Questions tagged [computers]
For questions regarding a device that can be programmed to carry out a set of certain set of tasks without external intervention.
177
questions
3
votes
1answer
221 views
What would happen if we sent a modern computer into the past? [closed]
According to Moore's law, the number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles about every two years. Therefore, a modern household computer has the computational capabilities of a supercomputer ...
3
votes
2answers
132 views
Humans meet a distant alien species. How do they coordinate? - Computers [closed]
Part of a series addressing the challenges of a mutual first contact. Previous question here
Humans meet some distant alien species. They are mutual first contacts. After learning the languages of ...
1
vote
0answers
123 views
What is the limit of Graphene CPUs? [closed]
In the world I'm building, set roughly 350 years in the future, the humans have colonized the Solar System and other systems beyond using a hyperlane network discovered at the edges of the Solar ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views
Imaginary computer processor, made of flip-flop atoms
It would be cool if scientists can invent an electrical material which is made of an XY square grid of atoms... straight like salt atoms except made of a weird polymer. the stuff functions as XY ...
6
votes
2answers
291 views
I can break AES. Now what? [closed]
The story
The protagonist (whom will be referred with a first person narrative in this question) had a friend, Eve, who was a math genius. Eve was dying of cancer. She kept her mind occupied in her ...
1
vote
2answers
108 views
When were computer components 0,2 micrometer in size? [closed]
When setting a story in the future I always try to limit the technology available. It's less enjoyable and harder to identify yourself with droney the drone than with John and Jane Doe.
Currently I ...
9
votes
1answer
140 views
Minimum tech level to invent core memory
Magnetic core memory was a critical innovation in the development of computers. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic-core_memory it was the most advanced form of memory from about the mid-...
40
votes
12answers
16k views
What steps are necessary to read a Modern SSD in Medieval Europe?
So the main team of characters is traveling back in time from "modern day" to medieval Europe, arriving around the 1300s.
Assumptions: They Know they are going, they have space and time to prepare, ...
5
votes
3answers
163 views
How would a resistance group stop or disrupt software development
I have an idea of a story that takes place in a near future dystopia, where the government is planning to deploy a new dangerous surveillance software. This surveillance tech is of course contracted ...
7
votes
2answers
153 views
How small can a perpetual energy source be to run a far-future civilization indefinitely?
You are the leader of a far-future civilization - human or otherwise - that has endured for trillions of years doing whatever far-future civilizations do. You've surrounded stars with Matrioshka ...
-4
votes
5answers
262 views
In a world without software how would Hacking work?
A definition of computer hacking.
Computer hacking refers to the practice of modifying or altering computer software and hardware to accomplish a goal that is considered to be outside of the ...
1
vote
3answers
131 views
Why would jupiter brain be completely devoid of ocean? [closed]
Jupiter brain is known as a colossal computer the size of a planet, if heat dissipation is a concern when constructing it how come most models lack an ocean of distilled reverse osmosis UV treated ...
1
vote
0answers
85 views
How would a world where electronics are organically based differ from ours? [closed]
I'm building a Retrofuture space fantasy setting.
Some relevant information on that can be found here...
One of the core aspects to me of the retro sci-fi aesthetic is its hardware focused nature. I ...
4
votes
3answers
275 views
Could a technologically advanced civilization be possible without digital computers?
I've noted an interesting trend in Netflix, specially on Sci-Fi and hero series.
The worlds often have these aesthetic characteristics:
Computers are rare, very big or non existing
Phones, but ...
0
votes
1answer
81 views
Would system virtualization technology play a role in future space colonization and can we observe its roots today? [closed]
If I asked the same question for operating systems, I'd say I am quite confident that some descendants of Linux could be there for a very long time.
Today, while Linux is used in embedded IoT devices,...
7
votes
1answer
238 views
What is a realistic computational limit for a handtool-made mechanic computer?
This question here brought up interesting points on what kind of distribution we could expect for the increase in computational power of mechanical computers in a world relying solely on such non-...
22
votes
8answers
5k views
Would Moore's Law apply to mechanical computers?
We know through the works of Babbage, Lovelace, et al. that mechanical computers (computers operating through gears, cogs, etc., and powered by steam or some other arbitrary non-electric power source) ...
6
votes
3answers
432 views
How must computers/telecommunication deviate from reality for a retrofuturistic setting?
.
I love the aesthetics of retrofuturistic settingsand I aim to build my own.
A mixture of a fantastical, Thundercats(2011),Outlaw Star x Star*Drive.
How yesterday saw tomorrow is quite fascinating ...
4
votes
4answers
157 views
Can any kind of public-key encryption hold up against a logically omniscient oracle?
"Logical omniscience" can be defined for these purposes as a form of hypercomputation in which all Turing-computable functions can be computed in constant time. Practically speaking, this means that ...
12
votes
7answers
4k views
What size EMP device would be necessary to wipe all data in a Google-sized server farm, without major physical damage?
I'm not sure if it's even feasible, but I have a server farm in my book, of a size that puts it on par with Google's. I want to wipe out all the data stored on the hard drives, without destroying the ...
34
votes
24answers
11k views
What is the most reasonable way for non-binary computers to have become standard?
Let us assume planet Earth, with a history similar to ours. Except, the result of the computer revolution is not a computer system based on binary (i.e. 0 and 1), but some other system. This system ...
0
votes
1answer
169 views
how could a computer in the first dimension perform multiplication? [closed]
If it is possible for a computer in the first dimension to perform a second dimensional operation in the same way a computer in the second dimension can perform a third dimensional operation, then ...
34
votes
7answers
9k views
How many years could notebook computers and phones be stored in a closed bunker/vault and still operational when found?
The idea is for some people in a post-apocalyptic future to find these bunkers/vaults and be able to turn on the computers and charge the cellphones. How many years could the equipment last if they ...
118
votes
15answers
10k views
Why would characters spend time answering imaginary questions to fictional hypotheticals?
I'm developing a simulation where characters, "users", are interacting over a virtual communication network. "Users" have the option to engage in any activity they want at any time, as long as the ...
8
votes
8answers
3k views
Would room phones work in a hotel during a blackout? [closed]
I'm writing a story about people being stuck in a large hotel. One character wants to call a loved one, but I'm trying to think of a reason that they can't. My initial thought was that the front desk ...
0
votes
2answers
130 views
Any new technologies that are ready to be discovered? [closed]
As an electronics engineer, (sort of), I understand how transistor gates (AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, etc.) are combined to create all of our digital devices. The first computers were created in the mid-...
18
votes
17answers
1k views
What is the Maximum Possible Destruction from One Keystroke? [closed]
You have unlimited access to all of the world's information. Source code, books, electronic information, monuments with text on them, tattoos with text, you name it. If it has information encoded has ...
4
votes
10answers
3k views
Write once perpetual storage, is such a thing possible?
Is it possible, with modern, or easily foreseeable technology, to build a compact digital data storage device that cannot be erased without removing the data store? The storage in question to be used ...
6
votes
6answers
559 views
How in a post nuclear apocalypse setting could a group of survivors set up a “Internet” or “Internet-like” service?
In a world set many years (At least a generation or two) after a near extinction level nuclear event, how could a recovering population set up a internet or internet like service?
Key points I'm ...
-3
votes
3answers
204 views
If an Artificial Intelligence system with the same number of neurons and synapses as the human brain was built, would it be smarter than a human? [closed]
Brain waves work at most 50 operations per second, and the fastest synapse fire rate is not very different from this speed(up to 100 times per second). However, today computers operate in billions of ...
2
votes
6answers
259 views
How would a society ban artificial intelligence without banning computers? [closed]
One way to avoid a 'robot apocalypse' would be to just outright ban artificial intelligence. But what if they wanted to keep some computers around, just for practical reasons? What kind of limitations ...
4
votes
2answers
253 views
How can I make a Venusian computer?
In my story, the humans of Earth have finally made the trek to Venus, and have discovered a previously unknown life form on Venus. On closer inspection of the mucus creatures, they seem to have the ...
10
votes
13answers
2k views
What are possible reasons to use Cathode-Ray Displays by tech-advanced civilizations
I have a sci-fi world that is very technologically advanced (at the stage of "sub-singularity" where they have already invented AIs posing danger to humans, but not achieving singularity, so it's not ...
58
votes
39answers
10k views
Dangerous pending task in world managing A.I
I've had this idea for a short novel, at the intersection of the One thousand and one nights and the Multivac (& co) short stories from Asimov.
The idea is that there's some kind of super AI that ...
1
vote
6answers
265 views
Why would a society with FTL space travel not have access to advanced microchip fabrication?
Question
Given an advanced civilization which has the technology to exceed light speed, what plausible explanation could there be for said civilization for being unable to fabricate microchips with ...
5
votes
3answers
238 views
SF: Brain-computer interface based on fungal hyphal sheaths: does this sound stupid?
Premise: bio-tech golden age where "wetware" is the new IT meta, organic AI that can interface with our standard computing technology.
In this context, I'm imagining a future technology that would ...
8
votes
1answer
203 views
How much further could vacuum tubes have been improved given commercial interest?
Vacuum tubes were a mainstay of digital computer technology until around the 1960s, where transistors (and later integrated circuits) replaced them for most applications. In real life history, one of ...
53
votes
10answers
11k views
Does my shipboard computer slow down as I approach light speed?
This question about time dilation got me thinking.
The speed of an electron through copper is a whole heckofa lot slower than the speed of light, but if I understand the limits of relativity ...
8
votes
16answers
4k views
Handwave Computer
In many alternate technological settings (steam/electro/diesel punks) there are powerful energy sources that allowed technology boom (like whale oil in Dishonored game series).
However handwaving ...
-3
votes
2answers
98 views
Could we teach an AI to code better than people? [closed]
Neural Networks are often used to divise efficent ways of accomplishing tasks. We switched to higher levels of code because the additional levels of abstraction meant it was easier for people do code, ...
3
votes
7answers
356 views
How do you make cyberwar lethal?
Imagine a world somewhat like today’s. Two servers, halfway across the world from each other, decide to declare war on each other. How would one server attempt to kill the personnel in the other ...
0
votes
1answer
227 views
quantum computers able to see the future [closed]
when quantum computers become able to calculate quantum calculations, would that equal a psychic? Because wouldn't it be able to calculate possible future events at such a % it would become a true ...
-2
votes
1answer
199 views
How would computer monitors work if we could sense the frequency of light?
Human's abilities to perceive light is quite limited. Essentially, we have three type of light sensors that each give a linear signal, and if two different light sources give the same signals they ...
4
votes
0answers
210 views
FTL by exploiting the frame rate of reality [closed]
I'm considering a possible method of FTL travel for my science fiction universe. I stumbled upon this Quora post which supported a concept that I had.
Does it make sense to liken the inverse of ...
5
votes
3answers
577 views
What is the feasibility of building a computer with small animals? [closed]
Obviously I'm not looking for practicality, but more curious if it would work. If mice(or something else small) classically conditioned to press a button when they saw a certain light or heard a ...
-4
votes
1answer
117 views
Escaping a computer [closed]
If we were all part of a very advanced simulation system, where none of us actually existed, but where just sentient computer programs, how could we gain control over the main computer, or is this ...
-5
votes
2answers
174 views
Is there a possibility for electricity to go through a computer screen? [closed]
The picture below shows the main idea to my question. That is manipulated electricity makes an attempt to go through a monitor screen. The AI must have sent something tiny enough, like electrons or ...
-1
votes
2answers
135 views
Quantum Computer Sizes [closed]
Is there a (minimum) size limit for a quantum computer? I know that current computers can only go so small due to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, but would this affect quantum computers?
4
votes
5answers
348 views
Computers without semi-conductor technology
So I've been thinking up a (alt-history)setting that aims to be a classic space opera, with the caveat that it will be completely hard science, with the only handwaving being what technologies do or ...
69
votes
24answers
18k views
In a world with very advanced computer science, how would people be taught sufficient programming skills?
In this world, a few hundred years have gone by since the invention of the first computer and the field of CS has been developed to the point were people are hardly aware hardware exists. Most people ...
