Runtime Expansion from Within: Principles of Growth and Proliferation
Organisms, when they grow, undergo cell division from within, expanding their body structures. This phenomenon is a commonplace observation in biology, yet when we consider the production of industrial products or buildings, we don’t employ this approach of expanding from internal. Instead, we construct from the outside.
When pondering the question, “What is life?”, explanations often point to genetic self-replication and metabolism. If so, industrial products and buildings could also replicate based on blueprints and replace old materials, emulating metabolic processes. The crux then becomes whether these structures can carry out these processes autonomously. With robots and AI being potentially manufactured within these structures, it’s arguable that they could.
This train of thought may eventually lead to the conclusion that only things made of organic matter and cells qualify as living. Then, a thought emerges: if we harness the mechanics of organic matter and cells to create modern industrial products, buildings, or robot-like entities, would they be considered alive?
The definition of “life” is multifaceted and interpretations vary among individuals, so we won’t delve too deeply into it. The main point here is that differences in expansion mechanisms, as initially highlighted, can also be considered when distinguishing between living and artificial entities.
In this article, we’ll explore the concept of applying an internal expansion approach, akin to living organisms, to artificial structures. By doing so, we aim to elucidate the characteristics and advantages of this approach, enhancing our understanding of biology.
Runtime Structures Expanding from Within
Typically, when structures are expanded, it’s done from the outside by attaching new parts. For instance, if a building is extended, new sections are added on top or to the side of the existing building.
In contrast, when organisms grow, they usually generate new components from within, pushing the existing ones outward.
By mimicking this biological method, it’s conceivable to construct structures that expand from the inside out.
Furthermore, conventional structures, once their frameworks are complete, are fitted with plumbing for water, air, gas, and electricity. Once this infrastructure is in place, utilities like water, electricity, and gas are connected, and air ventilation systems operate to supply and exhaust air, facilitating the structure’s use for living, working, or commercial purposes.
On the other hand, from birth, organisms breathe, supply energy, expel waste, and regulate their temperature. They maintain these life-sustaining processes while expanding their bodies from the inside.
This suggests that the internal expansion approach might be apt for simultaneously operating and expanding facilities.
In this article, we’ll further delve into the concept of expansion from the inside.
Advantages
There are several benefits to the method of expanding from the inside.
Firstly, the area where the expansion work is done is not exposed to the outside environment. This means that even if the external environment is harsh, there is no need to take special measures to protect the mechanism used for the expansion.
By expanding from the inside, there is no need to calculate the force supporting the structure. By gradually increasing the pushing force, there is no need to know the required force in advance. Moreover, if there are areas where the supporting force becomes insufficient as the structure becomes larger and heavier, those areas can be detected and reinforced from the inside.
Utilizing this method also allows lifelines to be operational from the start, enabling expansion without halting operations.
In conventional methods, after constructing the entire structure, lifeline pipes are laid, and only once everything is complete, the lifeline is activated. If the mechanism for expanding the pipes from the inside is in place, pipes can be extended while allowing materials to flow inside. Furthermore, pipes can be branched from the inside as needed.
Creatures can grow their bodies without ever stopping the blood flow through their veins or breathing through their trachea. This is because they have a mechanism to expand from the inside, rather than grafting tubes together.
There’s also an advantage when it comes to aging. With outward expansion, the oldest part ends up on the inside, making it hard to address aging parts. With the inward expansion method, old parts are pushed out, making it easier to dispose of them when they age.
Organisms utilize this advantage to achieve body metabolism. Insects, for example, can drastically change their body structure from when they are young to adulthood. This ability to transform the body without stopping vital activities is likely an application of the inward expansion mechanism.
Organisms have a blueprint for their bodies in their genes. However, the actual size of the body and how it transforms is determined by the environment as they grow. While things not written in the blueprint cannot be realized, within the range of the blueprint, structures are chosen selectively.
For instance, water fleas can sense the gender balance of their surroundings and change their own gender accordingly. Also, if peers are densely packed in a tight space, they grow wings to fly and relocate.
Starting with a small structure and expanding according to circumstances allows for such flexible expansion.
Evolution of the Method
Let’s take the idea of expansion from the inside, inspired by living organisms, a step further.
Tree trunks have tissues that expand on their outermost parts. This area simultaneously expands both inward and outward.
The external expansion forms the bark, protecting the expanding tissues from the outside world, while facilitating metabolism.
The inward expansion thickens the tree trunk. The reason you can see rings when you cut a trunk is due to the differences in the hardness and color of the parts expanded inwardly with each season. By observing these rings, you can understand how much the trunk grew each year.
However, with this method of growth, the oldest part remains at the very center. Therefore, the inside can’t metabolize, leaving the old woody part. And when the tree becomes massive, the inside might rot and decay.
To sustain a structure like a large tree, a system to maintain the inside is needed. Fortunately, there are newer parts on the outer side that can support, letting the structure and operations depend on it while refreshing the inside.
This can be likened to the refactoring done in software development. It’s the process of replacing the inner structure with something new while maintaining its external functionality and characteristics. The aim is to reorganize complex and inefficient parts that were expanded flexibly at the beginning into a more logical and clear structure.
By doing this refactoring work, old parts can be renewed, making them less prone to issues and troubles.
Reusability
When expanding structures from the inside, significant force needs to be applied to components equivalent to pillars or beams, resulting in the accumulation of energy.
As the old structure is pushed out and replaced in this renewal process, this energy is released, and the materials such as pillars and beams cease to function.
If such energy and materials can be recaptured and reused, it would be a significant advantage in harsh environments where resources and energy accessibility are limited.
Of course, there are limits to reusability. However, when expanding from the outside, energy is required for both construction and destruction. In contrast, with internal expansion, less energy is needed for destruction. If energy can be efficiently reclaimed, there might be a significant difference in energy efficiency.
In reality, energy recovery is not easy. However, animals sometimes break down muscles to sustain their lives when food is scarce. Therefore, there might be merit in considering a method of storing and reclaiming energy in structures.
Ultimate Expansion
We should also consider how to create the initial, small operable structure to realize the methodology of expanding from the inside.
One advantage of the internal expansion method mentioned earlier is that the part being expanded does not need to be exposed to the external environment. To capitalize on this advantage, it would be better to construct the initial small structure inside an existing one.
The capability to branch lifeline pipes was also discussed. Applying this concept, we can emulate the way mammals grow their offspring inside them, connected by an umbilical cord.
By connecting to the lifelines of the existing structure, we can create a new one. After reaching a certain development, we can detach its lifeline to make it independent, take it out of the original structure, and transport it to the designated space. In this way, a new structure can be produced.
Producing a new structure in this manner can be realized as an application of the methodology of expanding from inside an existing structure. In other words, it’s a kind of internal expansion. Generating a new structure can be considered the ultimate form of internal expansion.
Regarding living organisms, growth and reproduction can be seen as being based on a single principle of internal expansion.
Comparison with Cities
The idea of expanding from the inside while still in operation might seem extremely difficult when considering a single building. However, if we think about the growth of cities rather than a single building, we realize that we are indeed expanding cities from the inside while they are in operation.
Cities don’t start by completing all roads and then initiating operations through the lifelines. It probably began with someone starting to live there. This is not only the case for naturally evolving settlements into cities but also for intentionally planned cities built from scratch.
Those involved in city construction typically work in that environment during the day, and some might even reside there for the duration of the construction. Therefore, some form of lifeline and supply network should be established and operational from the beginning in cities. As urban construction progresses, the population will continue to increase. And even after the city has been completed as initially planned, expansions become necessary as the city’s activities evolve.
Cities generally expand from the central area outward. As cities grow, infrastructure like roads and buildings are added, and the lifelines expand without shutting down the entire system.
The main difference between the expansion methods of cities and organisms might be whether it’s in three dimensions or two. Cities, being on a plane, don’t move buildings they’ve already constructed in the center. However, the way cities expand while in operation does resemble how organisms do.
Organisms expand in three dimensions. This means they not only expand horizontally but also vertically, pushing out from the inside or expanding upwards using the already operational structures as a base.
In Conclusion
On the Earth’s surface, gravity plays a significant role, and there’s no particular risk of expanding externally.
On the other hand, when building large structures in space, on lunar surfaces, or underwater, gravity isn’t as restrictive, and there are risks associated with constructions or repairs exposed to external environments. If suitable materials and rational construction methods can be established, the idea of expanding from the inside might be effective.
Note that this article did not explore the feasibility of this construction method. As initially mentioned, the aim of this article was to deepen our understanding of the growth and reproduction of organisms that employ this method.
By considering the approach of expanding from the inside while in operation for man-made structures, we can understand its advantages and the reasons why organisms adopted it. Since the external environment is not always suitable for the chemical substances and reactions within organisms, the approach of expanding from the inside makes sense.
Moreover, growing while maintaining vital activities is a given for organisms, but we’ve understood that this approach makes it possible. Additionally, we’ve realized that the same principle of expansion from the inside is utilized even during the reproduction and the creation of the next generation.
