13 thoughts on “Self-Assembling Wires”

  2. Wow, it reminds me of another self-assembling entity I just learned about, called a self-assembling radio receiver. All you need is a box, some transistors, some cooper wires, some insulation, speakers, a few diodes perhaps, a plug for energy, a house with current, a power station that provides that current to the house, some fuel source to power the electric plant to power your house, metal (to build the power station) concrete and some light bulbs (to make the house for the accountants to charge you for the electricity) , a foundry to make the wires and other components, a money system of some kind, food, and a media company to make radio waves, and voila! Like magic you can get the voice of Ed Sullivan right in your living room, all done by itself!

    Totally emergent, self assembly! You just need to assemble it.

  3. phoodoo: All you need is a box, some transistors, some cooper wires, some insulation, speakers, a few diodes perhaps <insert> or a lump of galena, an earphone</insert>, a plug for energy, a house with current, a power station that provides that current to the house, some fuel source to power the electric plant to power your house, metal (to build the power station) concrete and some light bulbs (to make the house for the accountants to charge you for the electricity) , a foundry to make the wires and other components, a money system of some kind, food, <insert> a capacitor</insert>, and a media company to make radio waves, and voila!

    Your parody may be entirely irrelevant, but it is entertaining, nonetheless. I think the best bit is the absence of a capacitor.
    🙂

  4. DNA_Jock: I think the best bit is the absence of a capacitor.

    Guess you never were a boyscout:

    WHAT YOU’LL NEED
    Magnet wire: Electronics supply stores often sell a set, for about $10, that comes with 40 feet of 22-gauge, 75 feet of 26-gauge and 200 feet of 30-gauge magnet wire. You can also find it at Amazon.com or Radioshack.com.
    1 set of alligator leads with clips at each end.
    1 diode: Look for IN34A diodes, also called “germanium diodes,” at an electronics supply store or online.
    1 glue stick or anything similar in size — about 1 inch by 1 inch by 6 inches. It can be a piece of wood. It doesn’t have to be perfectly round, but using something round is easier for winding.
    Electrical tape
    Wire stripping pliers
    Telephone handset with cord. If you don’t have an old phone that you don’t use anymore, you might be able to find one at thrift stores or garage sales.
    One board for mounting your radio — 2 feet by 2 feet will work. You can make the radio without this, but having a workspace and a place to mount the radio makes it easier to carry around while you’re looking for a place to hook the ground wire.

    How to Build a Homemade Radio That Really Works

    Another thing you learned today.

  5. phoodoo: Wow, it reminds me of another self-assembling entity I just learned about, called a self-assembling radio receiver.

    An early “cat’s whisker” radio was pretty simple. You can track it down with google.

  6. phoodoo: Another thing you learned today.

    I sure did: there’s capacitance between the wires of the coil. Not a lot though — that’s one crap crystal radio set!
    I do wonder how hard phoodoo had to search to find a radio set without a capacitor. We are left with his rabbiting on about the need for a power station, which is also epic.

  8. phoodoo: Yea, only slight less crappy then wires that resemble twigs.

    From a fan of a spoon bender, that’s rich.

  10. These are not separate competing balls or clumps. It is a system in tension being driven towards equilibrium by forces following the lines of least resistance.

    The way in which a person describes an observation reveals quite a bit about their beliefs. The commentator in this video is speaking from a reductionistic perspective and he uses language that one would apply to conscious agents. The story can also be told from a holistic angle, which in my opinion is more realistic.

    What follows are excerpts from the commentary followed by an alternative take.

    From centre to periphery:

    Actual comment, “The balls start forming chains that are called shooters that try to reach the outside of the dish. A massive race is on. When the first chain reaches the rim something amazing happens. It becomes a stem and all other shooters die and a new structure forms.”

    Holistic take, “As the voltage increases so does the tension. This potential difference causes the balls to be pulled in lines of least resistance. When a continuous circuit is achieved the system reaches a state which is much closer to equilibrium. The dynamics of the potential differences between the main shoot, the ring and the other shoots changes considerably as thus so does the configuration of the balls.”

    From periphery to centre:

    Actual comment: “Here we see many stems form and compete with each other for balls. They sway back and forth picking up recruits and sometimes battle with their neighbours.”

    Holistic take: “The potential difference causes shooters to emerge from the clumps in the direction of the central electrode. The strengths of the various forces acting on individual balls will determine what path they take. Again following lines of least resistance. When all the balls are in contact with each other the potential difference between them is reduced to almost zero”

    In the water cycle precipitation is deposited on a mountain and the runoff water makes its way back to sea level by various paths. Should we also see these processes in terms of rivalry and competition?

  11. These same forces can be a real problem if all the structures in an aircraft are not suitably bonded together to keep them at the same potential. Unlike balls in oil, in the case of aircraft the attractive forces cannot move the structures together. Instead they cause sparks to jump the gaps. Obviously this is not something wanted in aircraft.

    Immediately after take off a helicopter builds up static of many thousand volts.

  13. Mung: Isn’t that redundant? There are legitimate spoon benders?

    I’ve bent spoons myself. But only using physical force.

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