they were
only able to demonstrate sub-atomic replication to the most basic
of materials. Such would be of little use to the
government.
A significant breakthrough
occurred when a particular electrochemical reaction was discovered
that facilitated the stripping away of layers of complex objects,
but there were still two problems that remained. First, the massive
amount of computation and data storage that was required to
understand the object’s exact sub-atomic ingredients and
relationships were daunting. Second, because layers were literally
stripped away one at a time, only solid materials could effectively
be replicated. Liquids and gasses would escape their container as
they were stripped away sub-atomically. For example, if the SAR
machine were to strip away the layers of glass, there would be no
glass to hold the water. Thus, before the layers representing the
water could be reached, the contents of the glass became a mere
puddle on the floor, making it impossible to reconstruct its
original state inside the glass.
To solve the first
problem, the team worked long and hard on an algorithm using
photonic computing. Photonic computers utilize a different approach
to calculation than do classic computers. While the latter relies
on bits which can take on one of two binary states—0 or 1—the
former relies on colored photons of light that race around
nano-optic cables. Each photon conveys 32 bits of data that
represents a unique signature of the color and its brightness. The
fact that they travel at the speed of light makes it even faster to
move data around. In order to solve the second problem, the team
used magnetic refrigerators in order to produce temperatures near
absolute zero. At sufficiently cold temperatures, all matter
freezes. Once frozen, it is then possible to strip away the layers
to compose a full chemical map of the object. It turned out that
magnetic refrigeration made the entire process more robust. Because
of the lack of heat, the state of the sub-atomic particles showed
very little variance during the process of decomposition, and as a
result, the map was less likely to be in error when the object was
replicated. This, then, was the silver lining that paid out gold
for the Midas Project.
The project proved to be a
tremendous success, and talk of “teleportation” became a household
standard. Yet, because of the manner in which the problem was
solved, sub-atomic replication only applied to non-living material.
Scientists would have to go back to the drawing board if they ever
wanted to teleport people seamlessly from point A to point B. Once
the myth was dispelled that NASA had no astronauts that could bark
the command, “Beam me up, Scotty,” interest among the lay person
diminished.
But as time went by that
interest was rekindled in the business sector. Entrepreneurs began
to realize the potential of sub-atomic replication. Imagine the
money that could be saved in the transportation industry if
long-haul truck drivers could be replaced with regional SAR pads.
Manufacturers salivated at the thought of producing a map of one
superior product which could be cloned by throwing a bunch of sand
into a machine. At one point, Coca-Cola was known to request
licensing the technology for a one-time fee of $600 billion,
because they recognized how quickly they could recover the price
when they would only need to come up with massive quantities of
very low-price raw materials—dirt, rocks, garbage—that they could
be fed into a SAR generator and thereby crank out bottle after
bottle of refreshing carbonated beverages. When the U.S. government
promptly shut down discussions, Coca-Cola renegotiated based on a
potentially more lucrative royalty-based proposal. It would offer
the U.S. an opportunity to reap the profits directly from the
manufacturer instead of through the tax structure. While such a
proposal had many on Capitol Hill scouring calculations about what
such a proposal might do to release the
only able to demonstrate sub-atomic replication to the most basic
of materials. Such would be of little use to the
government.
A significant breakthrough
occurred when a particular electrochemical reaction was discovered
that facilitated the stripping away of layers of complex objects,
but there were still two problems that remained. First, the massive
amount of computation and data storage that was required to
understand the object’s exact sub-atomic ingredients and
relationships were daunting. Second, because layers were literally
stripped away one at a time, only solid materials could effectively
be replicated. Liquids and gasses would escape their container as
they were stripped away sub-atomically. For example, if the SAR
machine were to strip away the layers of glass, there would be no
glass to hold the water. Thus, before the layers representing the
water could be reached, the contents of the glass became a mere
puddle on the floor, making it impossible to reconstruct its
original state inside the glass.
To solve the first
problem, the team worked long and hard on an algorithm using
photonic computing. Photonic computers utilize a different approach
to calculation than do classic computers. While the latter relies
on bits which can take on one of two binary states—0 or 1—the
former relies on colored photons of light that race around
nano-optic cables. Each photon conveys 32 bits of data that
represents a unique signature of the color and its brightness. The
fact that they travel at the speed of light makes it even faster to
move data around. In order to solve the second problem, the team
used magnetic refrigerators in order to produce temperatures near
absolute zero. At sufficiently cold temperatures, all matter
freezes. Once frozen, it is then possible to strip away the layers
to compose a full chemical map of the object. It turned out that
magnetic refrigeration made the entire process more robust. Because
of the lack of heat, the state of the sub-atomic particles showed
very little variance during the process of decomposition, and as a
result, the map was less likely to be in error when the object was
replicated. This, then, was the silver lining that paid out gold
for the Midas Project.
The project proved to be a
tremendous success, and talk of “teleportation” became a household
standard. Yet, because of the manner in which the problem was
solved, sub-atomic replication only applied to non-living material.
Scientists would have to go back to the drawing board if they ever
wanted to teleport people seamlessly from point A to point B. Once
the myth was dispelled that NASA had no astronauts that could bark
the command, “Beam me up, Scotty,” interest among the lay person
diminished.
But as time went by that
interest was rekindled in the business sector. Entrepreneurs began
to realize the potential of sub-atomic replication. Imagine the
money that could be saved in the transportation industry if
long-haul truck drivers could be replaced with regional SAR pads.
Manufacturers salivated at the thought of producing a map of one
superior product which could be cloned by throwing a bunch of sand
into a machine. At one point, Coca-Cola was known to request
licensing the technology for a one-time fee of $600 billion,
because they recognized how quickly they could recover the price
when they would only need to come up with massive quantities of
very low-price raw materials—dirt, rocks, garbage—that they could
be fed into a SAR generator and thereby crank out bottle after
bottle of refreshing carbonated beverages. When the U.S. government
promptly shut down discussions, Coca-Cola renegotiated based on a
potentially more lucrative royalty-based proposal. It would offer
the U.S. an opportunity to reap the profits directly from the
manufacturer instead of through the tax structure. While such a
proposal had many on Capitol Hill scouring calculations about what
such a proposal might do to release the
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