[UA] The Metal Eaters (was Steampunk)

[Cassady Toles]

On Sun, 22 Jul 2001 10:33:54 -0700 (PDT), ua at lists.uchicago.edu wrote:
  > It depends, of course, on how long it takes the
  > gadget to duplicate.  If
  > it's eight hours, that's a lot less menacing.  It's
  > still an item with
  > tremendous potential for harm though.
  
  You bet your butt it is.  If you catch it within 24
  hours, you might be able to contain the situation
  (assuming you can find the three other "lonely
  lunchboxes.")  

But at the end of one day there aren't three.  There are eight

after eight hours 2
after sixteen hours 4
after twenty four 8.

Geometric progression means geometric progression.  In any case it would hit
critical mass with less than a week (even at eight hour progression, one
week is 2 to the 21st power that's 4096 little gizmoes.  Lets imagine that
they only weigh four pounds each.  That's over sixteen tons of little metal
reproducing lunchbox.

Addmittedly, that isn't necessarily dangerous, but give in two weeks and it
will have depleted the entire junkyard, three weeks the city, and four weeks
from then everything made of metal in the country will have become a lunch
box (the only restrictor on that is the issue is how fast they move).  Every
week the number multiplies by over 4000.  That's a lot of bugs...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am the messiah in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniel's.  Drink of me
and
no peace." -- Cobra Baghdad www.peoplehateme.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------





_______________________________________________________
Send a cool gift with your E-Card
http://www.bluemountain.com/giftcenter/



_______________________________________________
UA mailing list
UA at lists.uchicago.edu
http://lists.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/ua