this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2025
377 points (95.4% liked)
Piracy: ꜱᴀɪʟ ᴛʜᴇ ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴇᴀꜱ
55507 readers
420 users here now
⚓ Dedicated to the discussion of digital piracy, including ethical problems and legal advancements.
Rules • Full Version
1. Posts must be related to the discussion of digital piracy
2. Don't request invites, trade, sell, or self-promote
3. Don't request or link to specific pirated titles, including DMs
4. Don't submit low-quality posts, be entitled, or harass others
Loot, Pillage, & Plunder
📜 c/Piracy Wiki (Community Edition):
💰 Please help cover server costs.
 |
 |
|---|---|
| Ko-fi | Liberapay |
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I mean, the replicator is making food out of SOMETHING. I'm guessing it's some kind of waste produce from the engine room. It needs matter to operate. It can't create ex-nihilo.
The replicator from Star Trek makes matter out of pure energy, not out of other matter. It can make almost anything out of matter, so long as it has the molecular pattern on file, and the ship has enough energy available to power the replicators. That energy comes primarily from energy storage dedicated to replicator production, but in emergencies where a massive amount of matter need fabricated, additional power can be provided by the warp core.
So they're using several hiroshima's or nagasaki's worth of nuclear bomb's energy to produce a cup of Earl Gray, hot? Seems like using garbage or human waste would save a lot of energy?
Maybe I'm misunderstanding the power required to produce a small amount of matter?
While we're at it, is a transporter actually transporting me? Or is it technically really replicating me?
Because what I assumed was happening was they essentially had a transporter like device that would take some matter (say a big pile of human dung) transport it (i.e, convert it into the atoms/energy/whatever the transporter uses run it through a pattern buffer that's stored in the transporter for say, Earl Gray hot) and beam it into the Captain's quarters as Earl Gray hot instead of poop.
A cup of tea is around 500megatons if you convert all the matter into energy. We’re talking a few thousand Hiroshimas.
I think conversion from matter to energy and back again seems extreme. Maybe it's just matter to matter but something quantum level.
Do they use the replicator when they’re not moving? Maybe they’re just picking up some hydrogen along the way?
Seems like high energy particles are easier to convert into new elements than low energy ones. Perhaps they’re transcribing uranium with the ingredients. Who knows.