Is Replication a Workable Concept in Our Near and Distant Future?
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Replicator, molecular synthesizer, matter-energy convertor……… This technology is often referenced in Sci-Fi and is a concept that has probably been made most famous by the ‘Star Trek’ franchise. The idea being that any technologically advanced spacefaring civilisation should be able to master energy to the degree where they are able to replicate certain materials (matter).
The best working example we currently have of a replicator isn’t anything practical, in fact it’s the sun, which burns hydrogen to produce helium primarily. Depending on size and stage of life cycle, it will then continue to produce more heavy elements in its core, climbing down the periodic table. This, to the best of our knowledge, is how everything you see in our universe is created!
A group of physicists from Imperial College London in recent years have figured out how to create matter from light, but this appears to be as far as we have got knowledge wise. There have been a couple of projects put on the books by NASA (3D food printing) and big pharmaceuticals (photobioreactors), but short of that, and to the best of my knowledge, this is where we are!
In my ‘Humanity’s Dawn’ series I like to look at the input a sudden introduction of a technology like this would have on society. I particularly focus on the asteroid mining and building industries, and how such a discovery would have to be introduced slowly. The more I looked at this, the more I realised it bore a striking resemblance to a debate that is going on in our present time. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)!
What are your thoughts on replication? Is it a feasible technology of the future? What sort of social impact do you think it will have?
Replicator, molecular synthesizer, matter-energy convertor……… This technology is often referenced in Sci-Fi and is a concept that has probably been made most famous by the ‘Star Trek’ franchise. The idea being that any technologically advanced spacefaring civilisation should be able to master energy to the degree where they are able to replicate certain materials (matter).
The best working example we currently have of a replicator isn’t anything practical, in fact it’s the sun, which burns hydrogen to produce helium primarily. Depending on size and stage of life cycle, it will then continue to produce more heavy elements in its core, climbing down the periodic table. This, to the best of our knowledge, is how everything you see in our universe is created!
A group of physicists from Imperial College London in recent years have figured out how to create matter from light, but this appears to be as far as we have got knowledge wise. There have been a couple of projects put on the books by NASA (3D food printing) and big pharmaceuticals (photobioreactors), but short of that, and to the best of my knowledge, this is where we are!
In my ‘Humanity’s Dawn’ series I like to look at the input a sudden introduction of a technology like this would have on society. I particularly focus on the asteroid mining and building industries, and how such a discovery would have to be introduced slowly. The more I looked at this, the more I realised it bore a striking resemblance to a debate that is going on in our present time. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI)!
What are your thoughts on replication? Is it a feasible technology of the future? What sort of social impact do you think it will have?
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