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[Famassu]

I can't help but think that while technically many of these innovations are amazing (the stem cell thing & 3d printers), they are horrible, horrible things in reality.

 

[BolognaSoup]

1 stem cell injection to go please.

 

[catapult37]

6. Spray-On Skin

ReCell by Avita Medical is a medical breakthrough for severe-burn victims. The technology uses a postage stamp–size piece of skin from the patient, leaving the donor site with what looks like a rug burn. Then the sample is mixed with an enzyme harvested from pigs and sprayed back onto the burn site. Each tiny graft expands, covering a space up to the size of a book page within a week. Since the donor skin comes from the patient, the risk of rejection is minimal.

This, to me, seems like one of the most amazing on the list, especially given that it is apparently already in use in the UK and sponsored by the DOD here in the US while they try for FDA approval. I found this video that shows from rather amazing stuff before/afters, not only for burn victims but for things like acne scars and wrinkles. It looks really dramatic and I guess it's not that expensive. It actually makes me want to go invest in their stock (especially, cynically, given the apparent cosmetic use, which could mean big $$ in the US), but it is so hard to tell what is safe to invest in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=o8c5Q1mEAhM

 

[Krabardaf]

Could you 3d print a 3d printer?

Yes!
Some printers can replicate all their parts. But you still need to wire and assemble them.

 

[TL4E]

Good to see about a third of them are directly bioengineering related. Technology that improves the human condition excites me the most.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

You wouldn't download a house...

 

[JimmyRustler]

About the ageing stuff...

I remember reading in a science magazine a couple of years ago that the first human being that will be immortal is now around 60 years old.

Believe....

 

[Akuun]

Okay, the house thing is fucking awesome.

Can we please stop charging over $300k per house now?

 

[shinobi602]

8. STEM CELLS COULD EXTEND HUMAN LIFE BY OVER 100 YEARS

When fast-aging elderly mice with a usual lifespan of 21 days were injected with stem cells from younger mice at the Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Pittsburgh, the results were staggering. Given the injection approximately four days before they were expected to die, not only did the elderly mice live — they lived threefold their normal lifespan, sticking around for 71 days. In human terms, that would be the equivalent of an 80-year-old living to be 200.

My body is ready.

 

[WeAreStarStuff]

Amazing list.

Spoiler

The singularity is near.

 

[boinx]

Can you print another person? Now that is the question.

 

[Chuckie]

The 3D printing is amazing. The cloaking thing I have to see to believe. I find it odd they can't show not even a photo of it in action...If someone has a camera and shoots, they'll find out how to do it?

Yeah me too. I am very sceptic about that one.

The list is very awesome though!

 

[Timbuktu]

I want pictures of printed fucking houses.

I think the printer is there and I guess big enough to print a house, but hasn't actually done a functioning working house yet. There is a load of architects rushing to make their name building the first '3d-printed' house at the moment. The first one will probably look like a load of crap. I like plans to use one to build a base on the moon from moondust though.

 

[lamaroo]

I just noticed, all these amazing inventions, and nothing on baldness. They can potentially extend someone's life 100 years, but they can't stave off balding for 20?

 

[Kinitari]

I want pictures of printed fucking houses.

They don't look all too nice right now - but there was a cool ted talk video I saw a little while ago that showed the tech in action, I think from early 2012/late 2011.

Basically it's a quick snap together frame, lets say 100 ft by 100ft, and a giant 'printer head' works on this frame to excreet concrete. It works like regular 3D printers, in that you give it a 3D model of whatever you want, and it will just 'print' it out. So far, it looks like it works pretty well and it's very strong/stable - while using a comparitively low amount of materials and doing it very quickly.

The next steps of the project are to include pipes and wiring, where the pipes are automatically distributed during the print, as well as the wiring.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

The 3D printing is amazing. The cloaking thing I have to see to believe. I find it odd they can't show not even a photo of it in action...If someone has a camera and shoots, they'll find out how to do it?

Supposedly. It's been demoed to "top. men." in the military, but somehow I doubt it's nearly as elegant or effective as those ***mockups*** would lead you to believe. Metamaterials are awesome, but we're still not nearly there yet. We can cloak from radio and other low frequency waves pretty easily nowadays, but hiding from visible frequencies is still tricky. Nonetheless, there are people making strides, at least on smaller scales. This video was only released a few weeks ago. It appears his methods have a bit of work to do as far as scalability, it is bar none the most substantial progress seen in this field for quite some time.

3D printing is also one of the only things on that list that can really be counted as "reality" in any practical sense, but that's also because 3D printing has been around LONG before last year, it's just now reaching the commercialization/consumer-level tipping point. Everything else on that list is several years or more off from becoming commonplace, but still awesome nonetheless. And AFAIK, you can print just about everything required for a 3D printer on a 3D printer except for the power source, silicon, and wiring required to power and drive it.

 

[Violet_0]

we need those stem cells asap

 

[jasonng]

How big of a deal is #3?
Kevlar was already 5X stronger than steel based on equal weight.

It's a big deal to me. Creating a biodegradable and perhaps cheaper alternative for medical needs as oppose to plastics will be a huge step forward towards being green.

 

[BigDug13]

I know you can already print functional assault rifles with the information downloaded off the Internet into a 3D printer. Kinda throws a wrench into the whole gun control issue.

http://m.aljazeera.com/story/201331174429213745