Wednesday, January 12, 2005

A Seemingly Intractable Limit I Believe. Ray Kurzweil writes: We will find ways to circumvent the speed of light as a limit on the communication of information.  We are expanding our computers and communication systems both inwardly and outwardly. Our chips use every smaller feature sizes, while at the same time we deploy greater amounts of matter and energy for computation and communication (for example, we're making a larger number of chips each year). In one to two decades, we will progress from two-dimensional chips to three-dimensional self-organizing circuits built out of molecules. Ultimately, we will approach the limits of matter and energy to support computation and communication. As we approach an asymptote in our ability to expand inwardly (that is, using finer features), computation will continue to expand outwardly, using readily available materials on Earth such as carbon. But we will eventually reach the limits of the resources available on our planet, and will expand outwardly to the rest of the solar system and beyond. So how quickly will we be able to do this? We could send tiny self-replicating robots at close to the speed of light along with electromagnetic transmissions containing the needed software. These nanobots could then colonize far-away planets.  At this point, we run up against a seemingly intractable limit: the speed of light. Although a billion feet per second may seem fast, the Universe is spread out over such vast distances that this appears to represent a fundamental limit on how quickly an advanced civilization (such as we hope to become) can spread its influence. There are suggestions, however, that this limit is not as immutable as it may appear. (01/13/05) [Synergic Earth News] 10:17:28 PM

Fix it or forget it The NHL? Fix it or forget it. The NHL? Fix it or forget it. ESPN suggests how we could start over. [MetaFilter] 10:12:38 PM

Detroit Auto Show Detroit Goes Green. BBC Technology --  Sometimes you might think that the big auto-makers are a branch of Greenpeace or disciples of the Sierra Club or followers of Friends of the Earth. Ford takes great pride in showing off the grass roof of one of its factories in Detroit. Its executives point to the bee hives in the shadow of the plant as though the company's prime product was honey. General Motors urges people to "Get Green". At the North America International Auto Show in Detroit this week, the companies are falling over themselves to assert their green credentials. Ford unveiled a hybrid version of its Escape sports utility vehicle - an sports utility vehicle (SUV) powered by a "hybrid" engine that can switch between petrol and electricity as a fuel source, so economising on the burning of gasoline. General Motors presented a prototype of its hybrid SUV called GMC Graphyte and insisted it has several models in the pipelines. It's working with DaimlerChrysler on new engine technology for hybrids. What has changed is that the industry now thinks the demand is there, or rather, that it will be there. Thad Malesh of the Automotive Technology Research Group said he expected as many as fifty hybrid models on the US market by 2010. The research firm, JD Power and Associates, sees hybrid sales of over 500,000 vehicles by 2010, or nearly 3% of the overall US market. The American car-makers have been driven by a variety of forces. Legislation is on the way, particularly in California where the state is set to insist that the emission of greenhouse gases from exhausts is cut by about 30% in the next ten years. And it's a regulation backed by California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger (despite his endorsement of the Hummer), so it's likely to happen. And there does also seem to be some popular demand for greener products. Americans have seemed far less aware of environmental issues than Europeans and Japanese. perhaps because of wide open spaces in America give the illusion that the environment is limitless. (01/12/05) [Synergic Earth News] 10:06:14 PM