DISQUS

Brass Goggles - The Lighter Side of Steampunk: Nano-Mechanical Babbage Engines

  • Mindbleach · 2 years ago
    Pity. From the title and picture, I was hoping to see that someone built a tiny, tiny Engine in the spirit of ships in bottles and the internet-famous, scale-model Ferrari. A Curta would be more practical, but I love the thought of a real pocket Engine.
  • Mr Svensson · 2 years ago
    If they don't name it after Mr Babbage or Lady Lovelace, I'll be a sad steampunker.
  • Gadzooks · 2 years ago
    Sadly, one of the things that caused a lot of interest in this project, is that the resultant devices, while slow by today's standards, would be completely immune to EM pulses.
  • Mr Svensson · 2 years ago
    Pardon me, but what is sad about being immune to EMP?
  • Tinkergirl · 2 years ago
    I'd imagine that it normally means that the user expects violent action to be taken against them - possibly even nuclear in form. It means that the military will be driving the thinking behind this - which is great for getting it done quickly and with money behind it, but it does mean that more peaceful applications will come secondary, I believe.
  • Mr Svensson · 2 years ago
    Then we are of the same opinion, ma'am.
  • nanoalchemist · 1 year ago
    What an amazing concept. Someone should write a book about diamond based mechanical nano-computers. I bet it would inspire a whole new age of civilization.

    But, good on them I say. First group I've heard about trying to actualize this idea. Most of the mad-scientist-make-molecules-do-math-for-us-Bwaa-haa-haa types are going the traditionalist frankenstien route, and using biological molecules, mostly DNA.