List To Keep The Tech-hungry Busy. (W9)

To conclude the nine-week blog entries, I decided to post an article with a top 25 list of awesome technologies you should totally be knowing about.

Here's a few examples of what's on the list (read the article for details on each):

 - Bike lane safety light.  This gadget shines a laser on both sides of your bike, creating your own "painted" bike lane.

 - Stick and find stickers.  We all desperately need these.  Put the sticker on something you always lose (like a remote) and your smart phone app can track it down for you.  Never lose your keys again!

 - Foot powered cycle.  The picture says it all.  It's like a Filntstones car but... a bike.

Read the article for the rest.  It's interesting that we are always looking for the next big breakthrough in technology but seem to overlook all of the really neat incremental steps that are being taken every day.

This Bot Builds Houses In Two Days! (W8)

Laying down 1,000 bricks every hour, this robot could build 150 homes in the span of a year.  What did you get accomplished this weekend?

The Gizmag article points out:

Pivac says Hadrian improves site safety, reduces the level of waste created with each house construction, and cuts down on associated emissions too. And rather than taking human jobs, he hopes Hadrian creates them.

Hopefully that will calm down the luddites who may be wary of our new construction overlords.  I wonder if they catcall and harass attractive streets weepers and garbage trucks.

Nerf Gun + Tesla Coil + 20,000 Volts (W7)

Rob Flikenger (apparently mad scientist) decided to make an actual Tesla gun.  Operational and performing at 20,000 volts, it's hard to tell what sort of scenario this would be utilized for exactly, but it's hard to deny how awesome it is.

According to the article:

Flickenger used an old iron-cast Nerf gun for the weapon's body and a 3D printed porcelain case to house both the Tesla coil and a high-voltage switch. To make this weapon work, all you need to do is pull the trigger like you would with any other gun. But since this is a Tesla coil-powered weapon, expect to see lightning instead of bullets. 

Coming soon to a department store near you... hopefully?

Hydrogen Power For... Smart Phones? (W6)

A hydrogen fuel cell may soon be powering our mobile devices, giving smart phones a battery life of up to one week.  There seems to be a couple of infrastructure problems that can be read about in the article, but nothing game-breaking.

According to the article:

You can already get various fuel cell chargers that combine lithium ion batteries and their own internal hardware, but what Internal Energy has worked on is (supposedly) quite different. The Telegraph reports that the company’s fuel cell technology can be integrated into an iPhone without any visible changes to the device, save for some additional vents that discharge water vapor. Total iPhone charge time? One week.

I have trouble imagining my phone making it through the day without a charge so this is pretty exciting.

An Executive Order I Can Support! (W5)

President Obama has signed an order for the new initiative, National Strategic Computing Initiative (NSCI).  The goal is to get rolling on making an exaflop supercomputer.

From the article here:

Supercomputers are at the heart of a huge number of important scientific and defense research projects. They’re used by aerospace engineers to model planes and weapons, and by climatologists to predict the the near-term impact of hurricanes and the long-term effects of climate change. Researchers involved in the White House’s Precision Medicine initiative believe exaflop speed supercomputers could aid the creation of personalized drugs, while the European Commission’s Human Brain Project hopes they will help unlock the secrets of the human brain.

Let's do this!

Fax Me That Taco! (W4)

It's going to happen whether or not people like to admit it.



Printing out your edibles is something that most people "in the know" say is within a couple of decades away.  Personally, I give it seven years before we can start making rudimentary items.  I see an eventual future where virtually any food item can be recreated with the same common nutrient base (most likely made from recyclables).  Get it efficient enough and you can solve world hunger.  Here's what the experts say about it:  Article Here!

Transhumanist Party Presidential Candidate Travelling in Style (W3)

So  Zoltan Istvan, presidential candidate running under the Transhumanist Party, is hoping to tour in a giant coffin bus type thing.  The vehicle will match the theme of his platform which is, well, transhumanism.  I have been a bit of a fan of Istvan for a while and I agree with much of his sentiments so this bus totally makes sense to me.  To others, maybe not so much.

Sort of what it may look like kinda maybe.  Hopefully.  Fingers crossed.

The Transhumanists don't believe in the superstitions that say "we can't play god" or "we can't participate in our evolution" or "driving coffins is wrong, mkay".  Transhumanism says "screw that, we gonna live forever" and that's the plan.  If there is any group of people with humanity's literal advancement in mind, it's these guys.  In his own words:

“We’re trying to spread a culture that looks positively at indefinite human lifespans,” Istvan told KurzweilAI. “In addition to rallies and events, we hope to visit a number of universities, where futurist and transhumanist student groups have been popping up. We hope to have these groups on board the bus and offer advice on pursing careers in technology, artificial intelligence, and medicine. Our hope is to get youth to pursue science and engineering, instead of, let’s say, advertising or accounting.

“We also plan to visit homes with disabled war veterans, discuss new technologies that might help them live better, like exoskeleton suits, and hold events for LGBT communities that are increasingly considering virtual reality and other new tech as part of their social lives. We hope these collective efforts will help broaden the horizon of the futurist, transhumanist, and longevity communities that are all using technology to move society forward.”

For the full article, click here.