From: Christopher Gribbon [c.gribbon@dundee.ac.uk] Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 5:00 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Equipment Practicality >> Just as an additional thought, how exactly does one >>recharge the batteries on an implanted computer? I'm sure >[rest of message deleted] > >(Disclaimer - I've only got the basic Player's Handbook here, so I >could be totally out of step with the source materials.) > >Personally, I doubt there are batteries in implant computers - I don't >think there's a need for them. The body is perfectly capable of >supplying all the power you'll ever need to run an implanted computer >- for example, use a biological fuel cell running on blood glucose and >oxygen. If your blood has no available glucose, you've got bigger >problems than not being able to access the net! I notice that >dataspikes use proteins, and maincomps use DNA cores. Given that every >living cell has extremely efficient machinery for handling both >proteins and DNA, I can see the implant computers being as much living >tissue as silicon. Upgrading your hardware would be more a case of >injecting a tailored virus than surgery to plug in a new part. > >If you do need to recharge batteries, you've got several options. >First, all implant computers have a neural jack, so you can run power >lines into that. Second, you can use an induction loop under the skin >to pick up power without needing a direct power connection. Thirdly, >you can put solar cells just under the skin where light will get in. >Another option is piezoelectrics - a solid state device that turns >mechanical motion into electricity. Put piezoelectric generators into >the major muscles, and off you go. > >Of all this, my vote goes for the fuel cell approach. It's simple, >it's low tech, it's self-repairing and you don't need external >hardware. I suspect it's pretty close to being done in the lab now (if >it hasn't been done already), and it would be a school science project >for a society where you can change sex genetically or have gills >implanted. I think the "fuel cells" are called "Electromuscular Analogues". I recall that there were several ways of powering implanted devices (detailed in FluMech) - small-end devices used ambiant energy (refuelling themselves off body temperature, etc.) - while larger ones had EMAs which powered them permanently. The downside being that they would use up the body's energy - bad in a survival situation, perhaps. I don't think they are really anywhere near being "done in the lab" - but that might not be because we *can't* so much as we *havn't* About the DNA computers - I've never been a big fan of these; DNA takes *forever* to modify (in computing terms anyway) - and the problems with this speed are *not* something you could sensibly speed up, even with advanced genetic/biotechnological engineering. I can definitely see a DNA core as a high-capacity "backup" that gets copied to, from the processing RAM (a bit like burning a CD-ROM), but not as the actual processing part of the memory. Christopher Gribbon Vision Research Laboratories Medical Sciences Institute University of Dundee Dundee DD1 5EH UK (01382) 344 229 ____________________________________________________________________ "A scientist is meant to be disinterested, pure; his ambition merely to descry the cement of the universe. He isn't meant to use it to start laying his own patio!" - WILL SELF, The Quantity Theory of Insanity *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Jerome Darmont [jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr] Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 2:29 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [FWd] Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Fwd: Robert Redford Movie At 09:46 15/12/00 -0600, Heivilin, Jim wrote: > > Hahahaha! I look forward to reading it. You don't mean I should translate it, do you? :) -- Jerome Darmont, mailto:darmont@multimania.com Webmaster http://fly.to/bleue.planete *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: :gobion: [gobion@btinternet.com] Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 11:31 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - New at CommCore! New at CommCore! (www.commcore.f2s.com) CommCore has gone live with several new feature with plenty more to come! Check out the new resources - currently the stats for a Patrol Officer as well as a new submarine - the Tiger Shark to use in your adventures in the Resources section! (both are available from the site in word versions as well!) Check out the Access Denied mission database (by MikeZ) in the Access Denied section along with the Random Mission Generator! The Links section is now live with links to all the Blue Planet sites I am currently aware of! Coming soon: Gareth Hanrahan and I are working on the first edition of OCEAN VIEW - The 'zine for life on Poseidon In Issue 1 · An exclusive interview with colonial administrator John Bishop · Hot Spots - 30 hours in Haven · Editorial · Tech Review - Dropships · The Zone · News from the hole (Earth) Any additional articles welcome! Also the French version of the Random Mission Generaotr will also soon be live! As ever any additional contributions most welcome! :o) gobion www.commcore.f2s.com icq: 38430983 *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: :gobion: [gobion@btinternet.com] Sent: Monday, December 18, 2000 12:52 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - For the French readers - new at CommCore! For the french members of this mailing list the French version of the Blue Planet Random Mission Generator is now live! :o) http://www.commcore.f2s.com/cc/storygenfr.php Traduction Française par Heiryck et Jérome Darmont hope you like it! gobion *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.