ITT we discuss random tech of the future that we want to see, and similar cool nerdy stuff. We also don't bitch about anything belonging in /tech. Finally, we get some activity in here so I don't have to see my "single-quark transistor" reply over and over and over again.
Cool tech 1:
Vacuum-lifted dirigibles. Advances in nanotech make dirigibles that use vacuum for lift more efficient than their hydrogen/helium counterparts. Efficient solar energy collectors of the future provide more than enough power for the active propulsion.
Cool tech 2:
Vacuum lift technology is used to build "lighter than air stairs" into space: successively lighter airships are used to carry payloads to space.
Cool tech 3:
Space stairway is used to carry an extremely lightweight solar sail craft into space. A combination of advanced space sailing techniques and efficient use of gravitational slingshots ultimately permit the craft to exit the solar system without using a single gram of propellant in any part of the mission.
Cool tech 4:
Neural headphones, without surgery.
Instead of pads firing sound at your ears, pads fire sound at your brain. Sound quality and experience like the real thing. Superior! August livelihood, legionnaire!
Cool tech 5:
Seaweed bio-engineered into meatweed.
Instead of cow on farm, you have adriatic coast full of meatweed. Growing vastly like algae, but with ready-to-cook products for leaves. For instance: fish leaf. Or calf leaf. Or fowl leaf. Plus giant floating autonomous harvesting trawler, running on meat engine. Whenever cargo bay is full of auto-packed meat, it returns to port and unloads, THEN go back to start. Strong vocation, hireling!
Cool tech 6:
Augmented Reality Overlayer Bossmaster mode.
Enables you to overlay anything with anything (=skinnable reality; overlay the 1'000'000 downs of your megacity with images of soothing forest trees, relaxation ensues), do the "hyperzoom to the core" thing (look at faraway mountain, rapidly zoom in to molecular level of eagle egg on top), use infolayer to glean subway schedule info from cloud, get location of good eating told from bird, find out what up at work from bee. Fine task, man-at-arms!
Cool Tech 7:
Wired roads for automated driving. The car follows the wire embedded in the road. Coupled to a GPS + various proximity detectors + an onboard computer + a central computer for safety.
Cool Tech 8:
Transcontinental floating bridges, for supersonic hovertrains.
Planes banned.
Cool Tech 9:
Mini nuclear power stations for home use.
>Cool Tech 7
Hmm, car autopilot seems to be pretty hot to most people. whenever there's someone polling for what people want in the future it's that and "HOUSEHOLD ROBOT", "BOOK THAT READS SELF", "flyswatter with glue so that fly sticks to swatter".
Cool Tech 10:
All cars that aren't exact copies of either http://tinyurl.com/c5dzk or http://tinyurl.com/cnlcx are banned. Highly rated drudging, fighting meat unit with a head count of 1!
Cool Tech 11:
Sowable buildings. You take handful of small crystals, and crystals rapidly (in the course of a day) form a building akin to http://tinyurl.com/733ym by using minerals in the ground. Kindof like the popular kid's experiment with alum. Then, cities will be built by filling up a sprayplane with ten thousand tons of these little bastards, and when sown, megapolis of towers arrives, each tower of distinct individual height and shape, although the general features remain the same (crystalline looks, surface texture, jne.). Exalted operations, riflebearer!
Cool Tech 12:
Gamma knives will be used for just about every kind of cutting, from bread to brains. There will be handheld versions for everyday use. Grand labour, combatant!
Cool Tech 13:
Camera that can take pictures from several angles and zoom levels at once, and viewers that let you see multiple angles and zoom levels at once. Not just the boring kind of "sverve virtual cam here and then zoom in and out", but the good kind of "you look at picture and see the object in question from all possible angles at the same time and see hypertexturedetail of 0.5µm distance and grand general shape from 9000 miles away at the same time, as if you had just fucked your own brain in a quasi-magical yoga move". Superior advancement in the field of practice, cannon fodder!
>Plus giant floating autonomous harvesting trawler, running on meat engine.
Now we're talking! Of course, it would eventually mutate and spend the rest of its time on sea eating for no good reason, but that's even cooler!
Cool Tech 14:
Stuff will last a lifetime. Lamp bulbs. Cars. Roads. Buildings. Electronics. Computers. Microwave ovens. Epson inkjet printers. Intel CPU sockets.
No more mountains of broken junk dumped every year. Everything planned to last, last, last.
Cool Tech 15:
Smart materials. Fabrics that can fold, wrap and stiffen on demand, with built-in processing elements to control them. Buildings built out of concrete than can sense the environment around them and adapt colors, ventilation and other functions for maximum energy efficiency. Solar energy collectors built into pretty much anything.
Cool Tech 16:
Truly prevalent computing. No more computers as separate physical entities on your desk. Processing elements are built into most everything (like the smart materials), and networked on the fly. Processing elements should not be luxury items built to precise specifications, but grown by the pound as self-assembling systems.
Cool Tech 17:
The end of scarcity. Nanoassemblers build anything from plentiful raw materials mined in the asteroid belt and beyond. Half the world is made obsolete. The RIAA think they have it bad now.
Cool Tech 18:
Gigantic Magnifying Glass in the Sky. Gargantuan satellite roughly the shape and size of Helios' chariot serves as orbital solar oven, sending a huge shaft of bundled sunlight to earth. Or, if you don't want the "death-ray" potential, sending the shaft at another satellite roughly the size of Aberdeen and full of iron. Iron is vaporized, sent through heat exchanger, generated power is transported to earth by extension cord. Suddenly, a nigh un-depleteable energy source arrives. Lovely feat, militiaman!
Cool Tech 19:
Remote-controlled (pheromones, GAMMA KNIFE, what have you) ants and bees that perform most menial tasks (agriculture, tunnel construction, mining, ...), because cheaper than human built minibot and self-sustaining and self-reproducing at zero cost. Also, they already are in vast abundance (net weight of ants on earth > net weight of humanoids on earth). Laudable mission, serviceman!
We've had the technology for a long time that would make cars no longer need a full-time driver role and could automate their own actions. Problem is that us, being humans, like control. To the point where we would rather risk lives just so we can sit behind the wheel.. we've been doing it for nearly a century, if not more.
>>10
The problem is, that compared to humans, autonomous systems are really horrible drivers (OFAI had some pretty cool research going on that). What's more, car electronics are so unreliable as of now (being the #1 source of car trouble) because of the oversophistication, that the even more complex electronics required for autonomous locomotion would make those cars, well, unsafe at any speed. Another century ahead in time however...we might be getting somewhere.
Cool Tech 20:
Rewritten human DNA to include a few more abilities, like for example rapid absorption of vast amounts of knowledge, telepathy and immortality.
( ´ω`) I dunno if I'm wanting this fancy pants technology.
Cool Tech 21:
Glass cars, okay!
Cool tech 22:
Autopilot pen with little jet engines. You talk and the pen jets and writes in your handwriting. Akin to computer text-to-speech, but without the fuckup or the uglyness of computer font. Akin to a normal pen, but without the wrist amputation after writing 1000 pages.
Cool Tech 23:
Every packet accounted for, and blockable effortlessly by the receiver if he wishes so.
No more spam. No more zombie computers. No more spyware, trojans and viruses. No more anonymous script kiddie wreaking havoc in a peaceful board.
Cool Tech 24:
Advanced future sociology understands society well enough to determine the best course of action for maximum human happiness in a given situation. As a consequence, the speed limit in relativity goes from being an unsolved engineering problem to being a solved social one in regards to space colonization.
Cool Tech 25:
Greater understanding of quantum physics gives us dark-emitting lights. You know you want this one to be true!
Cool Tech 26: High-res photosensors record both the number and direction of photons hitting them, enabling cameras without optics. Light paths are later re-constructed in software, allowing you to change focus on an image after it was taken.
Cool Tech 27:
Inverted Microwave AC: an Air Conditioner which emits waves that slows down molecular movement. Have a cool room without the annoyances of traditional ACs.
Cool Tech 28: Monumental advances in genetic tech enables humans to be implanted with biologically solar-powered green wings for an inefficient but mentally exhilirating flying experience.
Cool Tech 29: The wax industry promises better heat tolerance this time around.
Cool Tech 30:
Noise armor: A portable device the size of a matchbox, consisting of a sound-input-, a processing- and a sound-output-unit, which analyzes all noise in your vicinity and, by emitting a phase-shifted annihilating amplitude, creates a layer of total silence around you.
Cool Tech 31:
Laser engineering finally gives us what we've all been waiting for: a wasp-neutralizing device. Equipped with high-efficiency embedded computers, the device fires a pulse laser of suitable wavelength at wasps, destroying their nervous system instantly.
Cool Tech 32:
Advances in robotics enable us to find out what is required to give a computer sentience. However, the ethical considerations don't hit before the first generation of sentient robots are already living. As a consequence, only the second and later generations of robots are given mortality, creating a small group of "immortal" intelligent beings which is only gradually decreased in numbers by the occasional assasination, suicide or severe accident.
Gahh, there has to be lots of bad English in those sentences.
Cool Tech 33:
Hyperspace radio, for faster-than-light transmissions.
A run-of-the-mill hyperradio can transmit from one nearby galaxy to this one within microseconds.
>>23
Gamma Knives, okay!
Cool Tech 34:
Giant power plant the size of nu-york, coincidentally also placed on top of nu-york, that plant being a giant heat pump, generating massive power by draining warmth from the surroundings, thereby turning the northern hemisphere into a giant north pole, while shouting WELCOME TO THE SECOND PLEISTOCENE ! from a gigantic steel head affixed to its structure. Soon, on times square, there will be 0°K ! In London, 1°K ! In the mediterranean sea, ~2°K because berlusca so hot !
Then build a second one in Australia to achieve a giant south pole equivalent. Then when all is freezeup, live the life of Triton. Way to go, great Khan!
Cool Tech 35:
While exploring our Solar System, we find the ruins of an extinct advanced civilisation. Suddenly, more Cool Techs than one can shake a stick at.
Cool Tech 36:
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2005/06/27/ciencia/1119857902.html
Artificial Rain Generated by "Heat Spots"!
The rain-factories, undergoing tests in the Negev, will be used to produce rain in drought-smitten regions of the meditteranean, such as Spain and Italy. SUPERIOR !
Cool Tech 37:
Gundams. Well, bipedal vehicles. Not necessarily 50 ft tall, but something like that. Yeah. Gundams are cool.
Cool Tech 38:
Terraforming. I want to live on Titan.
Cool Tech 39:
A lighter that lasts at least a month even when used several times a day.
Cool Tech 40:
Auto-heating coffee mug.
Cool Tech 41:
CD-R labeller. After the burn, the CD burner prints a label on the top of the CDR.
Cool Tech 42:
Auto-compressing trashcan. You press a button and the trash can packs the inside to a smaller volume.
Cool Tech 43:
A mute button for you peers. (I can dreem can't I?)
Cool Tech 44:
A spellchecker built in the keyboard of dreemers.
Cool Tech 45: Cure for cancer.
Cool Tech 46: As a complement to the cure for cancer, a cure of for radiation sickness materialises. As a consequence, radioactive substances are used for everything everywhere.
> Cool Tech 42
These already exist. They're built by a small company that isn't JC Decaux, run on solar power and do all kinds of nerdy stuff, apart from compressing rubbish. You'll find them scattered around various parts of NYC.
> Cool Tech 45
And subsequently, a solution for overpopulation. Yeah yeah, space colonization.
>>Cool Tech 41
Exists now. Google for "Lightscribe." Granted, to get that feature to work you have to use CDs that have labels with laser-sensitive dye, and you have to physically pull the CD out of the drive, flip it over, and put it back in to print the label.
But I still think it's kewl. ^_^
Heh heh. OK, a few more:
Cool Tech 47: Affordable 25" SED monitor screen.
Cool Tech 48: A computer that uses so little energy it runs on one small battery for a year.
Cool Tech 49: Modular OS. For example I'd tell it to stop bugging me when I delete a file or rename an extension, and it'll stop doing so.
Cool Tech 50: Magnetic fridge that can cool things within seconds.
Cool Tech 51: TV with a built-in satellite antenna that doesn't need orientation.
Well, all of the technologies Sling mentioned exists. Quit pointing out individual instances. :p
A couple ideas from girls I know:
Cool Tech 52: Socks that make you fly. I'd like to see some discussion about how this would be possible.
Cool Tech 53: Flying bikes. VTOL + propeller-driven would be freaking awesome. Bonus points for using the handlebars to steer and using the pedals to drive the propeller.
cool tech 55 -- Universal translation.
cool tech 56 -- Ninja pajamas -- put on the pajamas, become a ninja.
cool tech 57: self blow job
cool tech 57: self blow job. apearantly with small modification to your ribs you can do that. already inventer!
Cool Tech 58: AA batteries that can run a car for a month and are rechargable.
Cool Tech 59: Internet with 5 GBps speed. ( and computers that can handle it ... )
Cool Tech 60: Drugs with little side effect that can raise the efficency of your brain by 200% when taken.
>>37
SED, as in smoke emitting diode? Hell, if you can build a screen out of those then I think I'd freaking pay just to see one in action.
>>44
"A surface-conduction electron-emitter display (SED) is a flat panel display technology that uses surface conduction electron emitters for every individual display pixel. The surface conduction electron emitter emits electrons that excite a phosphor coating on the display panel, the same basic concept found in traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions. This means that SEDs can combine the slim form factor of LCDs and plasma displays with the high contrast ratios, refresh rates and overall better picture quality of CRTs. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SED-tv
Cool tech 61: Drugs with little side effect that can raise the efficiency of your brain by 200% when just kept in the bedroom drawer and not put anywhere near your mouth or other path of ingestion.
Cool tech 62: Cyborgs on a nanotech level
A transhumanist a while ago came up with rough plans for respirocytes, nanomachines that drift in the bloodsteam and collect oxygen and carbon dioxide under pressure. Someone with respirocytes in them could hypothetically hold their breath for over an hour, which would among other things reduce the need for scuba tanks among divers.
But why not go further, like replacing the entire function of the blood with nanotechnology? Hunter-killer nanotech could attack invasive pathogens and parasites, antihistimine-like machines could compare molecules they come across against a library of allergens and toxins for either destruction or sequestration, platelet-mimics could deliver coagulants to an injury site or even seal it themselves with biodegradable polymers.
The periosteum, the sheathes covering our bones, could be reinforced with fullerenes or other carbon composites, or sufficiently small and robust nanotech could reinforce the entire bone structure the same way. The chain proteins that actually hold our cells one to another and prevent us from falling apart into living slime would be a bit harder to reinforce, since our soft tissues need to stay soft, but very durable structures could be introduced to make those soft tissues less likely to be cut or torn.
If nanomachines could be given any sort of ability to rapidly communicate with one another, a network could be established within our bodies, where, for one, hormonal levels could be regulated; an athlete could get adrenaline on demand, a bomb disposal team member could have it suppressed, and a diabetic would never need to monitor his or her insulin again. This network could also monitor and direct our cardiopulmonary system when needed; nearly all heart attacks would be prevented, and a person who suffers a high-level spinal injury wouldn't have to worry about suffocating because they can't control their diaphragm or the muscles lining their ribs. A sufficiently advanced network might even help them bypass the injury site.
Two problems:
1.) hyperimmune type disorders. IE what happens when the hunterbots turn on healthy cells?
2.) How do we prevent nanos from controlling and restricting thought?
> How do we prevent nanos from controlling and restricting thought?
By living in normal reality and not some kind of bad sci-fi story, I think.
Or maybe keep them the fuck outta my brain... just a thought. Transhumanism sounds good, but I think it could mean the death of a lot of things we are now.
And there's no "undo" button. Once you go transhuman, you can't go back.
I second >>49
"How do we prevent nanos from controlling and restricting thought?" is of the same level as
"What are we going to do if the Teletubbies invade earth?"