Utility Goo (Tool)

https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=lorath:pico-jelly

Ello thars. I'd like to inform you that your concept has already been tackled in the Pico-Jelly technology which I wrote some time ago, like years. However, those additional functions which your utility-jelly fill could be added to the Pico-jelly concept, and the Lorath Matriarchy could produce and distribute the stuff.

Hmm... similar products can't be produced by different companies? Utility Goo is doubtless less capable in many respects than Pico-Jelly; from your description, i'd guess that Utility Goo is less nano/pico/femtomechanically dense than Pico-Jelly.

It also, as you mentioned, has a few functions that Pico-Jelly doesn't explicity state (the high substrate content means it can greatly vary its density, for instance). Hopefully, that would make it appealing to different market segments, as well as cheaper to produce.

If the Lorath Matriarchy wanted to buy the rights so they could incorporate those functions and market it as a type of Pico-Jelly, though, the inventor might be interested.

Mmm, I think the Lorath would pay to buy production rights... but uh, who invented it? If its a simple random NPC matter, then it should be as simple as water under the bridge.

Be advised: NAM has also designed an all purpose nanomechanical system, known as the Nano-Constructor System. It's not exactly the same thing, but this sort of tech has been done, a lot.

https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=na ... tor_system

In short, this article sets no new precedents, and does not really infringe on the LM's copyrights, since this is very much a new material with different properties.

It has a PC inventor; she's sold/donated an earlier design to MFY (for a small scanning device, which will be incorporated into a different 'base tool' in this line of products). Utility Goo incorporates no real breakthroughs, and is just an alternate application of existing technology (that has been used in several different nanotech substances before, it seems), so its development shouldn't have warranted a full-sized research lab.

Unfortunately, the inventor is currently in the third expeditionary fleet, on the wrong side of the demilitarized zone between Yamatai and the UOC, so getting in contact with the potential buyer might be tough...

Not approved. Quantum computers in 1cm spheres is ridiculous.

This isn't an appeal, but what do femtomachines use for their onboard computing, then? There isn't another technonogy small enough to fit on such a machine other than quantum-bit based computers, since femtomachines are often smaller than actual molecules. 'Quantum Computer' doesn't directly equate to 'smart,' it just means that the bits and bytes are represented by quantum states of subatomic particles. So if femtomachines can have any measure of computing power, however small, a 1cm sphere should be able to use the same technology, but on a slightly larger scale. I'd happly change the onboard computers to something more approptiate, if you could tell me what that something is.

Not approved. Quantum computers in 1cm spheres is ridiculous.

Click to expand...

Just out of interest, where do the ones on Yamataian powered armor fit, anyway?

I'm trying to work out (for my own interests) how everything fits on those things. I'm getting the impression they're bulkier than people make them out to be or larger, at least.

Would it be better if i just called it a 'Computer,' and left off the 'Quantum' bit? The computer in a UG Regulation Node has less processing power than the brain of the average NH-12 or Nekovalkyrja youngling (which is not inconsiderable processing power; Nekos are sentient artificial lifeforms). If that much power can be packed into an optimized biological brain, then it doesn't necessarily need to be a quantum computer; i was just assuming that a quantum computer would be the ideal choice for the operating environment, as i thought the computers in the femtomachines it controls would also need to be simple quantum computers...

You don't need quantum computing if you're just going to be using this as a hand tool.

I would suggest utilizing a 'Chemical Computer' system, utilizing cell-sized processors which work in unison by using a weak electrical signal which can be transmitted through the jelly. Sure, the jelly may make anyone handling it feel a tingle which would be like rubbing wasabi on one's tongue, but it would still work.

You could also combine neural-processors into the jelly as well, a Lorath technology. :3 All the more reason to make it a Lorath product, a lot of the technical hurdles are handled from that angle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemical_computer

Perhaps, though i'm still sort of confused about why this is a 'technical hurdle.' As i said, it's not a quantum supercomputer, just a quantum computer; quantum tech seemed desireable because it could be made small and robust (or i'd thought; i still want to know how femto/pico/nanomachines manage computing tasks without small quantum computers), and not because it can be scaled to rediculous power levels if given a larger area to work with.

If i were to switch it to a more biological model, using Lorath tech, i'd probably also replace the capacitor cell with a bacterial battery- but that raises the quesion of charging. I used scalar fields because it was a way to combine both power distribution and high-speed communication with femtomachines in one simple package. Altering the substrate to handle chemical power distribution would be a simple task, but scalar fields allow the node to charge the sustrate from a distance.

Also, though the end result may be something resembling a hand tool, the end result may also be something resembling a hamster; Utility Goo has biological components for a reason. The second application i'm working on (the original application, actually; the glove was just quick to write up) is to use a maximized network of nodes and substrate as a physical surrogate telepresence drone.

This would work by connecting the user to a SPINE interface or something similar, then bouncing the signal over an FTL subspace relay to a drone in a remote location (presumably, where NODAL is undesirable or unavailable). The drone would be able to mimic the external physical attributes of the user (apperance, scent, etc.), allowing meetings with a physical component without requiring transport or the custom cloning of a sprite avatar.

So i've decided that femtomachines are a bad choice for the operating agent in Utility Goo. Protein-like behavior, even advanced protein-like behavior, is probably not enough to do what this stuff is designed to do to, at the speed at which it needs to be done. Pico- or nano-machines are ostensibly smarter, so working with the Lortath Matriarchy on this project is becoming more attractive.

I'd still like to keep the control and power-scheme scalar in nature, to allow for the control of non-continuous volumes of substrate. The computers in the Regulation Nodes, as they really don't need to be that powerful individually, can be chemical, biological or nano-mechanical in nature, to make them robust. Would the Lorath insist on bacterial power cells rather than capacitors?

Just make it chemically powered. Scalar is nasty for having it anywhere NEAR anything else that is electronic, or holding it for too long for that matter.

Incorporate chemical compounds which will provide the unit with its own power through some sort of undetailed reaction... but just avoid the scalar.

Low-intensity scalar fields can be used safely, i think; the peak output of the scalar generators in this can, at most, stun a lifeform with a complex nervous system, and the fields are normally confined to the inside of the working fluid. (The use of the word 'scalar' is really strange in this setting, but since scalar fields assign a field magnitude to all points in space, 'range' should be more a function of device accuracy than power, and it should be possible to assign a 'zero' magnitude to all points in the path between the device and the target.)

The inventor of this system created a high-fidelity scanner for MFY that uses scalar fields: https://wiki.stararmy.com/doku.php?id=mo ... r&s=unsafe.

I've revised the descriptions so that:

• The substance itself uses picomachines rather than femtomachines.
• The regulation nodes contain chemical computers rather than quantum computers.

Bump for re-review?

It has been over a month since i addressed the cited issue (small quantum computers). I've been advised by Toshiro to bump for re-evaluation, so... bump for re-evaluation.

I'm interested in the fate of this technology as well, bump.

The problem is we have this magic goo that can stun, stealth, and do all kinds of scary things...and on top of that, it can form DR 4 (gloves) armor material. It's like being able to wear an NH-28 Neko, and it'd be available to civilians for very little money. I'm worried it'd be abused in the RP.

That's probably why the tech review staff hasn't touched this either so far.

Technology-wise, i think everything it does is within the realm of possibility for a civilian-grade product.

• DR-4 is about the standard for carbon nanostructure based body armor, but if desired this could be reduced to DR 3 or 2. This is body armor grade DR, and not ship grade, and thus is depleted as damage is done.
• Stun-type weapons can be built on a much smaller scale than this, and a mild scalar stun is the maximum it is capable of, power output wise.
• It's non-regenerative; damage it, and it needs to be replenished using new processed material, unlike some existing nanotech that can self-rebuild using raw materials.
• The stealth is a simple holographic stealth, and it has been stated that this kind of stealth, like NH-29 stealth, only fools optical/thermo-optical sensors. It's usefulness is very limited in this age of highly advanced sensors.
• Everything it does is power-limited, and the more dangerous functions like stun, stealth, strength enhancement and armor are more power intensive than the others. This is by design, to prevent abuse; the GM arbitrating its use can decide how much power each of these functions burns on a case-by-case basis.