From: Eugene Leitl (eugene.leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Date: Thu Aug 26 1999 - 15:28:32 MDT
hal@finney.org writes:
> Robert's essay was very interesting and enlightening. I haven't
> seen this kind of detailed analysis before. But 5 years to build a
> Gates-style mansion? I had no idea it would take so long.
It won't. There is no point in building massive structures from
reactive moieties atom-by-deposited-atom (unless one is a
perfectionist nano-aesthete wanting to live in a perfect-crystal
diamond mansion the size of the Ritz). We can rather mine
carbonates/soil carbon/air carbon dioxide, turn them into few-atom
polymerizable precursors a la simulated photosynthesis and cobble them
together quickly a la tightly controlled polymerization/convergent
(auto) assembly. Sapphire is a very very exclusive substrate indeed.
Working with silicates deposited from aqueous solutions could also be
worthwhile.
This also illustrates very well why monkeys are not going to make it.
Too space/time/energy inefficient. Also, too dumb/slow to protect
themselves.
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