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"We follow the scientists around and look over their shoulders. They're watching their feet: provable mistakes are bad for them. We're looking as far ahead as we can, and we don't get penalized for mistakes."
- Larry Niven
 |
| Nanomachine Swarm (Black Cloud) | ||
| A cloud of tiny machines, able to work together autonomously. |
A huge black cloud seems to attack an airship. The ship's sensors report that the cloud seems to be made of iron. How could such a thing exist?
"It is made up of tiny metal particles. A remote-controlled emulsion, as it were, with uniform center," answered Jazon.
Further speculation is made upon the gathering of additional evidence.
"What is the nature of this cloud? What is your opinion?" he asked without any introductory remarks.
| "Two types of systems were successful in this evolutionary pattern: first, those that made the greatest progress in miniaturization and then those that became settled in a definite place. The first type were the beginning of these 'black clouds.' I believe them to be very tiny pseudo insects that, if necessary, and for their common good, can unite to form a superordinate system. This is the course taken by the evolution of the mobile mechanisms." |
| From The Invincible,
by Stanislaw Lem. Published by Poland in 1954 Additional resources -
|
It is difficult to believe that a large mass of machines can operate without a central command mechanism:
"No, I don't think it's anything like that. It could be that these microorganisms themselves form such a center when they combine in a certain manner - a kind of inanimate brain. They exist in loose swarms, which permits them to be constantly exposed to the sunlight, or even to chase after thunderclouds, for they probably obtain energy from these atmospheric discharges."
The earliest take on this idea that I know about is the living metal cubes from the 1920 story The Metal Monster by Abraham Merritt.
See a more structured version of this idea, the Robot Cells (Crystal-Shaped Modules) from work by Michael P. Kube-McDowell.
"...do you believe, then, that the clouds have some kind of command center at either the surface or the interior of this planet?"
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Invincible
More Ideas
and Technology by Stanislaw Lem
Tech news articles related to The Invincible
Tech news articles related to works by Stanislaw Lem
Nanomachine Swarm (Black Cloud)-related
news articles:
- Swarm-Bots Take Small Children Away
- Smart Dew Sensor Monitoring
- Nanowire Transistors For Smallest Computers
- Directing Microrobot Swarms
- Robot Swarm Obeys Commands
- Swarming Intelligent Aquatic Surface Robots Ahoy!
- Swarm Of Mindless Robots Works Together
| ODYSSEUS Solar-Powered Stratospheric Plane Flies Forever |
| Phil Nuyttnn's City Under The Sea |
| Stick-On Tape Speakers, As Predicted By Bruce Sterling |
| Has Climate Change Already Been Solved By Aliens? |
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