Akhlut wrote:The NenAltKik is full of consummate geneticists, as we've been needing to do genegineering on our food animals for over a millenia to ensure a bountiful supply of food for our ever-expanding population of 1+ tonne predators! Further, we have pinpoint technology that allows us to modify specific tissues alone in order to improve whatever feature you need improved! Your plumage can be bright, shiny, and require minimal preening just in time for the next molting cycle!
The drawback of accepting NenAltKik support for genetic modification is that you may wind up with a fine, violet head full of... feathers. Not good.
Stas Bush wrote:Hmm. Banning nanotechnology? Smart move!
BTW, folks, tell me what are the laws regarding nanobot mixtures in your respective nations. Is posession banned? Or only distribution? Or both?
Umeria uses self-replicating nanotech only for special medical industrial purposes, where either:
1a) The nanites can't survive outside a specialized environment, making a gray goo incident impossible, or
1b) The nanites can survive in a common environment, such as the human body, but are subject to quarantine and reliable tests for their presence or absence, or
2) The application is isolated enough that the area can be 'sterilized' of nanites after the job is done (for instance, if you use self-replicating nanites to break down a big vat of toxic waste into harmless chemicals, you can then heat the whole thing up to 80 or 90 degrees centigrade and denature the nanites.
Non-replicating nanotech is much less restricted, but is still subject to laws similar to those regarding the possession and use of dangerous chemicals. The Ministry of Welfare requires certification that the nanites do what they're supposed to do (so that someone can't hide distributed surveillance networks as harmless 'glow powder' of the sort our Big Damn Heroes used on the wreck of the
Altair Belle), and in some cases licensing to work with the nanites in question.
So:
- Replicating nanotech that works inside the human body is treated as a mid to high-level biohazard, and is only used under clinical conditions, generally in facilities that could be used to control infectious disease. They
are used; such facilities are a lot more common in Umeria than they are in, say, 21st century Earth.
- Replicating nanotech that works outside the human body is treated as a biohazard, and is typically only available for applications where you can assure the Ministry of Welfare that you'll be able to clean up afterwards, making them a nonthreat outside your installation.
- Non-replicating nanotech is treated as a chemical hazard, much like industrial reagants and the like. The degree of restriction is proportionate to the degree of hazard; some kinds of nanites are as tightly restricted as the deadliest carcinogens or nastiest corrosives, while others are no more restricted than ethanol.
Note that it is much easier to get permission to use replicating industrial nanites in space, and the Technocrats will usually move industrial facilities using replicators into space whenever possible.
And what then happens if a Commune cloud visits, say, the RIS? He can't "distribute" nanorobots but he's composed of them, technically in posession.
That is not a problem, though the Ministry of Welfare may be following the cloud around at a tastefully safe distance with air quality monitors and high intensity UV lamps, much as if the cloud were a being made of trillions of (nominally non-infectious) bacteria.
Unless, of course, the Commune is prepared to vouch for the harmlessness of the cloud, in which case MiniWell will be less nosy and annoying... but any little packages the cloud is found to have dropped off will result in varying degrees of international incident between the Technocracy and the Commune.
