Recent content by KAckermann

  1. K

    Can Microscopic Organic-Powered Machines Navigate and Replicate in 3D Space?

    I always get leery when mentioning this, but the things that can be done with a $4.00 microcontroller these days are frightening. I was cringing during the Iraq war that we would start to see autonomous M-50 machine guns on rooftops that could target the whup-whup of helicopters. Something like...
  2. K

    Can Microscopic Organic-Powered Machines Navigate and Replicate in 3D Space?

    I would contend we are not significantly closer to engineering a fly than we were 25 years ago. Or 250 years ago, for that matter.
  3. K

    Can Microscopic Organic-Powered Machines Navigate and Replicate in 3D Space?

    <i>Is there a point to this thread?</i> Yes, there is. How far are we away from building such a thing?
  4. K

    Can Microscopic Organic-Powered Machines Navigate and Replicate in 3D Space?

    Requirements: Between .5cm and 1cm large. It must negotiate 3-D space in an air atmosphere. It must be capable of autonomous existence. It must be capable of high-g acceleration to rapidly start and stop. It must be able to remain stationary on a surface at any spatial orientation. It...
  5. K

    Did Homemade Candies from Dentists Ruin My Teeth?

    Dentists don't have nets. Those aren't dentists.
  6. K

    Is Instinct Encoded in Our DNA?

    It's not that, I understand things are pressured in certain directions. I'm saying that things like migration paths are more than just learned by following, they are in the genes. If these complex behaviors are selected for, then so be it; but I wonder if there might not be additional help...
  7. K

    How Does Counterfactual Computation Work?

    There should be fines for publishing drivel like that article. The first clue that it was B.S. was the fact that they never really said what they succeeded in doing. What does 'successfully search a database' mean? Ultimately, I'm certain it means nothing, because if they had truly...
  8. K

    Researching DNA Computation: Questions & Answers

    DNA computing is just a curiosity. It suffers from a fundamental problem, and that is of gain. Conventional transistors have gain, which allows the signal to be lifted out of the noise. No such luck with DNA. They are probably using a roomfull of equipment to read the DNA.
  9. K

    C/C++ Win32 Radio Button Code for Visual C++ | No MFC

    I always bind my controls to a class member. If I declared a CButton member object in my dialog named m_MyRadio, then: m_MyRadio.GetCheck (); will do the trick.
  10. K

    The Problem I Have with Evolution

    Chance is a totally valid strategy. There are caves where the entire population of species shows signs of once having eyes. How could they all lose their eyes? It's actually a remarkable demonstration of the wringing out efficiency by selection. Since eyes are useless in a cave, they...
  11. K

    Is Instinct Encoded in Our DNA?

    Even if a salmon does employ some kind of marker or sense, it still requires a very sophisticated set of behaviors. Wiki says that salmon spend as much as 5 years in the open ocean, but it does not say how far they range there, only that they may travel hundreds of miles to get back to their...
  12. K

    Is Instinct Encoded in Our DNA?

    Logic says that instincts must be selected for over time, but some instincts are so complex that it's hard to stomach as a purely random manifestation. I also have never heard of a frog that tried to fly south for the winter, and you would thing that as a random process... I don't know...
  13. K

    Is Instinct Encoded in Our DNA?

    I get no satisfaction from this answer. That is worded clumsy, but I hope you know what I mean. I can accept the learning explanation, but instinct by definition is not learned. Many are not even consciously engaged. I can even buy the bird-folllowing-bird scenario to some degree, but even...
  14. K

    Is Our Perception of Causality Limited by Time and Perception?

    If you walk into a bar and see a que ball at rest on a pool table, what indications do you have on how it arrived at that state? Not all information is preserved.
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