In "Behold the Beast," the first episode of the new
computer-animated series "War Planets" by Mainframe Productions
(www.mainframe.ca), the defenders of Planet Ice deploy
"nanonyte fog" against an ice-raiding party from neighboring
Planet Rock. It appears as a huge billowing wall of opaque fog
that entombs the raiders in thick sheets of ice, but ignores
the forces of Planet Ice. Later in the episode, a small
quantity of nanonytes (appearing as a cluster of white sparkles)
are used to heal a shoulder wound incurred by the main
character, Graveheart.
Mainframe's pages at [www.mainframe.ca/PRODUCTIONS/WAR/index.html]
(the server has been *extremely* slow for the past several weeks),
under the "background" and "defenses" sections for Planet Ice,
have the following to say about the technology, none of which
is apparent from the broadcast footage.
"... Planet Ice's armies can break down into molecular machines and travel via an icy Nanonyte Fog. This fog surrounds unsuspecting raiders, and then solidifies to attack. The people of Ice also use Nanonytes to manipulate matter and heal injuries."
"... Ice Mites are comprised of Nanonites [sic], microscopic working machines that are exclusive to Planet Ice. These tiny machines have the ability to create much larger forms when linked together. Because they are microscopic, Nanonites have the added ability to travel undetected through the air as a mist, called the Nanonyte Fog. Through this medium they can travel quickly and secretly reform as Ice Mites, taking the enemy by surprise."
The above paragraph is a bit dubious, IMHO. Earlier it says that a top-mounted automated heat-seeking cannon guides a blind ice mite by pulling on a bit in its mouth. Why would an assemblage of nanonytes bother with a mouth, or indeed, with the ungainly armadillo-shelled seal-flopping flippered form shown? The ice mites look more like native burrowing lifeforms used as beasts of burden. And if the cannons themselves are comprised of nanonytes, why don't they interface directly with the mite -- and if not, does the fog physically convey them to the battle site?
++Phillip Thorne
This post has been brought to you by the word "planet."
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