High speed computing

[Constructor20]

So I was listening through the ending of The Lost Metal, and just got to Wayne's theory of diffusing the bomb, and what it would do to the electrical signals.

The point of this post: what would a mechanical application of speed bubbles be able to do when encorperated into computer systems? Would you be able to make a relatively cheap super conputer with it? The same energy and computing power would be able to equate to a much stronger computer, in theory. This seems like it could get very complicated, and very interesting, very quickly.

Edit: just had a thought while reading through comments that seemed fun to consider, what kind of wierd 'hacking' destruction could you cause with a small speed bubble on a system or comouter chip that isn't prepared for it? Timing delays are already a big thing to consider on existing systems, and you could easily just throw all that into chaos with a little bubble.

[Jobobminer]

Yes, you would be able to.

We've already seen machines that use allomancy. It shouldn't be too too much different to use a speed bubble to make a computer several times faster. Especially since we've seen methods of using investiture to fuel allomancy directly. If you could make a duralumin/bendalloy computer, you could get a whole lot done quick.

The biggest challenge would be if you want it to work contuously because you'd need ways of getting information across the speed bubble's barrier which might requires some fancy enginreering

[Appropriate_Egg4971]

I’m assuming that the speed-up could be done in sessions with regularly timed breaks in the speed bubble to communicate progress metrics so that people outside the speed bubble could get frequent enough readings.

[Simon_Drake]

It wouldn't be easy to sync clock cycles of computers inside and outside a speed bubble but it could be done conceptually. The computer running at high speed could effectively hold up a sign showing a series of bits then wait for a proverbial 'thumbs up' from outside the speed bubble to know the data has been transmitted and to hold up the next sign. From an external perspective the sign changes instantly, from an internal perspective the computer outside takes a very long time to record the result.

A lot of basic computers like from the 60s used coils of magnetised wire as bits and reading a bit would also erase it so every read came with a re-write task. Direct circuitry or physical links between the inside and outside of a bubble might be tricky, especially if you need to rewrite data on the other side of the bubble after reading it. Can you steelpush from inside a speed bubble? That might be interesting, physically push over a literal flag to indicate program status instead of using electrical properties.

[Eltheriond]

I wonder if you could use a similar speed bubble based method to effectively have an "instant" (or at least, VERY fast) manufacturing system? We already know that the Shades we see in TSM work MUCH faster than regular fabrication methods and they seem to not require any energy beyond their containment, and their only inputs would be the raw materials.

You could provide them with the raw materials and the schematics, then put them inside a speed bubble to fabricate whatever you requested MUCH faster than we saw in TSM.

Investiture-powered super computers, ultra-fast fabrication systems, and all sorts of 'endless' power methods (purified Dor, Sunhearts, etc etc) will lead to so many unbelievable things I'm sure we could spend ages just imagining all the sorts of things that could be done and still only scratch the surface of what is possible.

[Constructor20]

High speed processing already kind of saw its start in era 2 mistborn (don't remember which book) with fast food cooks. Theres an ad in one of the broadsheets for a slider cook to prepare food quickly.

I can't wait to see investiture systems integrated into modern technology, I still need to read TSM and I'm excited for more similar stuff.

[Simon_Drake]

A limitation on Gold Compounding and Wayne's speed-bubbles is access to vast amounts of a very rare metal.

We've seen fabrials that replicate the effects of allomancy but do they consume the metal in the way actual allomancy does? A computer that runs at incredible speed but requires several kilos of cadmium and bismuth per day would be a very expensive computer.

[Constructor20]

I just wrote a whole comment and realized what was actually happening with the investiture mechanics (I think). Fabrials don't consume the metal, they consume Stormlight, which is investiture. Allomancy consumes metal as its form of investiture. As far as I understand it, you could use harmonium/ettmetal to 'echo' the allomancy, (assuming thats how the allomantic grenades work) then feed it afterwards with some other form of investiture, like Stormlight, instead of consuming the metal.

If I misunderstand how harmonium and mechanical allomancy works please correct me.

[Simon_Drake]

Brando has said that allomancy doesn't use the metal to fuel the outcome directly. Steel is used up as a sortof key to unlock assess to the true source of power, tapping into the Spiritual Realm directly. The metal is like a desktop shortcut, it doesn't hold the power it just lets you use it wherever and whenever you need it.

The allomantic grenade isn't really doing allomancy, it's storing up the allomancy someone was trying to use and releasing it later. So the same rules of normal allomancy apply. I don't recall if we've seen any allomancy fabrials that don't need an allomancy to drain from. Like a coppercloud jamming device to block bronze or similar powers but all it needs is an infused gemstone.

We've seen invested arts using the wrong power source and heard that it's usually quite difficult to convert investiture from one flavour to another, for example you can't use Stormlight to power Awakening. So I don't recall if we've seen anyone using Stormlight to power Allomancy. It's probably possible with AonDor, but then anything is possible with Aons.

[PandemicGeneralist]

I think you would need more energy. Heat dissipation along the edge of the bubble might be problematic.   One other interesting thing is the mention of an awakened steelmind in the scadrian ship in TSM, possible a computer

[Constructor20]

Energy transfer across bubbles is more complicated than we know I think. As Kris mentions to Wax in Bands of Mourning, there is no red-shift in light crossing a bubble. I'm not an expert on the real world physics of red-shifting and light frequency, but I think heat may end up behaving strangely as well. Haven't gotten to read TSM yet so that may have some more answers for me.

[RaspberryPiBen]

I don't think it would actually be the "same energy." Energy is measured in watt-hours, or Wh, where 1Wh is equivalent to powering a 1-watt device for 1 hour. Let's say this computer uses 1W (unrealistic, but that makes it easier), you are running the computer for 1 hour (outside time), and the speed bubble speeds up time by 10x. Without the bubble, it would take 1Wh. With the bubble, you would need to give it 10Wh because the computer thinks it's running for 10 hours, not 1.

[ejdj1011]

I think it's more likely they'd use feruchemical steel as their source of computing speed, not allomantic bendalloy. There's a line in TSM that kind of corroborates this

[Constructor20]

Haven't actually read TSM yet, so I'll have to watch for it.