On Tue, 16 May 2006 10:01:07 +0200, Tobias Gogolin <
usertogo@...>
wrote:
> ∗A universal constructor∗ is a machine that can replicate itself and - in
> addition - make other industrial products. Such a machine would have a
> number of interesting characteristics, such as being subject to Darwinian
> evolution, increasing in number exponentially, and being extremely
> low-cost.
> http://reprap.org/
> found at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling
>
Only there is one problem. You need one to start from. I don't quite have
the time to wait for one of my scrap printers to mutate into anything
useful ;-)
If i have that one to start from, well, that's all i need really.
I'm not quite sure all this stuff will have any real application any time
soon, i mean, building something to replicate itself takes quite a lot of
resources (think of what effort it is for humans). You needs loads of
energy and materials for the replicating component. If you use a purpose
built machine to make something all that overhead is not required and you
can just build a new machine if you need a better one instead of hoping
evolution does the trick.
OTOH for software it seems to work a bit, i guess mostly because things
can be done _real fast_ with software.
ST