From: Brian D Williams (talon57@well.com)
Date: Mon Jun 14 1999 - 11:49:59 MDT
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From: "Raymond G. Van De Walker" <rgvandewalker@juno.com>
>I want a gun that shoots ethical flechettes. That is, the gun has
>the situational awareness at least of a policeman that's hiding in
>your pocket or handbag. It talks to the ammunition. Of course,
>the gun would talk with you.
>I calculated that a human-equivalent-intelligence (HEI) would fit
>into several thousand cubic microns, and with quantum
>intelligence, it could run several thousand times as fast as human
>time. (mechanical is smaller, but slower)
>With good nanotech, we can also have lasers running off a
>phased-array on a flechette, so we can get a pin-hole microarray
>radar that's not too constrained by the reolution radius of its
>antenna.
>You shoot it, and the flechettes decide what to do, and the gun is
>the witness, and sends signed e-mail to the police on the wireless
>internet using micropower pulse radio.
>If you're a bad guy, a dumb kid, or a drunk, or tampered with the
>gun, the flechettes refuse to fire. or tumble at mach 8 and
>self-destruct, because they're inherently unstable.
>If you're a good guy, the flechettes cause the least possible
>damage that will let you get away, shoot the deer that's kicking
>your kid, hunt, hit the 9 ring of the paper target, or whatever.
>The magazines rebuild the flechettes from CO2 and water in the
>air, plus electricity. Maybe this takes a while, if the only
>solar cell is the surface of the gun. That way, in a survival
>situation, the gun is self-provisioning.
Interesting and excellent post.
When I was a kid I was fascinated by electric eels. I was convinced
that it was just a matter of time when the biological realm fell to
the skills of engineers. I wrote a piece in 8th grade where I
fantasized about people with newly grown organs and the defensive
capability of large electric eels. I included what I knew about the
insulation the eels possessed that kept them from frying
themselves.
The nuns were convinced I was the one "possessed".
This is classic Bruce Sterling mechanist's vs shapers stuff.
Brian
Member, Extropy Institute
www.extropy.org
Member, Life Extension Foundation
www.lef.org
Member, National Rifle Association
www.nra.org
1.800.672.3888
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