Date sent: Mon, 14 Jun 1999 16:39:26 -0400 From: "Michael S. Lorrey" <mike@lorrey.com> Organization: http://lorrey.com http://artlocate.com To: extropians@extropy.com Subject: Re: High-tech weaponry Send reply to: extropians@extropy.com
> Brian D Williams wrote:
>
Mike, just out of curiosity, what is TANSTAAFL! an acronym for?
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> >
> > From: "Raymond G. Van De Walker" <rgvandewalker@juno.com>
> >
> > >I want a gun that shoots ethical flechettes. That is, the gun has
> > >the situational awareness at least of a policeman that's hiding in
> > >your pocket or handbag. It talks to the ammunition. Of course,
> > >the gun would talk with you.
>
> You could even pick the personality you wanted in your HEI:
> Revolutionary HEI:"Argh, don't shoot till you see the whites of his eyes!"
> G. Gordon Liddy HEI: "If they're ATF, shoot 'em right between the eyes!"
> Justice Warren HEI: "I can't define a threatening situation, but I know it when
> I see it!"
> Janet Reno HEI:"Do it for the children.."
> Carl Sagan HEI:"Make him see billliunz and billliunz of stars..."
> Hillary Clinton HEI:"It takes a village to decide if this situation warrants the
> use of force..."
> Gibson HEI:"The criminals are here, they are just not evenly distributed..."
> Extropic HEI:"Best do it so..."
>
> > >I calculated that a human-equivalent-intelligence (HEI) would fit
> > >into several thousand cubic microns, and with quantum
> > >intelligence, it could run several thousand times as fast as human
> > >time. (mechanical is smaller, but slower)
> >
> > >With good nanotech, we can also have lasers running off a
> > >phased-array on a flechette, so we can get a pin-hole microarray
> > >radar that's not too constrained by the reolution radius of its
> > >antenna.
> >
> > >You shoot it, and the flechettes decide what to do, and the gun is
> > >the witness, and sends signed e-mail to the police on the wireless
> > >internet using micropower pulse radio.
> >
> > >If you're a bad guy, a dumb kid, or a drunk, or tampered with the
> > >gun, the flechettes refuse to fire. or tumble at mach 8 and
> > >self-destruct, because they're inherently unstable.
> >
> > >If you're a good guy, the flechettes cause the least possible
> > >damage that will let you get away, shoot the deer that's kicking
> > >your kid, hunt, hit the 9 ring of the paper target, or whatever.
>
> Actually, interestingly enough, small projectiles don't shock the body nearly as
> much, even when using equal or more energy. According to Massood Ayoob, your
> 1911 .45 ACP with black talon rounds provides excellent stopping power, with
> LESS chance of killing a perp than with a smaller caliber like a .22, .32, .38,
> .380, .40 or even 9 mm. The smaller the caliber, the less you shock the perp,
> but your chance of killing them is higher, because the projectile is going to
> fragment and bounce around inside the target more. Because the perp is not
> shocked by the impact of a small caliber, they are more likely to be able to
> continue coming after you. Large calibers will knock the guy over and keep him
> down, but is less likely to kill him.
>
> > >The magazines rebuild the flechettes from CO2 and water in the
>
> > >air, plus electricity. Maybe this takes a while, if the only
> > >solar cell is the surface of the gun. That way, in a survival
> > >situation, the gun is self-provisioning.
>
> Ah, using the SHAKK technology. SHAKK was a little more realistic. Feed dirt
> into it to get silicon and metals.
>
> Interesting and excellent post.
>
> >
> > When I was a kid I was fascinated by electric eels. I was convinced
> > that it was just a matter of time when the biological realm fell to
> > the skills of engineers. I wrote a piece in 8th grade where I
> > fantasized about people with newly grown organs and the defensive
> > capability of large electric eels. I included what I knew about the
> > insulation the eels possessed that kept them from frying
> > themselves.
>
> Are electric eels immune to shocks from each other???
>
>
> --
> TANSTAAFL!!!
>
> Michael S. Lorrey
> Owner, Lorrey Systems
> http://www.lorrey.com
> ArtLocate.Com
> http://www.artlocate.com
> Director, Grafton County Fish & Game Assoc.
> http://www.lorrey.com/gcfga/
> Member, Extropy Institute
> http://www.extropy.org
> Member, National Rifle Association
> http://www.nra.org
> "Live Free or Die, Death is not the Worst of Evils."
> - General John Stark
>
>
>