I have often thought about how an advanced civilization would explore the universe, assuming faster than light travel is not possible . It seems miniaturization and advancment of technology go together so taking that to the extream imagine a probe that was microscopic . It would have limited sensor ability and be able to send a directional signal, power could be possibly from the capture of radiation or maybe beemed to it from the source. Now imagine having a massdriver/particle accelerator in space that fires these things at taget stars. They would relay info back along the chain and they would be close enough together so that a failure or two in a row wouldnt matter.These cosmic wires could eventually connect a single planet to millions of other solar systems.-- pydor, Sep 14 2006 Distributed Probing Distributed ProbingThis was my take on the idea, though I was thinking intra-solar distances. [zen_tom, Sep 14 2006] step one nano radio http://www.physics....anoradio/radio.htmlCheck this out [pydor, Jun 26 2009] The most extreme endpoint to evolution would be biengs without corporeal form that could travel at the speed of light with little time duration to their own forms and inhabit the electromagnetic voids inside corporeal biengs on distant planets. Such as earth.-- daseva, Sep 14 2006 In what sense would such beings be beings, [GumBob]? I mean, wouldn't a photon match most of your description, without being the extreme endpoint of anything? (I am not a physicist, so I might have picked the wrong particle).
btw, I like [pydor]'s idea.-- pertinax, Sep 14 2006 Yes, me too, you go [Pydor]! Innovative inventive intriguing (sp?) and all that get my bun+.
[Gumbob] you need to realise and come to grips with the fact that there is no such thing as a corporeal form. If you think you have one or inhabit one, you are sadly mistaken.-- zeno, Sep 14 2006 Interesting idea, but I think you are going to run into power problems. A microscale (not to mention nanoscale, you use both terms and they are not interchangable.) device can only store a limited amount of power for a data burst. Limited power means limited range.
I think you are going to find that that range is going to be on the level of meters at best. Maybe kilometers in a very quiet environment (which space probably is not.)
But lets say you can crank your range up to 10km. A light year is about 10^13 kilometers. If you can spread your probes at exactly 10km spacing, you are going to need 10,000,000,000,000 probes per light year.
That sounds like a lot of probes. If each one weighs 1/1000 of a gram, you are going to need 1,000 tonnes of probes per light year, or 4,300 tonnes to reach from earth to Alpha Centauri. That is 1.5 times the mass of a fully loaded and fueled Saturn V rocket.-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 14 2006 I have a corporate form, for what it's worth.-- DrCurry, Sep 14 2006 I have a corpulent form.-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 14 2006 This was sort of done a little while ago. Someone posted an idea, which I think was named "Space chickens", I can't seem to find it now. Basically the same - but not on a nano scale. Just small, cheap probes which could be fired away into space to collect information.
Also, //Maybe kilometers in a very quiet environment (which space probably is not.)// I assume this would be from all the people screaming?-- fridge duck, Sep 14 2006 [Pertinax], who says photons don't think?-- daseva, Sep 14 2006 I for one am constantly annoyed by all the photon tourists that continually flood Southern California, making it difficult to find a darking space.-- normzone, Sep 14 2006 //who says photons don't think?// Photons have mass, Catholics are very religious, and religion has been described as a lack of thought. ;)-- baconbrain, Sep 14 2006 Not all photons go to church.-- daseva, Sep 14 2006 And some pass right on through with little more than a change of color.-- Galbinus_Caeli, Sep 14 2006 I like this idea. Extremely small would mean they could be fired at near light speeds.-- mitxela, Jun 27 2009 random, halfbakery