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[Siquo]

... And yet, nature's way of flying uses a LOT less energy than ours...
The only thing more efficient than most things in nature in terms of propulsion are supertankers, actually.

And we've been to space and back. But bacteria can survive in space, OUTSIDE of the capsule. Just to show us who's still daddy. Showoffs.

As to what could be... Perhaps it is possible to make something more efficient, given time and almost limitless intelligence, but here's the caveat: What if the environment changes? Or something unexpected happens? The less efficient cells have got quite a few security measures built-in, that indeed limit their efficiency, but prolong their lives, and make them more flexible.

Your nanomachines are like communism: In a perfect world, it would work perfectly, but as it is, it'll fail miserably. So they'll work perfectly in a very controlled laboratory-environment.


ON TOPIC: I say biological weapons. And not anthrax, but more something that'll kill off all the wheat. No food =  no human, bye enemies!

[Baughn]

That's a feature, not a bug.

Nanofactories are sealed environments; their insides contain exactly the atoms we want them to have, where we want them to be. No problems there; they're cleaner than any laboratory, and their outside doesn't matter.

Free nanomachines would be harder to make work, yes. Sure. But why would you want to?

Apart from some rare medical uses (killing individual cancer cells, say), and maybe environmental use like cleaning up poisons (but a simple filter might do just as well, when made cheaply in nanofactories), there's just no reason.

Oh, wait, there's gray goo. Hm. Hang on, did we want that?

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

If it's looks, and acts, like those going mad terraformer robots, I want them! (no, not really, just kidding)
Beside, what if we put the nano factories on aSTEROID?

[Sean Mirrsen]

Grey goo bombs to threaten the alien homeworlds!

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

Now now... Why has no one makes grey goo bombs as a super weapon in ANY space 4X game? I DEMAND ONE!

It... will be EPICALLY AWESOME IMPLOSION!

A quick question: If we somehow manages to make a machine that's capable of using ANY energy, will it able to suck off black holes?

[DJ]

If the black hole has five dollars, sure.

[Siquo]

Me love you long space-time.


There's no such thing as free energy, there's always entropy. To answer the next question if we can ever reverse entropy: INSUFFICIENT DATA FOR MEANINGFUL ANSWER.

There's also the Von Neumann machine, grey goo that travels through space, eating planets to make more of itself. Perfect suicide, if you ask me.

[zchris13]

We could always just invent the flood. That would be sufficiently awesome.

[IndonesiaWarMinister]

Ah, TLQ. Yeah, I have that AND The Last Answer (must read, really!) Anyway,

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

wasn't the machine successful at the end of the story?

Von Neumann machine was what I tried to said earlier...

Anyway, me gonna study the 8th dimension hypothesis! Just because I'm not having headache YET...

[LegoLord]

Meh.  Nanotech would have the same limits as a weapon as bacterial weapons would.  They are limited by their environment.

Really, the ultimate weapon would be a sphere made of materials as close to indestructible as possible, with several hatches all over that could open and fire lasers.  This sphere would roll around, and if anti gravity was real and worked, then it could fly.

So imagine:  You've been fighting for days to protect a position, or what have you.  Doesn't really matter why you're fighting.  Then, on the horizon, a giant metal sphere comes rolling at your forces, shooting deadly lasers at your dudes, burning holes through your cover and slicing your buildings and vehicles into pieces.  Then it crushes what is left by rolling over it.

Of course, modern military strategy for the US is to minimize casualties on both sides, including innocent people and soldiers.  This costs more money than raw deadliness, ironically.  Hence why the military soaks up so much of the government's money.  So by that strategy, the ultimate weapon would be the above, but capable of seeking out and destroying specific targets without harming bystanders.

[Siquo]

Meh.  Nanotech would have [..]

So would magic. Rule of sci-fi: Let's keep things at least remotely possible.

[Muz]

Lol, that is possible. Weapons technology these days would be fantasy to people living 100 years ago.

I'd imagine the USA doing that as a lower cost alternative to nukes. Lasers are pretty weak though. And you forgot how to power up that thing. A giant antigrav sphere that shoots lasers is going to need a damn powerful power source.

And if you have infinite power, I still think a giant robot wielding a giant club would treat your sphere like a baseball.

[Siquo]

LOL at the baseball mental picture...

Lasers have the advantage of superspeed. Bullets can be dodged if your vessel is quick enough, dodging lasers is a lot harder.

[Baughn]

Meh.  Nanotech would have [..]

So would magic. Rule of sci-fi: Let's keep things at least remotely possible.

Pity, that. Reality is under no constraints to stay plausible.

[Siquo]

Actually, it is. It's just that most implausible things are just VERY implausible. Such as, all air molecules in your room suddenly move into one corner. Possible, yet VERY implausible. Or missiles that turn into sperm whales.