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The world turned upside down.
Jun. 4th, 2005 02:06 amFantasy I had the other night. Some agency (aliens?) starts selling on the black market little boxes that can be fed a structural formula (say via a simple computer interface. You pour stuff into the input hopper and if they have been fed enough of the right elements, the desired chemical comes out the output hopper and the "leftovers" come out the waste hopper.
Not only would this kill the war on drugs, it'd kill drug dealers and all the infrastructure clear up to the drug lords.
Of course, it'd also make controlling explosives, poisons, etc impossible as well.
Still, it's an interesting thought experiment.
So assume that the devices can't be taken apart. And they don't consume much power. They aren't useful for large quantities of material (say the max output is a few pounds a day).
So what changes do *you* see resulting from this? Assume that there are too many to successfully confiscate or prohibit them.
Not only would this kill the war on drugs, it'd kill drug dealers and all the infrastructure clear up to the drug lords.
Of course, it'd also make controlling explosives, poisons, etc impossible as well.
Still, it's an interesting thought experiment.
So assume that the devices can't be taken apart. And they don't consume much power. They aren't useful for large quantities of material (say the max output is a few pounds a day).
So what changes do *you* see resulting from this? Assume that there are too many to successfully confiscate or prohibit them.
