Some of this is covered in [[A Note On - The Future And Retcons#Technology]], but I want to get some of my ideas down here as well. Here we go… --- ## Nyrtech [[Nyrtech]] is everything we’ve built after the collapse. With some of the ups and downs and the big mess of the [[Dark Centuries]], we gained and lost some things. However, as we settle into the 632 NDZ setting, I want to emphasize some of the retro-future elements. Our *current* level of technology is somewhere between the 1960s and 2000s. It’s not uncommon to see big clunky components from the 1970s wired up to an [[Aloract]] [[NPU]] module in a [[Terminal (Computer)|terminal]]. Big analog switches, potentiometers, and other solid state electronics are common. Again, mixed with pre-collapse power supplies and NPUs. Flat panel displays exist, even digital poster boards are a thing, but only because of aloracian [[SCRAM]] tech. Medical technology has some of the most aloracian components being used. [[Corporations#Nihama Nanomedical (NNM)|Nihama]] is one of the best known companies that has managed to combine the best of nyrtech and aloracian tech to create medical marvels. Such as their [[Nanomedical Devices|nanomed]] technology. But pretty much everywhere, you’ve got this blend of retro and pre-collapse tech that makes everything feel a bit vintage, while being leagues better than everything we have in 2024. Think Alien(s), Blade Runner, and the like. Everything should be a little bit clunky. A little bit bulky. But works better than a modern day human would think it should. --- ## Aloracts Aloracian tech is often fairly specific. Factories can spit out a computer module, but not the enclosure or i/o components. So you’ve got this little box that has the computing power of a server farm on modern earth, but you’re hooking up to it with old analog jacks and data connections. %%*Side note: this right here is why neural interfaces are so much better. The sheer throughput of data in exponentially greater than anything you can do with nyrtech interconnects.*%% We have gotten *very* good at patching nyrtech into aloracian tech. Which is why we can build most modern [[Spacecraft|spacecraft]] and [[Technology/Augmentation/Cyberonic|cyberonics]]. Something like an [[EDPV-C]] is a true marvel of meshed technology. Much of the hull is made of extruded [[Miltain]] components, but the interiors and less important parts are all made of aluminum or other conventional materials. [[Fuel Cask|Fuel Casks]] pop out of factories as a modular unit, but we need to attach the [[Kerymer]] fuel lines to the recombination chambers ourselves. So long as we use aloract components in the chain, everything is fine. But you’d better not be trying to run [[MH1]] through some titanium fitting or it’s going to blow your ship in half. Sure the Kerymer lines will collapse and seal the leak, but you just had a 6000° C hydrogen torch blasting through your ship’s hull for the last few seconds (not including the blast, as the fitting exploded). %%I’m getting lost in the details… but that’s good right?%% --- ## Cyberonics [[Cyberonic|Cyberonics]] are pure [[Technology/Aloract|aloracian]] tech. We can machine some of the components, but the actuators, gimbals, artificial muscle strands, etc. All popped out of a factory somewhere. This doubles down for [[Cybernetic|cybernetics]]. All the inorganic-to-organic interfaces are far beyond our ability to reproduce with nyrtech. That is one reason [[Methuselan|Methuselans]] had avoided them in the past. With many living as hermits and outcasts, there was very little opportunity for them to get repairs and upgrades as needed. However. Much of the tech is quite ubiquitous and off-the-shelf to an extent. The more basic Alphatech cyberonics can be found in many frontier towns and installed by skilled human surgeons or even the most basic nanomed stations. %%*Side note: This is why Larkin has an Alphatech arm in Moringen. It’s easy to maintain in the “frontier.”*%% Things like [[Comms Implant|comms implants]] are another things that is *relatively* easy to install and maintain. Non-verbal variants do require some additional neural interfaces, but simple voice comms are quite straightforward. --- I think that’s most of what I wanted to say. Plus a bit more. Mostly I wanted to reiterate the idea that old and new are intertwined in most products that you’ll find anywhere in human space. --- ## Loss Of Aloracts We are inextricably tied to aloracian tech, that it would be exceedingly disruptive to screw with the corporations that have access to pre-collapse factories. Even in the much less certain future of 632 NDZ. Should we ever fall back on nyrtech alone. We would be set back centuries. We could still traverse the stars with the [[Ahkaydies|Ahkaydi Drives]], but our ships would be much clunkier and dependent on vast amounts of conventional fuels, like the early expeditions out of [[Ares]]. The [[Transit Rings]] would still function as well, but it would take a lot more time and effort to get to them. Their navigational computers and fusion reactors would likely be replaced with huge computer server blocks and less efficient fission reactors. --- ## Advancements Technology does advance, albeit much slower than it does here on Earth in modern times. It would take many decades or more for us to figure out a smart phone if we lost the ability to produce [[Net Phone|net phones]] with aloract components. We simply stopped looking for advances in most areas where the pre-collapse tech filled a niche. The nyrtech surrounding those advanced components has come a long way. For example, much of the hardware in the [[Multi-Optic Goggles]] are nyrtech, but could not function *at all* without aloracian NPUs. It’s in those areas we dragged our feet. Much like the late discovery of the transistor. Modern nyrtech microchips are getting smaller, but at a much slower rate. A modern chip manufacturing facility would boggle the mind of your average computer engineer in Imperium. Even so, some new nyrtech gadgets are considerably better in the late 2300s PC, than they were in the middle of the century. Unfortunately, a lot of that progress slowed after the [[Holoscaral Outbreak]]. The emphasis shifted to more arcane projects involving [[Sehrlitech]], as that was our best hope at beating back the tide of [[Hazraadim]] spilling across our worlds. As things settled down in the 2410s PC - 610s NDZ, research was turned back towards further development of more conventional technology. But even in the decades that followed, no game changing jumps were made. *Side note: Newer isn’t always better. At first. Especially when a long period of time has passed between updates or replacements. Just look at new US aircraft, naval vessels, nuclear missiles, etc. A lot of these things take a very long time to re-engineer because the people that designed the original ones are no longer around. Even with the schematics of the old tech, some of the nuances were apparently missing, perhaps the machine tools as well.* --- ## Scientific Hinderances This is something I wanted to touch on, but I’ll be damned if I personally know enough to make it make sense. But here goes nothing. *I added a bit at the bottom, but I want to mention it up here too. **Advances in technology and scientific understanding, are actually bad for corporate dominance of aloracian tech. So it’s entirely likely that they actively hinder some areas of science and technological advancement.*** I have emphasized that science took some weird detours and missed a few steps. Especially with the Methuselans handing over solutions to various problems when we reached higher levels of understanding. But we never truly understood many of those solutions. There are textbooks (if we’re even using books) full of equations that we use to solve problems. But we don’t know where those equations came from or why they work. With humanity always looking forward. We filled gaps in our knowledge with answers we didn’t work for. This led to fundamental breaks in our understanding of various scientific fields. One possible example is that we may not have ever come up with proper quantum theories. We may still be using older atomic models. Which would explain a lot about why we can’t begin to understand some of the aloracian materials. We can see that they work. We can see the atomic or chemical bonds. That math checks out, but we’re missing the fundamental understanding of how they were manipulated inside one of those enigmatic material looms. As I said, I don’t know nearly enough about science to know what gaps of that nature would make sense. But I *believe* that they could exist. It’s the idea of working with partially correct information, or even fully correct information. But because we don’t understand the underlying nature of certain things, we can’t properly build off of them. This will likely continue to be a major hindrance for us. At least, until a bunch of scientists go back over many of the theories that the Methuselans provided to us, and try to reverse engineer *why* those theories work. Again, we haven’t done that *yet*, because we keep looking forward. The aloracian tech fills the gaps and bridges what we do know and can build for ourselves, so redeveloping advanced technology or even fully understanding our own, had never been a high priority. It also doesn’t help that corporations have it in their best interests, that we don’t learn new technologies that undermine their stranglehold on most of the pre-collapse facilities. *Side note: Why don’t the governments do anything about that? See: [[The Gentleman's Revolt]].*