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[teruterubozu]

And actually affordable.

Really people, food prices are gonna increase a lot in the next decade. Real food will be a thing for rich people.

Unless you grow and raise yourself.

 

[Casp0r]

quantum processing and fusion energy are the two major things that will transform civilisation drastically in a small space of 5-15 years.

Ha ... fusion energy in the next 5-15 years?

Ha ha ... hahaahahahahha. How about the next 50-150 years. They haven't even got highly experimental reactors working properly and you think they'll start building commercial fusion plants in the next 5-15 years?

Even if they can get it working, there still needs to be around 50 years of research and development to get it commercially viable, which will cost around 60-80 billion euros ...

No fusion won't be our future ... or our kids future ... maybe our grandkids, but even that's pushing it.

For now we should focus on viable, proven and clean technologies ...

I think we need to fast track a space elevator and get moving on interplanetary colonization. Do something awesome and tremendous just because it's awesome and tremendous.

You realise that the idea of interplanetary colonization is a complete and utter fantasy? Fundamentally impossible due to numerous physical constraints, finding somewhere sustainable, getting there, surviving there ... all would require numerous technological advances and numerous breakdowns of the basic physical laws of our universe.

So it won't happen, full stop and the human race needs to get rid it's grand delusion of space travel even within the next 500 years and instead focus on keeping our current planet livable.

The earth is the only place that humans can live safely and viably. We should stop believing we can just use it up and move onto the next planet. That won't happen. We need to look to ways we can sustain our current planet, rather than filling it with trash, destroying our atmosphere and polluting every square mile.

 

[scar tissue]

Ha ... fusion energy in the next 5-15 years?

Ha ha ... hahaahahahahha. How about the next 50-150 years. They haven't even got highly experimental reactors working properly and you think they'll start building commercial fusion plants in the next 5-15 years?

i think he's saying that fusion energy will transform society completely only 5-15 years after it goes mass scale

 

[RJT]

Unless you grow and raise yourself.

Then, unless you're rich, you should be better off selling it rather than eating it. In 50 years, we'll all be eating artificial food.

 

[XMonkey]

Ha ... fusion energy in the next 5-15 years?

He's saying once those things are proven, scalable, economical that they will advance civilization drastically in 5-15 years.

 

[Casp0r]

i think he's saying that fusion energy will transform society completely only 5-15 years after it goes mass scale

Ah ok. Still that's not going to happen. Once it's full proven and working it's going to be way to expensive to just throw out all our other plants and replace them with fusion plants.

It'll take hundreds of years to phase out fossil fuels and nuclear plants ... not 5-15 years.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

You realise that the idea of interplanetary colonization is a complete and utter fantasy? Fundamentally impossible due to numerous physical constraints, finding somewhere sustainable, getting there, surviving there ... all would require numerous technological advances and numerous breakdowns of the basic physical laws of our universe.

I don't think you have seriously analyzed this. It requires technology greater than our own but there is absolutely nothing that is "impossible" about it. Creating space habitats, colonies on Mars, the Moon, the cloud-tops of Venus etc are all realistic goals that could easily be accomplished with technology that is only 15-25 years beyond our own. We could have a permanently manned moon colony right now if there was public willingness to stomach the huge monetary costs associated with it.

The only breakthrough necessary to make these things plausible is cheaper orbital lift - it costs thousands of dollars per kilogram to shoot stuff into space. When that's reduced to tens of dollars per kilogram, this shit will all start to happen.

 

[fanboi]

Ah ok. Still that's not going to happen. Once it's full proven and working it's going to be way to expensive to just throw out all our other plants and replace them with fusion plants.

It'll take hundreds of years to phase out fossil fuels and nuclear plants ... not 5-15 years.

You know... we would like need a couple for the entire planet if I understand things correctly...

 

[-viper-]

cool thread bro.

i find it most interesting the direction they're heading with energy.

FREE ENERGY MAGNETIC GENERATOR:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Ngt3nh6q8

 

[Cereal KiIIer]

Stern cell. This shit is gonna be awesome. Paraplegics are going to walk again, organs are going to grow in-vitro. Can't wait!

 

[Casp0r]

I don't think you have seriously analyzed this. It requires technology greater than our own but there is absolutely nothing that is "impossible" about it. Creating space habitats, colonies on Mars, the Moon, the cloud-tops of Venus etc are all realistic goals that could easily be accomplished with technology that is only 15-25 years beyond our own. We could have a permanently manned moon colony right now if there was public willingness to stomach the huge monetary costs associated with it.

Colonys on Mars, the Moon ... the <shakes head> cloud tops of venus ... they won't happen.

Scientific research facilities ... sure. I never said they couldn't. However creating a sustainable human colony on these dead rocks is not only near impossible ... it's also highly pointless.

Even a research facilities are a little pointless, robots are cheaper, more durable and will eventually do just as much as humans can.

The only breakthrough necessary to make these things plausible is cheaper orbital lift - it costs thousands of dollars per kilogram to shoot stuff into space. When that's reduced to tens of dollars per kilogram, this shit will all start to happen.

If ... not when. The main problem with a space elevator is the cable material. Now coming from a materials degree ... I gotta say the chances of finding a material strong and light enough, are extremely thin if not impossible. The strongest materials we've theoretically measured can just about hold it. However making that cable without imperfections ... that's going to be damn near impossible.

Then once we finally get a cable that can hold it's own weight ... we have to then push way past that so we can actually send stuff up it ... and not just a few grams.

It's extremely tricky and I doubt we'll ever see it working. I'm not happy about this, it's just fact.

You know... we would like need a couple for the entire planet if I understand things correctly...

How do you plan on getting that energy ... around the whole planet? Can't do it by aluminum and copper cables, too expensive and too inefficient.

Superconductors are still too expensive and require extensive cooling ...

I guess if we crack a room temperature superconductor that could work ... however if a fusion reactor breaks ... boom half the worlds black out. No one in their right mind would take that risk.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

If ... not when. The main problem with a space elevator is the cable material. Now coming from a materials degree ... I gotta say the chances of finding a material strong and light enough, are extremely thin if not impossible. The strongest materials we've theoretically measured can just about hold it. However making that cable without imperfections ... that's going to be damn near impossible.

Space Elevators are children's toys, real men dream of using Nuclear Pulsed Propulsion (Earth > Orbit using a series of 0.5 Kilotonne nuclear shaped charges to propel you out), atomic Verne Guns (a giant underground cavern pumped full of sea-water, a tunnel drilled up to the surface, your payload put at the base of the tunnel and then a multi-megatonne nuclear blast is let off in the water to turn it into steam > propel the payload into orbit), Bilfrost Bridges (aka laser-ablative propulsion) and Lofstrom Launch Loops (mass-drivers shooting things into orbit).

 

[jamieson87]

For some perspective, have a look at these two BBC tomorrows world videos. This was a future tech show that used to run in the UK, quite odd watching these now.

Home Computer Terminal 20 September 1967 - BBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ6SbvrjxZA&feature=relmfu

Mobile Phone 13 September 1979 - BBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vix6TMnj9vY

Nellie the School Computer 15 February 1969 - BBC
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1DtY42xEOI&feature=relmfu

 

[OliveJuice]

The production of Nanotubes, which would lead to:

The space elevator

Then, with the help of Antimatter rockets

We could have space colonies

And from there, of course we would have

These are far in the future though, for the near future, I'm more interested in better batteries, and quantum computing.

 

[show me your skeleton]

I also love future concept videos.

Microsofts

oh my lord look at how beautiful the design is. why microsoft, why aren't you like this now?!

 

[FOOTE]

Kind of funny that a lot of the things we have today are sort of based on things we see in movies..

We have imagine it before we can invent it.

 

[TacticalFox88]

We need a second cold war. Seriously. The leaps made during the first one due to competion wer e just mindblowing. We went from P-51s to SR71s in sixteen years!

 

[RJT]

We need a second cold war. Seriously. The leaps made during the first one due to competion wer e just mindblowing. We went from P-51s to SR71s in sixteen years!

I don't think the risk is worth it... The jumps we had since the cold world ended (in computers and telecommunications) are just as big. Nanotechnology will get bigger in the near future. Worrying about a third world war isn't something we need right now.

 

[def sim]

You know, I'm more interested in the immediate future kind of stuff.

Like batteries that can let us use our laptops, phones, whatever for much longer. I can see 4 hours for laptops and 15 for phones being laughable in ten years.

 

[Zaptruder]

We need a second cold war. Seriously. The leaps made during the first one due to competion wer e just mindblowing. We went from P-51s to SR71s in sixteen years!

What an asinine and ignorant view of technological progress.

While I don't doubt that war can be a potent catalyst for innovation; mother been the necessity of invention and all that, the idea that moving from P-51s to SR71s is the height of technological differences is laughable.

Compare computers from a 10-15 year time span. Much of the progress that's made is a result of prioritizing. In our modern age, we've prioritized consumer goods... because we like bling and are generally short sighted. But better than the same for military technology. While some of that stuff has trickled down to civilian applications, you get more civilian technological innovations from the same dollar value, by focusing on just civilian technological innovations.

Also, there's most certainly been a fair amount of military propogandizing and conflating of technologies that were available during the time that were used effectively in military applications, and technologies that were purposefully researched for military applications that have since trickled down into the general population.

 

[Sir Garbageman]

how old are you? if you aren't already in your 50s theres a chance you will be able to live indefinitely

Explain por favor.

 

[Kosmo]

And actually affordable.

Really people, food prices are gonna increase a lot in the next decade. Real food will be a thing for rich people.

The tastiest meats are the cheapest - just have to know how to cook them.

 

[Casp0r]

What an asinine and ignorant view of technological progress.

While I don't doubt that war can be a potent catalyst for innovation; mother been the necessity of invention and all that, the idea that moving from P-51s to SR71s is the height of technological differences is laughable.

Compare computers from a 10-15 year time span. Much of the progress that's made is a result of prioritizing. In our modern age, we've prioritized consumer goods... because we like bling and are generally short sighted. But better than the same for military technology. While some of that stuff has trickled down to civilian applications, you get more civilian technological innovations from the same dollar value, by focusing on just civilian technological innovations.

Also, there's most certainly been a fair amount of military propogandizing and conflating of technologies that were available during the time that were used effectively in military applications, and technologies that were purposefully researched for military applications that have since trickled down into the general population.

What are you talking about ...

A hell of a lot of technology was born from military funding ...

It was the U.S. Army's need to quickly calculate artillery firing tables during World War II that led to the development of the Electronic and Numerical Integrator and Calculator (ENIAC) in 1945. ENIAC is considered the first modern computer because of its all-electronic, digital design. ENIAC was two thousand times faster than its contemporary, the Mark I computer, yet cost the same to build. The next digital computer, the Whirlwind, was originally funded by the Navy in 1944 to provide flight simulation for training and for gathering pilot-airplane interaction data. Completed in 1954 with Air Force funding, the Whirlwind project was the most lengthy and expensive of its time. Its final product embodied several critical technical advances, including high-speed electronics, vacuum-tube checking methods that greatly improved reliability, graphical displays using cathode ray tubes, and, most significantly, magnetic-core memory. Out of the Whirlwind project came the Air Force's Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system in the late 1950s. SAGE was a system of computers, radar, aircraft, telephone and radio communications, and ships that provided defense in case of an air attack. SAGE embodied yet more advances in computer technology. Its ability to interact with humans through graphic displays was probably its most important novel feature.

In the 1960s, ARPAnet, precursor of the Internet, grew out of research and development efforts led by the IPTO in timesharing and networking. The first major contracts the IPTO funded were for research and development of timesharing systems (systems enabling more than one user to use a single computer simultaneously). Once several timesharing systems were in place, the IPTO directed the linking of those timesharing systems into a network called ARPAnet. ARPAnet was in place by 1973. The impact it had on computer technology cannot be underestimated. Both the military and the corporate world came to benefit greatly from timesharing and networking, as these technologies allowed expensive computer resources to be used efficiently and remotely.

In many cases the military's readiness to purchase new high technologies has been more important than its direct funding of research. The integrated circuit (semiconductor chip) that made small, inexpensive computers possible was developed entirely without military funding, but almost as soon as chips were invented the Air Force decided to use them in its Minuteman II ballistic missile. The Air Force ordered many semiconductor chips, providing chip companies with the capital necessary to set up manufacturing sites that soon were supplying commercial as well as military markets.

While many of the military's investments in computer science R&D have led quickly and directly to technologies with military and civilian applications, the military has funded some areas of computer research that have taken much longer to produce viable applications. Two of these areas are artificial intelligence (AI) and molecular electronics (molectronics). DARPA began funding research in AI in the early 1960s. That research did not produce commercial products until the early 1980s. As early as 1959, even before the integrated circuit was invented, the Air Force funded research in molectronics. Little progress was made, and the project was dropped in the early 1960s. As other technologies have advanced and the limits of the miniaturization of silicon chips seems to be approaching, interest in molectronics has revived, with DARPA currently funding research in the field. DARPA researchers anticipate molectronic devices that will not only control the flow of electricity at the molecular level but will also assemble themselves.

DARPA remains the major source of military funding of computer science R&D. Some areas of research DARPA currently funds are:
Spintronics. Electronics based on the spin, rather than the charge, of electrons.
Information assurance and survivability. Methods to ensure that military data is not compromised by enemy intrusion or technical failure.
Agent-based computing. Software that is "aware" of its environment, proactive, and self-correcting.
Dynamic databases. Databases that translate large amounts of information about ground targets in real time into a format that tactical commanders can read and base combat decisions on.

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

If the general population of the United States wasn't allergic to lolsocialism they could just take money and directly fund technological development. The Cold War provided a socially acceptable context by which the government could take huge swathes of money and inject it into scientific research with the aim of besting those damn commies in every field of science they could.

The space race is arguably the pinnacle of this.

 

[Kinitari]

OP was much smaller than I thought it would be. Practically no detail on any of the topics.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Artificial Intelligence:

What?

Artificial Intelligence is the study of intelligence and how to create it. The definition of "intelligence" is very ambiguous, and experts in the field often disagree about how to define it.

Why?

The replication of intelligence in artificial systems allows us to "outsource thinking". They can perform repetitive or undesirable tasks that require thinking. When they can do things better and faster than humans can, it frees up the humans to do other tasks that require their attention.

The end-state of A.I. research is the creation of "Strong A.I.", which is an intelligence that can do everything a human can do, better than a human can do it. This will inevitably transform society, with humans no-longer being required perform any tasks in particular unless they want to for some reason (or do not trust an A.I. in the role, i.e. running countries).

When?

Now! Artificial Intelligence has produced hundreds of useful applications we use in every-day life, whether we realize it or not. The most visible is search-engine technology such as Google. Other applications include automated natural language translation tools, computer opponents in video games, automated design of objects using evolutionary or genetic algorithms, inventory management tools for stores, GPS navigation, facial recognition software, voice recognition software and much more. These are seldom recognized as "Artificial Intelligence" by the general public for several reasons; the public is unfamiliar with the field, the public doesn't understand how it works, and they are never marketed as artificial intelligence. Usually, A.I. applications are just considered software when they are brought to market because there is a stigma associated with the term A.I. in business circles.

From the Stottler Henke A.I. Glossary:



A.I. software is already better than humans at performing many specific tasks, the game of chess for example. It will however be a long time before we realize Strong A.I. or anything approaching it, perhaps 30 years or more. Optimistic estimates based on Moore's law and naive analysis argue for Strong A.I. to appear in the 2020's, although this is a questionable date.

Well then, I guess I'll do some stealing and padding.

 

[friskykillface]

teleporters please, just to see all what the effects will have on all forms of travel, hopefully RIP to airlines





more advancements in stem cell research

that movie "the island" had a good idea in making clones for body parts and organs, lol wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

 

[mrWalrus]

Explain por favor.

Google Aubrey de Grey.

Here's a couple of his TED talks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iYpxRXlboQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hgLRhxvRlKg

 

[msv]

More powerful batteries.
http://www.science20.com/news_articles/airfuelled_battery_lasts_ten_times_long_yes_please

Powered exoskeletons.
Useful for the military, people who can't walk, bomb disposal, space? what else? I'd love to see these puppies mass produced and everywhere.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Powered_exoskeleton

Organ/body-part cloning.

Medications based on artificial cells that fight diseases. The cells genome will be written like software and printed. There are also a myriad of other uses for this of course.

Simulations of the human mind will be possible. Would be fun to have a discussion on the ethics of this actually.

Proper connections between nerves and artificial wiring. Coupled with the things we will learn from making, using and perfecting exoskeletons I foresee some very natural like functional prosthetics.

 

[Uchip]

Get reading for a Grey's Anatomy episode
what?

 

[Kinitari]

Get reading for a Grey's Anatomy episode
what?

My girlfriend watches Grey's Anatomy, they always have these new prototypical medical breakthroughs in their hospital. You should watch it, it's a terrible show.

Edit:


Would someone mind writing up a little piece on Quantum computers for me? My understanding of Quantum theory is really pretty poor, I don't want to accidentally give the wrong information.

 

[bjb]

Not sure if this applies here, but as someone dealing with Neuromuscular Disease, this article I found yesterday was slightly encouraging:

http://www.newswise.com/articles/scientists-create-stable-self-renewing-neural-stem-cells

Newswise — In a paper published in the April 25 early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco and colleagues report a game-changing advance in stem cell science: the creation of long-term, self-renewing, primitive neural precursor cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) that can be directed to become many types of neuron without increased risk of tumor formation.

By adding other chemicals, the scientists are able to then direct the precursor cells to differentiate into different types of mature neurons, “which means you can explore potential clinical applications for a wide range of neurodegenerative diseases,” said Zhang. “You can generate neurons for specific conditions like amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), Parkinson’s disease or, in the case of my particular research area, eye-specific neurons that are lost in macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa or glaucoma.”

The most important aspect of this was that Cells implanted in animals produced no tumors. And apparently can generate millions of clinical-grade cells in a week.

To my knowledge there's already a few clinical trials here in the states, as well as Germany where they are implanting cells into people to see if they are first safe, and second effective in slowing down or stopping certain diseases.

Here's hoping for progress.

 

[Master Milk]

The Computer AI stuff always seems like an obviously bad idea. It's like you're walking down a dark hall about to turn an even darker corner and you can hear the scary organ music playing but you STILL think it's a good idea to turn the corner. But whatever, scientists are gonna science.

Is there any genetics tech that's as awesome as all the other stuff? I know someone has got to be working on making "perfect" humans with bigger dicks and boobs.

 

[Vyer]

That robot military dog thing is terrifying.

And artificial meat reminds me of Better Off Ted. I'm one of three people that actually watched that show, I guess.

 

[scar tissue]

What are you talking about ...

A hell of a lot of technology was born from military funding ...

wasn't pretty much every kind of modern technology, from the calculator to the internet and robots primarily invented for military use?
i hate war as much as the next guy, but man does it produce some rad as fuck technology

 

[The Lamp]

The production of Nanotubes, which would lead to:

The space elevator

Then, with the help of Antimatter rockets

We could have space colonies

And from there, of course we would have

These are far in the future though, for the near future, I'm more interested in better batteries, and quantum computing.

Yes! This is something my mother's been researching (she was a chemical engineer) and it's something I hope to research as a biomedical engineer. Nanotechnology ftw!

 

[show me your skeleton]

i really think graphene will be a fantastic development in the near future.

 

[Doodis]

this is the best part
i'm currently reading "the singularity is near" by ray kurzweil and i can't believe i might actually get to be immortal
...a god
...my own legacy
*evil laugh*

I love Ray and The Age of Spiritual Machines was a great read, but I don't buy into the whole immortality thing. At least, not in the sense of transferring your brain to a computer.

 

[sullytao]

I actually have a twitter account which is subscribed to alot of science/technology news sites. Here is 3 news stories from the last few days that you might enjoy. Here's hoping this thread has a very long life on Gaf.

SpaceX Will Send Humans To Mars In the Next 10 to 20 Years
http://www.popsci.com/technology/ar...ex-will-send-humans-mars-10-20-years?cmpid=tw

SpaceX's Dragon Spacecraft Separating from its Falcon 9 Carrier Rocket SpaceX, Courtesy of NASA

SpaceX will send humans to Mars within 10 to 20 years, according to an interview with its CEO in the Wall Street Journal. Elon Musk says his company will send people to space within three years, and he wants to colonize other planets next.

“I want SpaceX to help make life multi-planetary,” he said. “We’re going all the way to Mars, I think. Best case, 10 years, worst case, 15 to 20 years.”

“A future when humanity is a spacefaring civilization, out there exploring the stars, is an incredibly exciting future,” he said.

The majority of the interview focuses on Tesla Motors’ efforts and the state of electric cars in the U.S., including price and availability and the problem of charging the vehicles. But Musk’s pronouncements about space colonization are far juicier, in our opinion.

He said SpaceX would be the transportation provider, not necessarily the colony-builder.

“We want to be like the shipping company that brought people from Europe to America, or like the Union Pacific railroad. Our goal is to facilitate the transfer of people and cargo to other planets, and then it’s going to be up to people if they want to go,” he said.

Along with developing several successful heavy-lift rockets for cargo, SpaceX aims to send astronauts to space for NASA and other clients. Last week, the company won a $75 million contract from NASA to make its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon space capsule ready for humans. Sierra Nevada, Boeing and Blue Origin also won contracts to build capsules.

Last year, SpaceX became the first to launch a private spaceship into orbit and bring
it home.

Immortal Jellyfish Provides Clues for Regenerative Medicine
http://singularityhub.com/2011/04/25/immortal-jellyfish-provides-clues-for-regenerative-medicine/

The search for the fountain of youth has been ongoing ever since man decided that dying wasn’t all that appealing. And now, it appears that this elusive holy grail has been found, albeit by a species that is not ours! So who is the lucky winner of the everlasting life sweepstakes? None other than the humble and dime-sized jellyfish known as Turritopsis nutricula. This creature has accomplished what no other biological being on our planet has ever been known to do: reverse it’s aging to become young again after reaching full maturity! As early as 1992, scientists had observed this phenomenon in Turritopsis and research into its secrets was ongoing. However, a recent spike in the numbers and geographic distribution of this species has once again brought it to the attention of the greater scientific community because of the many important breakthroughs we have witnessed in stem cell research in the past decade. As regenerative medicine continues to grow into the future of medicine, it’s clear that this tiny jellyfish may hold the answers to not only addressing the many aging-related ailments we face, but also our own mortality!

In the picture below, you can see the typical lifecycle of a jellyfish. It starts out as a larva that eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean and attaches to a sturdy substrate and continues development into a polyp that resembles a sea plant. The polyp then matures to become a free-floating medusa, what we commonly recognize as jellyfish resembling an upside down saucer with tentacles. Not much excitement so far, but Turritopsis has put an interesting twist to this process. It undergoes development much like what I’ve described above and what many of its relatives go through. However, during times of stress like a shortage of food, Turritopsis responds by beginning to reverse the process before eventually becoming a polyp again. From this point then, it can again develop into a sexually mature medusa when conditions become more favorable. Theoretically, it can repeat this process indefinitely as its cells undergo a process called transdifferentiation, a rare biological process whereby any non-stem cell can become a different cell entirely. It is still unclear whether only specific cells can only become other specific cells or if any cell in Turritopsis has the potential to become any other cell.

Ok, what Turritopsis does is admittedly cool, but why would we care? As you know, here at the Hub, one of our favorite topics are stem cells and all the promise they hold for regenerating tissue and treating a vast array of ailments. And while stem cells are one avenue to reach the goal of regenerating damaged or diseased tissues, transdifferentiation is another option that can get us to that goal.

Allow me to digress here and clarify the difference between these two systems (also see the below figure). Stem cells are cells that can differentiate into any type of cell. They can be isolated from a natural state i.e. embryonic stem cells (ESCs), or created by taking already differentiated cells and coaxing them to undifferentiate into stem cells, becoming induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These stem cells can then differentiate into another type of cell. On the other hand, transdifferentiation doesn’t require the middle step of becoming a stem cell. Any differentiated cell can become any other differentiated cell, given of course that it receives the correct signals.

Much of the advances in stem cell technology have come from having an understanding of how stem cells naturally develop into different cell types. Thus, nature’s methods are teaching us how to manipulate stem cells and turn them into the desired cell type. And when it comes to transdifferentiation, the hope is that we will eventually be able to learn how creatures like Turritopsis skip the stem cell step and go directly from one cell type to another. As such, a recent breakthrough in using transdifferentiation for therapeutic purposes was reached in the laboratory of Dr. Deepak Srivastava of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease at the University of California, San Francisco. In a recent article in the journal Cell, Dr. Srivastava’s group describes their success in getting architectural cells in the heart called fibroblasts to differentiate into cardiomyocyte-like cells. In case you’re rusty on your cardiac anatomy, cardiomyocytes are the cells in the heart that contract and result in it’s rhythmic beating. And as Dr. Srivastava explains in the video below, it is the loss of these cells and the development of scar tissue that is debilitating to those fortunate enough to survive a heart attack. So by just switching on three genes in the fibroblasts, the researchers were able to coax them to transdifferentiate into cardiomyocyte-like cells that looked and behaved like cardiomyocytes. Taking it one step further, they implanted these cells into the hearts of mice and found that they behaved just as one would expect them to. In a previous post, we had described similar results, but in that work, the researchers had to first produce stem cells from skin cells before producing the cardiomyocytes. Clearly, Dr. Srivastava’s group has taken this to another level.

So while we still have some hurdles to overcome before this type of treatment is available for use in humans, it is indeed on its way. The amazing work being done in laboratories such as Dr. Srivastava’s are inching us closer to the day when perhaps we’ll be able to not only treat various ailments, but also to turn back the hands of time and reverse our aging like Turritopsis has been able to do. A recent press release by Advanced Cell Technology (ACT) hints at some potentially new technologies they are developing to take advantage of transdifferentiation. While most of their work thus far has focused on stem cell-based treatments, it’s encouraging to see companies like ACT put time and money into exploring transdifferentiation-based treatments as well. Sure everyone is working to get to the same goal, but there may be more than one way to get there!

MIT Researchers Use Viruses To Build More Efficient Solar Panels
http://www.popsci.com/technology/ar...es-build-more-efficient-solar-panels?cmpid=tw

Teams of viruses can help build better solar panels by ensuring nanoscale components behave properly, according to a new study. MIT researchers say their virus-assisted breakthrough could improve solar panels’ energy conversion efficiency by one-third.

Scientists already knew that carbon nanotubes, rolled-up sheets of graphene, could improve the efficiency of photovoltaic cells. Ideally, the nanotubes would gather more electrons that are kicked up from the surface of a PV cell, allowing a greater number of electrons to be used to produce a current.

But there are complications — carbon nanotubes come in two varieties, functioning either as semiconductors or wires, and they each behave differently. They also tend to clump together, which makes them less effective at gathering up their own electrons. MIT researchers found that a certain bacteria-attacking virus called M13 can be used to make things go more smoothly.

M13 has peptides that bind to the carbon nanotubes, keeping them in place, MIT News explains. Each virus can grip about five to 10 nanotubes each, using roughly 300 of the protein molecules. The viruses were also genetically engineered to produce a layer of titanium dioxide, which happens to be the key ingredient in Grätzel cells, a.k.a. dye-sensitized solar cells. (These cells use TiO2 instead of silicon, and their inventor, Michael Grätzel of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, won the Millenium Technology Prize for them last year.) This close contact between TiO2 nanoparticles helps transport the electrons more efficiently.

The viruses also make the nanotubes water-soluble, which could make them easier to incorporate into PV cells at room temperature, lowering manufacturing costs.

Graduate students Xiangnan Dang and Hyunjung Yi, MIT professor Angela Belcher and colleagues tested this method with Grätzel cells, but they say the technique could be used to build other virus-augmented solar cells, including quantum-dot and organic solar cells.

They also learned that the two flavors of nanotubes have different effects on solar cell efficiency — something that had not been demonstrated before. Semiconducting nanotubes can enhance solar cells’ performance, but the continuously conducting wires had the opposite effect. This knowledge could be useful for designing more efficient nanoscale batteries, piezoelectrics or other power-related materials.

The virus-built structures enhanced the solar cells’ power conversion efficiency to 10.6 percent from 8 percent, according to MIT News. That’s about a one-third improvement, using a viral system that makes up just 0.1 percent of the cells’ weight.

“A little biology goes a long way,” Belcher said in an MIT News article. The researchers think with further research, they can improve the efficiency even more.

 

[TacticalFox88]

What an asinine and ignorant view of technological progress.

While I don't doubt that war can be a potent catalyst for innovation; mother been the necessity of invention and all that, the idea that moving from P-51s to SR71s is the height of technological differences is laughable.

Compare computers from a 10-15 year time span. Much of the progress that's made is a result of prioritizing. In our modern age, we've prioritized consumer goods... because we like bling and are generally short sighted. But better than the same for military technology. While some of that stuff has trickled down to civilian applications, you get more civilian technological innovations from the same dollar value, by focusing on just civilian technological innovations.

Also, there's most certainly been a fair amount of military propogandizing and conflating of technologies that were available during the time that were used effectively in military applications, and technologies that were purposefully researched for military applications that have since trickled down into the general population.

What? You do realize that most technologicaal advancements START from War. If you find a military use (and you certainly will and can) it will advance far faster than letting the "private" sector handle it. Add that to some international competition? Shiiiiiit.

 

[StuKen]

The culture of conspicuous consumption and constant strive for exponential growth just to stand still means that even if we do attain the wildest technological advances imaginable we wont have anything left to build them with. Look at this and weep for your future.

http://kauaian.net/blog/wp-content/themes/default/images/sushi/mineral_audit.jpg

 

[Zwei]

I just popped in to say what a great OP/thread.

 

[Casp0r]

That robot military dog thing is terrifying.

And artificial meat reminds me of Better Off Ted. I'm one of three people that actually watched that show, I guess.

Make that 4 ...

The show was actually really good, such a shame it failed.

 

[PistolGrip]

Unlock Savant type memory in regular human beings. I would love that so we can radically change the way we educate our kids (e.g computer based learning) and finish college at 16 so we can begin working/researching and gaining experience as soon as possible.

 

[Measley]

All of this stuff is very exciting, and I'm very interested to see what the world is like 30 years from now when I'm in my late 50s. I'm hoping for a Star Trek future over a Terminator/Matrix future.

 

[Wray]

We can fill up a whole thread just by talking about Nanorobotics and how they are going to eliminate virtually all disease within the next 20-25 years.

http://gizmodo.com/#!5501103/this-is-the-future-of-the-fight-against-cancer

 

[msv]

The culture of conspicuous consumption and constant strive for exponential growth just to stand still means that even if we do attain the wildest technological advances imaginable we wont have anything left to build them with. Look at this and weep for your future.

http://kauaian.net/blog/wp-content/themes/default/images/sushi/mineral_audit.jpg

I think this is actually pretty cool. When the raw material deposits run out, we will be forced to properly recycle everything. We'd get a macro system that would inch closer and closer to the systems we find in nature. We do need to find find a way to diminish the population growth. Too many people might make it unsustainable to live on this planet.

 

[Wray]

Colonys on Mars, the Moon ... the <shakes head> cloud tops of venus ... they won't happen.

Scientific research facilities ... sure. I never said they couldn't. However creating a sustainable human colony on these dead rocks is not only near impossible ... it's also highly pointless.

Even a research facilities are a little pointless, robots are cheaper, more durable and will eventually do just as much as humans can.

You're right about robots doing most of our space exploration for us in the future. However, we will be colonizing other planets/moons. Within 200 years Mars will be well underway being terraformed. After that Venus will follow. It's a simple "or not so simple" concept of removing the CO2 from its atmosphere then replacing it with Oxygen. This could be done with huge swarms of nanobots for example absorbing the toxic gases and releasing the good ones.

If ... not when. The main problem with a space elevator is the cable material. Now coming from a materials degree ... I gotta say the chances of finding a material strong and light enough, are extremely thin if not impossible. The strongest materials we've theoretically measured can just about hold it. However making that cable without imperfections ... that's going to be damn near impossible.

Then once we finally get a cable that can hold it's own weight ... we have to then push way past that so we can actually send stuff up it ... and not just a few grams.

It's extremely tricky and I doubt we'll ever see it working. I'm not happy about this, it's just fact.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube

And that will just get better and better.

 

[Maleficence]

Nice thread!

 

[sans_pants]

teleporters please, just to see all what the effects will have on all forms of travel, hopefully RIP to airlines





more advancements in stem cell research

that movie "the island" had a good idea in making clones for body parts and organs, lol wouldn't be surprised if that happened.

im guessing they will start farming those if the fundies dont blow up their research centers. also, eventually we will just regrow the organs within our bodies and we can even reverse the clock on our cells

 

[Wray]

teleporters please, just to see all what the effects will have on all forms of travel, hopefully RIP to airlines

Teleportation is going to happen thanks to Quantum Entanglement. Not sure if that will mean living organisms will be able to live through it though. But it's going to happen to objects for sure.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement

Though expect that one to take while. I was reading somewhere that in order to teleport something very small like a grain of sand, we would need something like an entire building filled with Petabyte or bigger sized hard drives just to store the information needed to teleport it.

We've already successfully teleported a Photon. We'll likely be able to teleport individual atoms either sometime this decade or next. Followed by molecules a little while after that. And so on and so on...