Scotty Posted December 1, 2013 Report Posted December 1, 2013 What great scientific advances do you think might arrive within our lifetimes, or maybe not, and how long do you think it will take? For example, doctors are experimenting with gene therapy now, with techniques which will remove severe genetic disorders from eggs before implantation. So long long until genetic disorders are a thing of the past? I think within the next 20 years they'll be, if not gone, then significantly reduced. Someone said not very long ago, that people will be having sex with robots within five years. I doubt it, but how soon will we get at least primitive consumer robots, ones that can push a lawnmower, shovel snow, maybe wash the floor? Yes, I do think we'll get sexbots, but not within the next twenty years. Google, among others, is experimenting with driverless cars, and having great success. Will we be driving our own cars in thirty years or will they all be automated? I think all cars will be automated within thirty years. People will miss driving their cars (including me) but it will save lives from accidents and allow much more efficient use of roadways. The best idea I've seen in a while is glass roads. The US transportation department has awarded money to a company to experiment with the idea, and the experiment is now well-underway. The roadways will act something like solar collectors, and can not only keep themselves warm (no more snow and ice) but will be able to power electric cars and probably whole cities as well. Obviously the glass is pretty strong. I think we'll have them within 25 years. Quote It is an inverted moral calculus that tries to persuade the world to demonize one state that tries its civilized best to abide in a difficult time and place, and rides merrily by the examples and practices of dozens of states and leaderships that drop into brutality every day without a twinge of regret or a whisper of condemnation. - Rex Murphy
cybercoma Posted December 1, 2013 Report Posted December 1, 2013 I think we're on the verge of perpetual motion. I can just feel it. Quote
Bonam Posted December 1, 2013 Report Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) What great scientific advances do you think might arrive within our lifetimes, or maybe not, and how long do you think it will take? http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-law-of-accelerating-returns Within 100 years, death will be a thing of the past, human intelligence will have merged with artificial intelligence, we'll have limitless clean energy, and interstellar spacecraft will be on their way to neighboring star systems to spread our civilization throughout the cosmos. Edited December 1, 2013 by Bonam Quote
BC_chick Posted December 1, 2013 Report Posted December 1, 2013 (edited) Someone said not very long ago, that people will be having sex with robots within five years. I doubt it, but how soon will we get at least primitive consumer robots, ones that can push a lawnmower, shovel snow, maybe wash the floor? Yes, I do think we'll get sexbots, but not within the next twenty years. Definitely not 20 years. Read the comments and watch this video: Edited December 1, 2013 by BC_chick Quote It's kind of the worst thing that any humans could be doing at this time in human history. Other than that, it's fine." Bill Nye on Alberta Oil Sands
Argus Posted December 1, 2013 Report Posted December 1, 2013 Definitely not 20 years. Read the comments and watch this video: I notice she doesn't move around... Also, what does that thing cost? I bet it's far too much for any ordinary person to afford. Quote "A liberal is someone who claims to be open to all points of view — and then is surprised and offended to find there are other points of view.” William F Buckley
Scotty Posted December 2, 2013 Author Report Posted December 2, 2013 I saw the video and announcement about Amazon planning to use drones to deliver most small packages within five years. Quite interesting. I wonder how many deliverymen that's going to put out of work. And I'm reminded of a scene in an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where he jumps into a taxi and the robot driver swivels its head and asks where to. Taxi drivers will be a thing of the past too once cars become automated. I'm betting that happens within 20 years. That will also mean the end of longhaul truck driver jobs and, in fact, most trucking jobs. Bus drivers will probably be eliminated, as well. Automation is about to bring on a new wave of job losses amongst the semi-skilled. Quote It is an inverted moral calculus that tries to persuade the world to demonize one state that tries its civilized best to abide in a difficult time and place, and rides merrily by the examples and practices of dozens of states and leaderships that drop into brutality every day without a twinge of regret or a whisper of condemnation. - Rex Murphy
Mighty AC Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 The Amazon drone delivery idea amazed me. What a phenomenal concept! Packages would be shipped to hubs, as they are now but then delivered from the hubs to homes or drop off points by GPS controlled electric octocopters. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/amazoncom-eyes-drone-delivery-it-looks-like-science-fiction-but-its-real/article15712041/ Quote "Our lives begin to end the day we stay silent about the things that matter." - Martin Luther King Jr"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire
Wilber Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 (edited) The Amazon drone delivery idea amazed me. What a phenomenal concept! Packages would be shipped to hubs, as they are now but then delivered from the hubs to homes or drop off points by GPS controlled electric octocopters. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/amazoncom-eyes-drone-delivery-it-looks-like-science-fiction-but-its-real/article15712041/ It could only apply to packages that are quite small and light. Sounds like a recipe for chaos to me. Why just Amazon and not everyone and his dog using the things? Be like living in a world populated by giant bees. Wonder how long before someone walks out his front door and gets nailed in the face by a drone Edited December 2, 2013 by Wilber Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
bush_cheney2004 Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 Bezos said that 86% of Amazon's fulfillment orders weigh 5 pounds or less, which is the payload limit for the present R&D rotocopters. Everybody who insists on "green technology" will have to accept getting nailed in the face. Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
Wilber Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 Bezos said that 86% of Amazon's fulfillment orders weigh 5 pounds or less, which is the payload limit for the present R&D rotocopters. Everybody who insists on "green technology" will have to accept getting nailed in the face. Also wouldn't be too thrilled about getting nailed in the back of the head walking up someones front steps as the homeowner gets his new shipment of whatever. What about the non Amazon shoppers having to put up with these things howling through their yards and neigbbourhoods all the time? Bezos obviously doesn't care about polluting neighbourhoods with these things. I think there might be a place for them but I hope it isn't home delivery. Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Michael Hardner Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 Also wouldn't be too thrilled about getting nailed in the back of the head ... Come on, people, when has technology ever failed us ? Quote Looks like someone has a new patronizing catch phrase ! Michael Hardner
bush_cheney2004 Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 What about the non Amazon shoppers having to put up with these things howling through their yards and neigbbourhoods all the time? Nobody cared about the shoppers (or birds) when it came to siting windmills. Just think of the copters as tiny windmills helping to save the earth from climate change. LOL! Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
Wilber Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 One question. How did they deliver the notice? Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
Wilber Posted December 2, 2013 Report Posted December 2, 2013 (edited) On the subject of deliveries. I've had an android phone for the past few years but because everyone in my family seems to use Iphones and Ipads, I decided to give one a try and ordered an unlocked 5S from the Apple Store. Like everything else, they are made in China and it has been interesting to follow the UPS tracking. From Zhengzhou it went to Incheon Korea, then back to Shanghai. From there it went to Anchorage, then Louisville KY and on to Spokane WA before arriving in Richmond BC. After one more stop it is out for delivery sometime today. Pretty sure it will just be a little brown truck. Edited December 2, 2013 by Wilber Quote "Never trust a man who has not a single redeeming vice". WSC
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