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Ageing by Tech Level

No.

There was a particular type of non-Imperial robot not being able to - but see JTAS Robots article, LBB:8, 101 Robots, every single DGP digest adventure, MT, TNE, GT...
 
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I don't fear death, either... but I'm in no hurry to get there, either. Both for the (religious) reasons.
Current average age at death in the US is closer to 4 score now...
Roughly 79 before COVID, and 77 during...
The US isn't the longest lived 1st world nation, either. (46th on life expectancy at birth, with 79 and change); peak is Hong Kong, at a hair shy of 85.3...
I suspect my grandchildren may see the number rise to about 85 in the US...

But I also expect the peak will remain about 120years until genetic tinkering on humans is legal and ethical.



I suspect that genetic tinkering on humans will be legal long before it's ethical. Mind that this is my view on human nature, so we could be surprised.
 
This is why I believe that there are common jump lanes between nearby systems. If ships are going from A to B, then there will be value in building up velocity in the current system as you head to 100D to minimize the trip time when you arrive at the other system. ...

Those routes are what I would consider a "jump lane". They're informal, and ah hoc, but they exist.

It's a good thing because it can help minimize patrol space. Patrol can formalize such lanes. Starship control can direct traffic to these lanes.

Similarly, there will be common incoming streams as well. Nobody wants to chase a planet in orbit if they jump in front of it and reduce arrival time.
Another reason why piracy is unlikely in a patrolled system.

Hmmm, we seem to be about 100D off topic at this point...
 
So, swinging back around...

Talking about AI and robotics, robotically assisted surgery is pretty common here on T7.x Earth. T15 Traveller should be way beyond that. Not @#$%^ "bacta tanks" but robotic AI medical equipment should be standard on a starship, wherein it is likely to be a week away from help. Sure, it's too expensive for an average family to have one, but a wealthy family would, and a middle class neighborhood could well have a community clinic with one.

The Autodoc should be able to treat almost anything. Scanning tech would combine data from every kind imaginable (sonic, xray, radar, photospectral, photonic transmission, thermal, trace chemical emissions, blood chemistry, and on). No magical "bacta" spray, but a chemical spray could combine antiseptic, painkiller, and nanomachines. Nanosutures and adhesives for nearly scar-free wound closure. Lots more...
 
There is a throwaway line in T5 that happens to mention that a ship's autodoc is capable of recording the memory and personality in case a wafer is needed...
 
While I don't know about capturing human personalities on magnetic tape, the science of medicine is probably way more accurate by a machine learned medical programme, with the correct diagnostic tools.
 
If you can model a brain in a computer at the neuron connection and state level, you have a brain. If you have a brain, you have an AI.

And this is way off topic!
 
If you can model a brain in a computer at the neuron connection and state level, you have a brain. If you have a brain, you have an AI.

And this is way off topic!
Definitely disagree, there is far more going on in a brain than neuron-neuron connections. The chemical composition of the CSF and the activity of other cells, besides neurons all provides additional things that influence those connections. Which means that (since our current simulation abilities are that of a single hydrogen molecule) I doubt we can effectively simulate the brain. (unless we convert an entire planet to computronium and are willing to accept 1 second of simulation per year of real time)
 
Definitely disagree, there is far more going on in a brain than neuron-neuron connections. The chemical composition of the CSF and the activity of other cells, besides neurons all provides additional things that influence those connections. Which means that (since our current simulation abilities are that of a single hydrogen molecule) I doubt we can effectively simulate the brain. (unless we convert an entire planet to computronium and are willing to accept 1 second of simulation per year of real time)
Disagree. Why assume that tech doesn’t get smaller? That chemical states aren’t mirrored (they must be to reproduce memory and personality)? And then you have a brain. Hardware and software.
 
Disagree. Why assume that tech doesn’t get smaller? That chemical states aren’t mirrored (they must be to reproduce memory and personality)? And then you have a brain. Hardware and software.
This week's SpaceTime episode mentions that the brain may be a quantum computer.

But as for shrinking tech? We're already making transistors so small that unintended electron quantum tunneling is the primary limitation on semiconductor design at present. The current solution to more density is verticalization of the transistors and diodes on the board. Which reduces footprint, but not separation distances, and massively magnifies error rate.

The increases in error rates for vertical nodes are, apparently, the reason for AMD moving to chiplets - the multiple smaller chiplets with in-package busses are far less likely to fail than the same exact design on a single chip. This has been covered by Linus Tech Tips, Tech Tech Potato, Asianometry, and another tech youtuber I can't recall by name within the last 30 days...

We can't really reduce the pitch of the space between transistors much further in Silicon. We're approaching the theoretical limits of silicon transistor density; the only way for more per mm² of footprint is multi-layer, which has entire other issues.

Some light reading...
 
Could be our meaty brains are more analog wave transmission modified by chemical state and synapses firing and pulling data in highly variable ways so binary speed isn’t the only or even right way forward. Drastically different BIOS ensues.
 
Getting back top the topic at the top of the thread

1) An average character (21 points in STR, DEX and END) will, on average live until 70 using the standard aging tables. They may last longer or not so long but basically 70 years
2) Countries on Earth today have life expectancy averages that vary +/- 12 years from this average. This suggests that the richest have a +3 ageing DM; the worst have a -3 ageing DM.
3) Additionally, being female has a +1 ageing DM.

And this is at current tech levels.

Given technology improvements, underlying DMs that match the attribute DMs seem appropriate for historic basic tech improvements (0-->-3; 1-2-->-2; 3-5-->-1; 6-8-->+0; 9-11-->+1; 12-14-->+2; 15+-->+3).

n.b. Anagathics are definitely best applied early. Stopping a -8 term DM growing isn't going to have as great an effect as stopping a -2 term DM getting bigger.
 
About the same as mine from above. Which is tweak of this one, which I also considered. I could be happy with this one, but I still like a SS +10 gets a +1 as well.
 
Thinking about that for the first time, I think Rich/Garden would be a +0. As that is the base line. Atmo and size I don't think would be an impact either since gravity and atmo controls are part of the background. But what about Hell Holes (T5 definition that I do not remember at the moment) and High Pop Industrial worlds.
 
Given 2030 is only 7 years away, and there are no cures for may age related illnesses even now, that view seems optimistic even if otherwise correct.
The immortality view is covered by the use of anagathics. The rules for anagathics cost vary considerably across traveller and would usually bankrupt all after a term or two. Even Nobles can't afford this technology (with one of the Mongoose versions combined with one of their Career books being the only exception).

Also, I read an interesting article today that suggests that the career chosen should determine if you age faster than "normal". Being a travelling entertainer is (apparently) bad for longevity. Such individuals would (to meet the aging rates cited) need to gather a DM of between -1.5 and -2 per term served!
 
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