Re: Nanotech Arms Race

Michael S. Lorrey (retroman@together.net)
Tue, 26 Jan 1999 09:11:09 -0500

Anders Sandberg wrote:

> Ron Kean <ronkean@juno.com> writes:
>
> > I think that a matter-antimatter bomb would exhibit the same efficiency
> > (energy per unit mass) regardless of size. A single proton meeting a
> > single antiproton would release the same amount of energy per gram as
> > would a larger matter-anti-matter sample.
>
> Unfortunately the containment problem will likely cause scaling
> effects. My guess is that the container / antimatter ratio will go up
> a lot as you shrink the device.
>
> As a theoretical assassin, I would go for poisons rather than nuclear
> weapons for my mosquitos.

Yes, chemical/bio devices are much more efficient on a personal basis than nuclear. There are plenty of toxins which are lethal in small ppm doses. The skin secretions of some south american tree frogs are supposedly lethal at the microgram level.