From: Eugen Leitl (eugen@leitl.org)
Date: Fri Aug 30 2002 - 07:11:02 MDT
On Thu, 29 Aug 2002, gts wrote:
> I'm struck mainly by the fact that quantum tunneling damage is not
> preventable. The damage may be reversible (e.g., through nanotechnology
Damage, schmamage. Look at a diamond crystal floating in deep space.
Imagine utter absence of radiation. Calculate the half lifetime before it
turns to graphite. My guesstimate would be billions, if not hundreds of
billions of years half lifetime.
Issue closed. No point in making your barn airtight while the door is
still ajar.
> as some here have suggested) but unlike most aging processes it is
> impossible to prevent. There is no technology, real or hypothetical,
You can't prevent most cases of aging either, with onboard means. You can
fix them, however, at least in theory. Molecule fragmentation by quantum
tunneling is 1) negligible (you'll have trouble even measuring it) 2)
qualitatively not different from all the other mechanisms from the fixage
point of view.
> capable of preventing this type of damage. We can run but we cannot
> hide. :)
You've got completely topsy-turvy sense of priorities. People are dropping
like flies, and you're talking quantum tunnelling, of all things. Jeez.
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