I'm going to lay out this story over a couple of days, since I don't want to spend too much time on it each day. A little suspense never hurt anyone. No device like the one I describe exists, or really could exist, but I think it's an interesting point from which to inquire about our scientific methods.
Please forgive my use of the second person. I like it because it makes the whole thing feel like the lead up to a question, which is exactly what this story is intended to be.
Here we go:
You are a biologist tasked with the study of disease X. You've been studying the disease for decades, and you understand a great deal about the workings of this illness, from the molecular biology to the physiology to the pathology and epidemiology. Your efforts have been fruitful. Bit by bit you've knocked back the boundaries of ignorance and revealed certain properties of disease X that have garnered you recognition in your field, though done less to actually cure it.
You come in to work in your lab one day and notice a large package sitting outside in the hall. It has your name on it, but no other identifying information. Curious, you begin to rip into this strange gift. When you tear all the packaging away you find you have a device that looks not unlike a refrigerator coated in a series of snaking tubes, valves and wires. Like a refrigerator it has a door in the front, which can be sealed with three enormous locks. Behind it has an industrial scale plug, a usb port with cord and, tucked away in a small leather pouch, a booklet.
Of course you grab the booklet, looking for some information, any information, about what this strange shipment is. Have your graduate students gotten carried away with themselves? Have the minus 80 freezer designers gone all 'steampunk'?
The front of the booklet has only the following words in bold letters
PANOPTICON
Twenty-five uses
Tantilized, you open the manual and read further. It reads:
Greetings! You are one of a select group of scientists that has been chosen to receive our latest revolutionary technology. We are aware of your tireless pursuit of knowledge and your prior successes, and we are assured that you will know how best to use our device to maximal benefit. The machine we have provided (the Panopticon, hereafter), is just another tool in your pursuit of the cure. We provide 25 uses, all this machine is capable of, at no cost to you or obligation of future purchase.
This device has been developed in secret by our labs and is able to perform perhaps the most rigorous scientific assay conceivable. With just simple setup procedure, this machine is capable of detecting and reporting the precise position and movements (within Heisenburg's limitations, of course) of every atom and molecule contained within the chamber. This data can be downloaded to a computer where it can be stored for analysis and detailed examination. The machine can track this information for five seconds before it becomes inactivated due to the risk of power overload. Never fear, though, the technology is perfectly safe and can even assay living subjects at no harm to or effect on the assayee (see: FDA certification information in Appendix F).
The details of operation and the proper interpretation of the data output formats are provided in this manual, but we have removed key elements of the Panopticon's operation which we consider trade secrets. We hope that you will make use of your 25 assays fruitfully. Good luck!You sit down at one of your labs benches, confused. Every position of every atom and molecule in the chamber? For five seconds? No microscope or imaging technology even comes close! It's like transmission electron microscopy in real time, on a massive massive scale. And in living subjects! You take a moment to ponder the implications
So that's it for today. I'll explore the reactions to the machine in later posts.
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