How realistic is the concept of the replicators?

[padders]

Ok first of all what do we know about them?

1) They are made of small elements. These elements can be arranged in many different ways to form individual replicators

2) They use energy (obviously)

3) They act individually

4) but still act as a group for 1 major purpose

5) which is replication

6) There are queen mothers who breed. I assume by making the little parts and giving them energy

7) They are technology advanced to work out how to use and run starships. (more advanced than asgard)

8) They have had interaction with other races than the asgard.

Ok, i would like to increase the list of what we know.

Also.. what can we infere

1) They have some system of communication between the replicators or they could not act as a group. This is what i consider their major weakness.

The replicators are only effective as a group. Thus we have to destroy their ability to work as a group. How do we do this? by breaking their communication or even better mimiciking it.

Ok, gone a bit off topic but want some feedback on what you think the major characteristics are of the replicators.

 

[MythingLink]

Questions:

1. Is each replicator only able to communicate within the group from which it came? (Does it only communicate with the group that was made by same queen?)

2. Are they replicating knowledge as well as themselves?

3. What is their purpose? Is it just to replicate themselves or is there some higher goal that we don't know about?

I still wonder if an EMP would knock them out.

Cheers

 

[padders]

How does an EMP work, what does it actually do?

The problem is that it is likely the asgard would have built metal that is sheilded from EMP i would think?

I am pretty sure they replicate knowledge otherwise they would have to start afresh each time. Those replicators on the SPOILER............................. submarine looked like the new what they were doing even after the queen was dead so i guess she gave them knowledge.

Intersting to find out how they store it, perhaps inside each part of the thing contains some sort of memory system.. um..

Purpose? Well they were created by something wern't they? I guess they were created for the purpose we see nano technology being used as but on a large scale, perhaps colonisation, terraforming etc. Self replicating machines ideal for this or perhaps they were created as a weapon. Whatever they were given the capacity to learn which is always a pretty dangerous thing to give something more powerful than yourselves.

 

[MythingLink]

Well I'm not really sure how EMP works just know that it stops all electrical signals or something like that. Maybe it has to do with magnetics. Someone with a brain is going to have to answer that one.

What's interesting to note, regarding what they were made for, is that we've only seen them replicate themselves and SPOILERS .......that little web so that they could keep Jack and Teal'c locked into the sub. If I'm wrong, please someone tell me. However, to argue with myself, didn't Thor say that they could make themselves into any shape they wanted?

Terraforming would be a good way to use them though wouldn't it? Drop a couple down on a planet with the designs of the terraforming machinery in their systems and let them have at it.

So maybe they were designed for some peaceful purpose and developed a survival instinct when they were moved or destroyed when they finished their original job.

Side note: We now have a robot that can design and build other robots. Scary thought. <G>

Cheers,

 

[padders]

Yes i think that they were probably made for peaceful. Terraforming and nano technology are perfect symbiots. We were given a lecture when i was at school about terraforming i guess about 5 years ago now before it really was thought about much. The guy mentioned nano technology and i have thought about the link ever since. I think a few sci fi books pick up the theme but it does seem likely that it will work that way. Would massivly speed up the process and at the end of it you get all the little bugs into one place and you have a nice supply of metal as well :-0

 

[SGPflughaupt]

EMP : electro-magnetic pulse. It basically is a pulse that overwelms the electronic circuitry and it's capacitors or recifiers and fries it or short circuits it. Even EMP shielded electronics will fail if the pulse is strong enough,the equipment is merely designed withstand higher amounts of EMP like in a nuclear blast. A neutron bomb,I believe, puts out higher level EMP with less boom.
RangerOne might know more since he works with Mil.Comm.

As for the Replicators....they might use some sort of short range communication device with an encoded ID so they know 1)ignore other signals (like TV and Radio) or 2) simply to say "I'm Frank" or "I'm Sally".

<Theory> Short range because why build long range when you dont need it (they would build effiecently i think).
And if you need it then build a specilized LongRange bug that would act to take other bugs signals and relay it a farther ran.
Additionally,short range comm might not have been picked up by the shore based team because the range didnt reach them so they would know what signals to pirate.

<Theory> The Queen is basically a factory and will build and design bugs as needed. Any other bug has the basic plan for a Queen factory in its memory banks but not the ability to construct on a volume like the Queen.

<Theory> each Hive response to its Hive mother but the Hive mother will respond to another more senior (progenator) Hive mother. Eventully you work up the ladder to the UBER MOTHER.

<Theory> Higher goal 1)defend against threat. Some asgard at sometime accidently kicked their metaphoric anthill and now they are eradicating the threat...or 2)original program has been corrupted ala Saberhagen's Berzerker series from destroy the enemy to destroy everyone (enemy = not us) or orginal peaceful task now turned deadly ie prune the plant-form to prune the animal form.

Von Neumann must really have it in for the little grey guys

 

[padders]

If they do communicate, however they do it using an encoded signle or whatever there must be a way of intercepting this. Also, the bandwidth of this signal must be quite high as i would think they have quite a lot of information to send across. I wonder how true all the specalisation of the bugs actually is. Personally i don't think it quite works like this but more that each bug has the capability to be what ever it wants (stored inside large memory cells) and will just turn into that as the need arises. Thus any bug can be a long range transmitting bug if it just decides, undergoes a change in shape and hey presto. A bit like those bugs that blocked Teal'c and Jack in the sub.

 

[RangerOne SG13 SOR]

SGPflughaupt hit the nail on the head. One of the biggest threats in Electronic Warfare is the EMP and to withstand an EM Pulse you need a lot of shielding...and I mean a lot

Have you ever had a power spike at home or work (normally in electric storms) youll notice it just blows right through your equipment. Well its the same basis for the EMP but it is incredibly strong but it does get weaker over distance. Modern electronics are extremely sensitive and you have to watch your ESP (electro static precautions) one touch of pcb with your fingers and thats it!! it just wont work, The static in your body overloaded the circuitry.

With military equipment though EMP is catered for and various technuiqes are employed to enhance protection.

Getting back to the replicators you could try microwave.

Firing a powerful microwave into any electronic run device will immeadiatly fail. Its like shooting with an electronic shotgun The Americans have been experimenting for years with microwave weaponry that can bring even helicopters down.

You could try a localised EMP but your own equipment would be affected as the pulse is omni directional i.e its 360 degrees



Ranger

"you want sarcasm, pleased to meet ya"

 

[padders]

But are the replicators using "electric energy"? does it have to be electrical? it could be chemical although i doubt it as the speed of releasing chemical energy would not be fast enough i would think. (or controllable anyway).

 

[Thor_of_Othalla]

One slight overlooked flaw is that when they eat stuff tehy`d be breaking it down into little atoms and particles in order to transport it to the Queen to be made into new bugs. The thing is, everything around us is basically an arrangement of molecules. So assuming the Asgard metal has some carbon particles in it, the replicators should`ve been able to make the submarine metal into Asgard metal simply by rearranging the molecules.

I think the bugs were probably developed as a tool for construction and I`m developing this idea in a fan fic I`m doing. I`ll post the first part on my site http://www.connect.to/stargatecentral as soon as it`s done and as soon as I make a fan fic page.
If the address doesn`t work just drop the www and it should be ok.

 

[padders]

not sure i agree there.

There is a big difference to being able to take an object down too its constiutant elements and being able to transform something from one element to another. That would require re-arraning the neutrons, electrons and protons something that is going to be a lot harder (and require a lot of energy).

Now if you mean that the submarine has the various metals to make the metals in the asgard ship then i doubt this. I would think that the metal has elements that are used in the alloy that are far far stronger. There is a limit to the strength you can get from carbon, steel etc metals from the submarine.

So now, don't it is a flaw.

 

[Thor_of_Othalla]

The Asgard`s new ship had elements of Carbon so it must be atleast a bit useful

it was carbon-trinium-naquadah. Not sure about the naquadah bit

 

[padders]

But it is the allow that is strong so if you are missing one bit of the alloy then it won't be strong. The carbon is probably the base element (not a metal really) with the tritim and naquadah providing a lot of the strength. I also wonder how much carbon there would actually be on a submarine, not that much i would not think.

 

[muzungu]

muzungu

Replicators may use a form of quantum entanglment to communicate between themselves. This would mean that it is impossible to disrupt their communications.

Their electronics may be made up of superconducting materials so firing an em pulse at them would have no effect.


In small victories teal'c fired a zat at one and it had little effect so must assume that replicators have at least partial emp protection.

As far as a power source goes, they may use something like vacuum energy.