AT&T holding the keys to life?

**DISCLAIMER**

There is proof of nothing here, and a good chance this is all conjecture at best. If that does not bother you, please carry on.


About 15 years ago, when I was in the military, I was chatting with a fellow while on a smoke break. I dont recall how the conversation turned in to what it did, but I do remember this....


At one point he turned to his left, then his right, quickly making sure we were alone and outside of earshot. Then he told me about a confrence he was privy to that took place being held held by AT&T about a decade earlier. Among it's attendees were members of civilian companies like Grumman as well as members of all military branches. It was a surreal moment for him and I remember him being very serious about the telling of it to me.

He told me that at this meeting AT&T were demonstrating a 'device' that could analyze an object, and send that info over a basic telephone line, and capture this information in a similar device. However, they did not yet have the computing power to accurately 're collect' the information and 're build' the object. AT&T said at that point they were still ~5 years away from that. He also said that it would work with organic materials.

The most interesting point he mentioned is that the branches of the military all seemed to be unimpressed and left without giving consideration for obtaining. Now, that seems odd to me if what he said was on display actually was as advertised. I understand it was not fully functional at that point, but still... It would seem as if they would have had interest.

Now, I have told you everything I can remember of this conversation, and can offer no more than I believe him. Also, I believe that the reason the military was unimpressed is probablly because they already had a similar tech, and possibly more advanced but thats just my opinion..

Now as to the threat title? If AT&T did indeed finish off this technology within 5 years as he said they claimed it would be, would this not be one of, if not the greatest inventions of all times? We all know technology like this can scan one loaf of bread and reproduce a unlimited ammount 'out of thin air'. This would mean a unending and basicly free supply of food, clothing, medicne, and virtually anything that could be 'scanned' for everyone!

I really believe that this technology exists. But my purpose of this thread is 2 fold. 1. to see if anyone else has ever heard a similar account involving AT&T, and 2. Will we ever see the benefits of such technology if indeed it exists?

For years I imagined exactly such an idea but dismissed it as impossible. If such an idea were to become a reality, and available to the public, it would be simply amazing to say the least.

Originally posted by pplrnuts
For years I imagined exactly such an idea but dismissed it as impossible. If such an idea were to become a reality, and available to the public, it would be simply amazing to say the least.

I'm prettymuch in the same boat as you. At the time I heard this, I was a relative youngster and never really gave thought to such a technology. However, after years went by and I had much more food for thought, I all but decided a technology like this that would even the playing field for the masses would never be allowed. But I hope I am wrong.

reply to post by HomeBrew


If they can do THIS

they most definitely can execute what you mentioned in your post.

I think this is verification enough.




Probe

I'm sorry to say i can't confirm the claim.

There is some truth to it though, concerning the data storage necessary. From what I have always read on the subject data storage is the key. What makes it necessary is that the position of every atom needs to stored.

Originally posted by HomeBrew
The most interesting point he mentioned is that the branches of the military all seemed to be unimpressed and left without giving consideration for obtaining.

I can imagine it seeming to go that way but after everyone got back to their offices I'd imagine they were all on the phone with AT&T getting all the details and capabilities. Come on who would pass up the ability to replicate weapons, rations, uniforms, equipment and once the equipment got advanced enough even soldiers all for free and still claim they still need their budget. Of course if such a presentation actually occured

Capturing bread and teleporting to a different place, ok, maybe possible one day. But capturing a loaf of bread and creating 100's of loaf's? Not so possible. I believe the problem you would run into is materials. What's put through cyberspace/communication lines etc, still would have to have material's to produce the end result.

reply to post by J.Son79


You sir could not be anymore wrong.

See my post above.

Originally posted by DontProbeMeBro
reply to post by HomeBrew

 

If they can do THIS

they most definitely can execute what you mentioned in your post.

I think this is verification enough.




Probe

edit on 12-12-2010 by DontProbeMeBro because: Edited link.

Thanks for the link, I'll give it a read!

J.Son79, it's my understanding with this technology that once the actual molecular structure is mapped, it can simply pull atoms out of the air to replicate anything as many times as one wishes..

reply to post by DontProbeMeBro


Not the same thing. What your referring to is scanners that project Light. As i'm referring to creating something "whole" like bread, clothing, car, etc that you can actually use.

This is what 3D scanning is:

en.wikipedia.org...

This is what i'm talking about:

www.treehugger.com...

This device will create anything you want to cook, but...but you have to have the ingredients loaded in the machine to make it, which is what i was referring to with the bread. For instance if you wanted to print out 8 cups of mashed potatoes, the cartridges would have to be loaded with enough ingredients to make 8 cups. Just like an ink printer. If you want to print a 100 page report you make on your computer, you have to have 100 pages and that much ink. Sure you can fax it, email it, whatever, but to make it real, you have to have real materials.

So with the 1 loaf of bread making thousands, I just don't see how that would work. Just like in the food printer, you can't put in one cup of mashed potatoes and tell it to make 8. What will make up the mass of the the other 7 cups if your short on potatoes, cream, and butter?

But the 3D printer's you referring to are used by people in the entertainment industry to make models that appear real by using light. The 3D scanner's are not creating thing's out of thin air. They are projecting 3 dimensional models by using light to make it "appear" as if it were real. But you wouldn't be able to use it.

reply to post by HomeBrew


Now if that's the case, that would be very interesting. But yes, they would have to play with atom's and molecule's to do that. That would be awesome if something like that were to be invented. But we would never see it unfortunantly. Not with our current politics. Imagine the rich people throwing themselves out window's if that seen the light of day. They would all fly to Washington the next day to see that that thing be destroyed to protect their bank accounts.