Replicator resolution

[Timo]

...But the EMH could replicate new brain stem nerves for Ptera in "Emanations", restoring her back to life.

Also, the technique used for repairing Worf's spine in "Ethics" sounded suspiciously like replication, even though the name "genetronic replicator" may in fact be misleading.

There obviously are degrees to what can be done, not strict categories. New brain stems are okay, even with the resources of a damaged and stranded starship, but new lungs for Neelix are not. A culinary obsessive might insist on 100% lifelike steaks and get what he wants, but at high cost; somebody else would accept the same taste and texture as achieved by different means, through replicating something that's only 20% like real steak but features suitable "cheats" to enhance/"restore" the taste and texture to match natural.

Timo Saloniemi

[Crazy Eddie]

Timo wrote:

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...But the EMH could replicate new brain stem nerves for Ptera in "Emanations", restoring her back to life.

Though I once again remind you and everyone involved to take Voyager technobabble with a bucket of salt.

Remember that in "Ethics" Dr. Russel's technique is complicated enough that Doctor Crusher considers it more of a dice roll than solid science; in the end, the only reason it worked at all is because Klingons turn out to be really hard to kill.

IMO, the whole "genetronic replication" thing is the exception that proves the rule why living tissue can't be replicated. I would theorize that the technique only worked because it gave Worf's central nervous system something of a scaffold to rebuild itself, using the replicated tissue more as a suture or a splint than actual replacement tissue.

There obviously are degrees to what can be done, not strict categories. New brain stems are okay, even with the resources of a damaged and stranded starship, but new lungs for Neelix are not.

I'm of the opinion that "new brain cells" in this case is actually a bit of cybernetics. Probably the things being replicated were ARTIFICIAL brain cells, something similar in function (but vastly less sophisticated) to the microcircuitry in Data's brain. Like Picard's artificial heart, but on a microscopic scale.

A culinary obsessive might insist on 100% lifelike steaks and get what he wants, but at high cost; somebody else would accept the same taste and texture as achieved by different means, through replicating something that's only 20% like real steak but features suitable "cheats" to enhance/"restore" the taste and texture to match natural.

Stop me if I'm wrong, but isn't this ALREADY the case with real/artificial food substances? Most people I know can't tell the difference between real and imitation crab meat if they're not eating them side by side. Same with regular milk vs. soy milk (in fact most people think soymilk tastes better than skim milk by an order of magnitude). We already have lots of techniques for reprocessing raw protein from a variety of sources into something that tastes like something else, but real cooks--my wife, for example--can always tell the difference.

[Timo]

Though I once again remind you and everyone involved to take Voyager technobabble with a bucket of salt.

Naah. The only correct way to do it is to ignore all the episodes with an H in the title, plus all the Fibonacci-numbered movies.

Stop me if I'm wrong, but isn't this ALREADY the case with real/artificial food substances?

Exactly. Although whether one could tell the difference in a blind test is probably going to be a bit different in the 24th century: a substitute can probably be created that is either identical in taste and texture to the real thing, or then superior. By that time, we'll simply know our customers better (better than now, better than they know themselves, etc.) and create the substitutes accordingly. The limits of technology probably won't be met before we run into the limits of our own senses.

Timo Saloniemi

[Meredith]

SoM wrote:

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Because if they can store 25+ recipe patterns of perfectly adequate quality @ molecular resolution, or one (1) superior (transporter-quality) pattern for just one dish... they'll take the 25+ options.

Even in the 24th century, computer memory isn't infinite - look at what happens when they have to store Sisko, Jazdia, Kira, Worf and O'Brien's transporter patterns in computer memory in DS9: "Our Man Bashir." They have to wipe most of the station's memory to do it! There simply isn't the "hard disk" space to waste on going to the quantum scale on a chilli con carne.

In the 24th Century Moore's Law is clearly dead......