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From: mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate)
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: Re: Matter transmission, etc.
Message-ID: <1825@umcp-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 12-Oct-85 09:22:23 EDT
Article-I.D.: umcp-cs.1825
Posted: Sat Oct 12 09:22:23 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 14-Oct-85 06:27:31 EDT
References: <3998@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU>
Organization: U of Maryland, Computer Science Dept., College Park, MD
Lines: 26

In article <3998@topaz.RUTGERS.EDU> Slocum.CSCDA@HI-MULTICS.ARPA writes:

>Let's not forget the Uncertainty Principle in the context of matter
>recording/ duplication.  A simple way of stating this is the following:
>   "When dealing with sub-atomic particles (electrons, etc.), the more
>accurately the velocity of said particle is known, the less accurately
>its position is known, and visa versa".

>So, if you know the position of an electron to infinite precision, you
>know nothing about its velocity.  This kind of screws up the copying
>process.  I would hope that the copier was awfully precise.

Well, actually, since the person himself constitutes an observing system,
it's only necessary to be as percise in observation as the human body is of
itself.  My guess is that this is going to be (by most standards) quite
sloppy, especially as the need for real precision is going to be
concentrated in relatively small volume.  The atom-by-atom structure of
bone, for instance, is likely to be of little importance compared to its
gross structure.  There are lots of fluid areas where we surely do not care
where the water molecules are (as long as we have them at the right
temperature-- a VERY low precision measure of energy).  So from that point
of view, my estimate is that the problem is not that difficult.  The chief
problem is simply acquiring the information without destroying it too soon,
and then finding a place to put it all.

Charley Wingate