Which will come first, AI taking our jobs, quantum computing or fusion power?

You mean quantum processors in consumer goods?

Yes

A good question, but I would assume AI because quantum has a very expensive footprint.

@spongessuck I mean when we have to meaningfully worry about shor's algorithm

Does ITER count?

@msdsk this is the thing, we have cold fusion experiments that are energy positive, we have quantum computers that work with a handful of qbits, we have AI that can produce code. None of them are at the point where they're seriously viable alternatives to their existing counterparts. Cold fusion will count when it's connected to a power grid. Quantum will count when it's broken the internet. AI will count when... That's a tricky one. It's no longer laughably bad. It's not a person alternative.

Ehem, ehem, apologies in advance;

...

Yo mama.

@Demolishun atoms are frequency oriented. They can be transformed with the right frequency. The problem is, it's not sound, it's light, and it's our good friend "E=mc^2".

(or at least it's an amount of energy that it stops being "sound" and starts being an atom collider like the LHC or the energy output of nuclear fusion. Or cold fusion, which is at best science fiction).

@Demolishun other points: sound to manipulate metal without heating it sounds like using resonant frequencies to weld metal, the resonant frequencies allow for very focused injection of energy. You're still heating, but using less energy/focused to a very small area. For practical applications, welding using electricity is easier because sound waves are changed by imperfections and each piece of metal would have different imperfections. Most welding techniques use an electric spark jumping from a wire to a metal to heat the metal, most heat is concentrated where it jumps. This focuses the heat quite well and doesn't use that much energy.

Electricity will modify the output of some radioactive materials. Alpha and Beta radiation (high energy charged particle emissions, either protons or electrons) could be attenuated by giving the material the right charge. But they're only really harmful if you eat the stuff. There's probably some alpha radioactive material in your fire alarm.

Gama/xray radiation is the nasty stuff. It's generated in the nucleus and isn't effected by electrical energy (electricity is conducted by electrons on the atom shell, the nucleus doesn't change). You can lense it with special materials that change under electric fields, but that's well understood because, eg xrays and CT scans in hospital, or telescopes and spy satellites.

@Demolishun when you say "other processes", what do you mean? There are literally textbooks written on the processes that lead to the formation of the earth. This is a good start
https://reddit.com/r/geology/...

And like, cheers for the wholesome discussion. This place has become a bit of a hell hole of late. I've started using reddit instead...

@jestdotty are you for real with this conspiracy stuff.

@jestdotty on the topic of predictions in books, what do you think of Marx?

@jestdotty so does that make Adam Smith the demiurge then?

@jestdotty I think Marxism could never be gnostic because it is inherently materialistic

@jestdotty no, I'd examine every one of those items more closely. For example, the "NATO troops" bit is a report from Russia and only applies to France. So, definitely out of context. Probably fake. Most likely it's propaganda that gloms on to some pondering public statements made by Macron, which give the fake part a veneer of credibility.

Quantum computers can break aes with 64 bits, apparently:
https://thebrighterside.news/post/...
Which is a couple of orders of magnitude under aes256, but nearing a meaningful threat...

@jestdotty me, looking at banks still using COBOL... 😂