
Device vanishes on command after military missions - rbanffy
https://phys.org/news/2019-08-device-military-missions.html
======
rasz
"...et in pulverem reverteri", a short story by Janusz Zajdel (up there with
Lem of Solaris fame)
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Zajdel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Zajdel)

Google translate of archive.org snapshot
[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&tl=en&u=h...](https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=pl&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fweb.archive.org%2Fweb%2F20170722210628%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fzajdel.dzaba.com%2Fzajdel%2Fetin.htm&sandbox=1)

TLDR: Deep space mission is send to a distant solar system where signals of
intelligent civilization have been discovered. As they approach the planet all
the signs, radio waves, artificial lights, etc progressively disappear.
Meanwhile on the planet we are introduced to the society which solved all of
the world problems by providing everyone with a job, all thanks to invention
of a timed catalyst able to disintegrate any matter after coded period. Every
item on the planet is programmed to turn into dust on expiry date, "durability
of single-family houses - up to 15 years; passenger cars and their parts and
accessories - up to 1 year; TV sets and radios - up to 1 year; clothing and
footwear - up to 6 months; underwear - up to 3 months.", perfect planned
obsolescence on a global scale. Unfortunately there is an accident at one of
the catalyst producing plants at the time of deep space mission approach.
Giant spill creates chain reaction eating everything on its way. Narrator goes
back to the space mission, now landing on a barren planet, with astronauts
embarking and looking around confused at the sight of an empty world.

~~~
tipsysquid
I'd love to read the collection of short stories this appears in, Ogon Diabła,
but I cannot seem to find a published edition in English. Any suggestions?

~~~
noja
"Almost none of his works have been translated into English; the only
exception is the short story Wyjątkowo trudny teren ("Particularly Difficult
Territory") that Zajdel wrote for the English language Tales from the Planet
Earth anthology edited by Frederik Pohl and Elizabeth Anne Hull." \--
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Zajdel](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Zajdel)

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whatshisface
This article is talking about "disappearing vehicles," but you can't make a
vehicle out of plastic. The best you could do would be to have a vehicle that
decomposed into a pile of batteries, motors and wires.

~~~
na85
"Vehicle" is a very broad term, and it wasn't so long ago the assumption was
that one could not 3D-print a gun out of plastic.

~~~
i80and
You still cannot, for any meaningful concept of a "gun". You can kinda print a
(rather fragile and crude) lower, but that's it as far as I've seen.

~~~
btilly
Define "meaningful concept of a gun".

You can print a plastic device, insert one nail (needed for a firing pin), and
fire bullets that can kill a person.

Is it accurate? No. Durable? No. A crappy gun? Definitely!

But I think that this meets most people's idea of a meaningful concept of a
gun. A weapon with a barrel and a trigger. Pull the trigger, there is a bang,
and a high speed projectile goes where you pointed it at.

~~~
Retric
If it requires a nail, the final device was not 3D printed.

~~~
btilly
The nail can itself be 3D printed with the right printer.

The design that I was talking about was 2013. Since then there have been legal
issues back and forth. Entirely plastic designs probably exist, but are not
legally available.

~~~
Retric
If it required a firing pin that’s arguable, but a nail significantly changes
the shape/form of the device.

I could use a 3D printer to create a solid block of plastic and then hand
carve it into a doll. But, nobody would call the doll 3D printed even if one
of the steps was 3D printed.

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thrownawayaway0
See these areas of (ongoing) research [https://www.news.xerox.com/news/PARC-
extends-contract-with-D...](https://www.news.xerox.com/news/PARC-extends-
contract-with-DARPA-for-DUST-Technology)
[https://www.darpa.mil/program/vanishing-programmable-
resourc...](https://www.darpa.mil/program/vanishing-programmable-resources)

------
segfaultbuserr
Can you do something like this for semiconductor devices? Although I assume
destructive EEPROM erase in software combined with some explosives is an
easier solution...

~~~
dredmorbius
Thermal or chemical dissolution might be easier.

Fabrication with preinstalled thermite charges would generally suffice. You'd
know there had been a device there, but it would be difficult to reverse-
engineer.

It beats beating on stuff with axes:

[https://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2001/010406-aries1.h...](https://www.globalsecurity.org/org/news/2001/010406-aries1.htm)

~~~
segfaultbuserr
Interesting to see the military still didn't have a mature solution of secure
physical destruction for things other than crypto keys.

~~~
dredmorbius
Hammers and axes tend not to go off unintentionally in confined spaces and/or
at altitude.

~~~
wahern
Yeah, but we're talking about the military, where bullets, bombs, and missiles
are stuffed in every conceivable crevice of your person and vehicle. Carrying
around violently explosive material is what they do.

~~~
dredmorbius
Bullets, bombs, and missiles are produced in quantity with a long safety-
assurance development and learning cycle. Mistakes are known to have happened.

Sensitive electronics are small-batch (if not one-off) deployments. Mixing
volatiles and circuits with confinement and altitude tends to put a lot of
risk adjacent to extremely low tolerances for out-of-range behaviours.

At the very least, that's an argument for using a Standard Thermite Pack
separately packaged (and possibly with separated incredients and factors)
which could be applied as needed, when needed.

Or some equivalent mechanism.

------
secfirstmd
Amazing if we could use this for replacing one use plastics

~~~
Someone
That hugely depends on what it “vanishes” into.

I’m not a chemist, but reading
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalaldehyde#Disinfection](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phthalaldehyde#Disinfection)
makes me concerned a bit, as “disinfectant” often means “kills stuff”.

~~~
NowThenGoodBad
You are correct.

Materials scientist and polymer scientists here:

Just because it depolymerizes doesn't mean it does so into happy stuff.
Photodegradation is the process of degrading with the application of photons
(typically in the visible to UV range). Many things, especially plastic
things, degrade in the sunlight, some faster than others. But then, when it
degrades, when those monomers (single repeat used to make a polymer) split up,
what did you just release into the environment?

If you want to understand this process more, here's a good and accessible
read: [Photodegradation and photostabilization of polymers, especially
polystyrene:
review]([https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320144/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4320144/))

~~~
inflatableDodo
Aww, my first thought was food packaging that auto-sublimates after opening.

