Faster than light

Technology is advancing so quickly, now, but not only is technology advancing so quickly but the rate at which it is advancing is also advancing.

Think how far we've come in the last 100 years.

There is a futurist writer called ray Kurzweil who is considered a world expert on this subject. Here is what good old wiki had to say about him..

"Kurzweil's central argument is derived from the predictions of Moore's Law that the rate of innovation of computer technology is increasing not linearly but rather exponentially. According to Kurzweil's argument, since growth in so many fields of science and technology depends upon computing power, these improvements translate into exponentially more frequent advances in non-computer sciences like nanotechnology, biotechnology, and materials science. Kurzweil refers to this concept as the "Law of Accelerating Returns", and has asserted that this is supported by a number of metrics.

Kurzweil's opinions on the benefits of technology for future humans are expressed further in his books. He predicted publicly that before 2050 medical advances will allow people to radically extend their lifespans while preserving and even improving quality of life as they age, due to advances in medical nanotechnology, which will allow microscopic machines to travel through one's body and repair all types of damage at the cellular level. He claims that equally consequential developments will occur within the realm of computers as they become increasingly powerful, numerous and cheap between now and 2050. Kurzweil predicts that a computer will pass the Turing test by 2029. He predicts that the first AI will be a computer simulation of a human brain which will be created thanks to hyperaccurate brainscanning done by advanced medical nanomachines inserted into a real human brain. Kurzweil suggests that AIs will inevitably become far smarter and more powerful than unenhanced humans. He also believes that AIs will exhibit moral thinking and will respect humans as their ancestors. According to his predictions, the line between humans and machines will blur as machines attain human-level intelligence and humans start upgrading themselves with cybernetic implants. These implants will greatly enhance human cognitive and physical abilities, and allow direct interface between humans and machines."

Buckle in peeps, the sci fi of barely yesterday is on the way!

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

Though atoms have been split it seems it is easier to alter molecular structure than atomic structure so nano tech's won't soon be synthisizing gold from lead. The ancient alchemist would be proud that we are closer to the fountain of youth. The speed of light travels in several directions. My life has been easier than my fathers and perhaps my father had it easier than his father.
I remember how amazed I was that my father who was born in 1915 recieved laser surgery in an attempt to prolong his life.
A GPS was first developed to delver missles but now it can deviler a child to a grandparent.

Darkness is nothing compared to light.

I'm 31, so chances are, I won't live to see any kind of serious life extending treatments, not of the kind that would, today even, be thought of as sci fi.

BUt, even if they did develope some kind of super bio nano tech that they could inject into your body to make your cells regenerate, why on earth would they give it to me?

I'm nobody important. Only the super rich will benifit from this.

Nice topic, Kevo. I do a lot of uneducated thinking about artificial intelligence, The Future, and things of that ilk. My biggest prediction is that we will be shaping computers with methods inspired by nature, and vice versa. I see an increasing blending and blurring of lines between what is... I don't know... organic vs digital? I wrote a little chunk in another thread about robots which I'll re-post here.

"I suspect that intelligent, sentient computers are not far away. I'm far from an expert in computer technology, but I think you're right in saying that, currently, computers generally are only able to perform the programs that are put into them. The next step would be to let them mirror biology - to create a set of programs that allows them to spontaneously change and evolve. I think when computer scientists begin to look more closely at biology and human consciousness, that will be the next era of computer technology. I would wager that, in the future, probably not so far away, we will have computers that push their "thinking" so far that it will be indistinguishable from conscious awareness. Perhaps even the computers will consider themselves aware. And once you've reached that level... aren't they?

Maybe I watch too much Battlestar Galactica. Cylons forever!"

That last line is probably true. I also went on a rave in the Club after you left, I believe. It was about my existential crisis that I got after watching my boyfriend play a computer game.

"Minescape. It's a sandbox sorta world, where there's no set goal. You just kind of explore and build things. Everything is in these box forms, so it's kind of 3-D pixelated. My fellow was playing it. It's actually pretty sophisticated in some ways... each player has his or her own world, and they are all unique, because they are sort of randomly generated. The generation follows an algorithm that tells trees how to be formed, and yet each tree is pretty much unique. The landscape also has these unique forms - mountains sometimes, fading into little hills, flatlands, oceans... all new for each player, but following certain patterns. The problem started when I kept asking about how it (the game) knew to create these unique landscapes, and my distress over the fact that the world was continually creating itself as the player explores the map. The world doesn't exist until you're within range of experiencing it, and then it creates itself individually, but in a way that blends with the existing landscape. In that way, it references itself.

The player is the only person, and you can go around building shelters, shearing boxy sheep, mining for metals, redirecting lava flows, eating box pigs.... whatever. It was interesting thinking about how different people use their worlds. When the gameplay is open ended, what do you spend your time doing? Daytime is safe, in the dark monsters come and try to get you. There's something kind of basic and mythological about it: A single consciousness exploring a landscape, shaping it and molding to it.

Anyway, it seemed easy for me to imagine, instead of a box world, a rendering of the game with beautiful landscapes, incredibly lifelike, and for some reason that made me worry. You could get lost in something like that. I started picturing a near future where programs aren't constructed - they're living things, given a set of parameters and free to grow, shift, and evolve inside them. I started getting really distressed for the pixellated box man, because what if in the future there were box men who didn't know they were boxes? I started crying and asking Tony if he was a boxman, and what if this was a game, and what if love was a program, and waaaaaaah! (<---- me crying like a crazy lady)

It was very melodramatic for a while there."

My reaction to the game was a little hilarious, but the thought still stands. Not to go all Matrix on this thread.

And I think humans are the first AI, after all, we are hydraulic, and have a sophisticated structure, and do moral thinking, are aware, and respect our ancestors.

Hermin Melville, "but these marvels (like all Marvels) are mere repetitions of the Ages, so that for the millionth time we say amen with Soloman--
Ecc. 1:9
Verily there is nothing new under the Sun."

Humans are not "artificial", so no, we're not the first AI.

And I laughed at that Ecc 1;9 quote, that is classic religious arrogance, no offence to you, I know why you used the quote.

The idea, that nothing we can create as humans will ever exceed or move past the foresight or wisdom of some almighty creator, is an insult to everything we have achieved, over and above the wishes of Christianity.

Kevin Murray verse 1:1

"Verily, there is nothing new in the mind of God"

John Fitch (January 21, 1743 July 2, 1798) was an American inventor, clockmaker, and silversmith who, in 1787, built the first recorded steam-powered boat in the United States. Two decades later, Robert Fulton was able to make steamboats profitable.

The masses rarely benefit from any technology before it becomes profitable

It is interesting that light is often used as a metaphor for truth. I believe we have reached the age of communication and copyrights, and it seems that even nano-techs will want to copy some old elements and compounds.

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"A Watt steam engine, the steam engine fuelled primarily by coal that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain and the world.[1]The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport, and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The Industrial Revolution marks a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way."

Which came first intelligence or design?

"The steam engine wasnt a boat invention it was an invention to produce artificial horse power. The person who tied it to a boat was separate. How many failures went into that idea before it became reality? How many crash landings for Orville and Wilber? What were the sacrifices? How many others had an idea? Henry didnt invent the automobile but he did devise the method production line that made it affordable to the working man"

Back in the seventies I used to catch a ride home with a fellow that had a sixty four mustang who seem to make the artificial power feel real to me

I would not dare condemn artificial intelligence, artificial hearts, or even artificial spirits of the consumers of the industrial revolution that has consumed most of our time

"John Fitch was born in 1743 in Connecticut. His mother died when he was four -- his father was harsh and rigid. A sense of injustice and failure marked his life from the start. Pulled from school when he was eight and made to work on his hated family farm, he became, in his own words, "almost crazy after learning."

He finally fled the farm and took up silversmithing. He married in 1776 but soon left his nagging wife, who couldn't bear his manic-depressive extremes. For several years he explored the Ohio River basin, spent time as a prisoner of the British and Indians, and eventually returned to the Colonies afire with a new obsession. He went to Pennsylvania, where he set out to make a steam-powered boat to navigate the western rivers." wiki
Fitch planned to build a steamboat company in the West, Hibbs wrote. But when he arrived in Nelson County, he discovered that others had claimed his land. Fitch tried to win his land back in court. But long, expensive legal battles left him more despondent. ``His mind and body gradually gave way under despair, and he sought relief in habitual intoxication,'' the book said.
Fitch finally managed to recover 300 acres near Bardstown. His meager purse almost emptied by attorney's fees, Fitch struck a bargain with tavern keeper Alexander McCoun. Fitch promised McCoun 150 acres ``if he would board him while he lived, and allow him a pint of spirits each day!'' the book said. ``He afterwards increased the quantity of land, on condition of an increase in liquor!''
Fitch was only 55 when he died in 1798. He was buried unceremoniously in Bardstown's Pioneer Cemetery.
``I know of nothing so perplexing and vexatious as a turbulent wife and steamboat building,'' he prefaced his meager will. ``I experienced the former and quit in season, and had I been in my right senses I should undoubtedly have treated the latter in the same manner, but for one man to be teased with both, he must be looked upon as the most unfortunate man of the world.''

The watt is named after James Watt for his contributions to the development of the steam engine, and was adopted by the Second Congress of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1889 and by the 11th General Conference on Weights and Measures in 1960 as the unit of power incorporated in the International System of Units (or "SI").

This SI unit is named after James Watt. As with every SI unit whose name is derived from the proper name of a person, the first letter of its symbol is uppercase (W). When an SI unit is spelled out in English, it should always begin with a lowercase letter (watt), except where any word would be capitalized, such as at the beginning of a sentence or in capitalized material such as a title. Note that "degree Celsius" conforms to this rule because the "d" is lowercase.
Based on The International System of Units, section 5.2.
Imagine having your name on so many light bulbs.

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Axel Welin (1862-1951), was a Swedish inventor and industrialist.

Ernst Axel Martin Welin studied at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm from 1879 to 1884. Between 1886 and 1888, Welin worked as a weapons designer for Thorsten Nordenfelt in London. In 1889 he started his own engineering firm, the Welin Davit & Engineering Company Ltd. He soon designed the famed Welin Breech.

However, his main interest was davits. He invented a new and improved davit for lowering boats on board ship, a quadrant davit for double-banked boats which simply became known as the Welin davit. The RMS Titanic was equipped with Welin davits[1], and after the disaster the demand for his product skyrocketed. He was awarded the John Scott Medal of The Franklin Institute in 1911. He retired a wealthy man in 1932 and returned to Sweden.

The Welin Davit Company continues today as Welin Lambie, based at Brierley Hill in the West Midlands, UK.

I would not say that the job of any inventor is to invent a new truth, but many learn from mistakes of others

To call the titanic a failure would be either shallow or narrow minded

nano.gov