that added somewhere?

Oxygen still flows in from the other side of the cell.