I am a very curious person. All my life I have roamed books, radio, the web, and wherever; absorbing information from all over the place like a sponge. My emphasis is usually technology, especially of the emerging, "nearly Sci-Fi" variety, but I have learned over time that left to my own inclinations I absorb information vociferously and omnivorously. Occasionally however, I bump into things that are so cool and unusual that I just have to share them!

 

This first one is something I have been keeping an eye on for years, and has now reached what I suspect is the breakout point. Expect this to become part of your regular lives, and soon. This leads thematically to another even wilder tech that if ever realized, would completely change our entire world. We are living in some wild times! http://www.wilmccart...ediaEdition.pdf

 

But First:

 

Next: Have you ever heard of the Singularity? Do you know there is a Singularity institute? Yearly university hosted Singularity conferences? Did you know that governments and scientists all over the world generally agree that a singularity of some sort is inevitable? What the flying heck is a singularity?!

 

http://en.wikipedia....cal_singularity

 

http://www.technewsw...tory/68678.html

 

Did you know that somewhere out there, right now! People; scientists, Darpa, astronauts, writers and brilliant minds....... are working to guide our species safely into a future of machines smarter than humans.........?

 

That serious people are struggling to avoid....Skynet?

 

Holy Crap!! Science fiction is now!

 

It is an exciting and chaotic time - a blessing and a curse I think it’s important to recognize a lot of change is exponential. And just how much has changed in say the last two hundred years. Those are two things I find hard to do; we’ve been quick to acclimate to change, and exponential relationships are tricky to picture. But exponentials don’t go on forever, they smoothly plateau at a new level or they crash back to a baseline. In my mind control or management is mostly an illusion - the best analogy I can think of is a school of fish. Tools and technology these days are just amazing, and ultimately people are resourceful. Lol, I expect the changes of the last forty years to pale against the next

 

Nanotech has created Hydrophobic paint - it's just become commercial available.

From what I can tell, on an aircraft such a coating would completely eliminate icing.

...even on a 40 year old Cessna

Best as I can tell, humans are chasing their imaginations. If they can dream it, eventually it will become a technological reality.

 

Star Wars, Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Frankenstein, all this stuff will be real and doable some day but it may take a while.

 

That is, if we don't destroy ourselves or world in the process.

 

What I'll miss experiencing, since I will certainly be dead before then, is seeing other lifeforms and other planets.

Nanotech has created Hydrophobic paint - it's just become commercial available.

From what I can tell, on an aircraft such a coating would completely eliminate icing.

...even on a 40 year old Cessna

 

That's nothing, I invented the world's strongest glue, but now I can't get the lid off the container I put it in.

 

Al

It is an exciting and chaotic time - a blessing and a curse I think it’s important to recognize a lot of change is exponential. And just how much has changed in say the last two hundred years. Those are two things I find hard to do; we’ve been quick to acclimate to change, and exponential relationships are tricky to picture. But exponentials don’t go on forever, they smoothly plateau at a new level or they crash back to a baseline. In my mind control or management is mostly an illusion - the best analogy I can think of is a school of fish. Tools and technology these days are just amazing, and ultimately people are resourceful. Lol, I expect the changes of the last forty years to pale against the next

 

Nanotech has created Hydrophobic paint - it's just become commercial available.

From what I can tell, on an aircraft such a coating would completely eliminate icing.

...even on a 40 year old Cessna

 

 

I think of all the things that were pure science fiction when I was growing up, and things that I was sure that I would never live to see; then look at the things that surround me now, and the even more amazing things being worked on in so many places, and it’s impossible to deny the speed at which human knowledge and capability is expanding.

 

Quantum teleportation and immortal jellyfish? Check.

 

The first tests of practical anti-aging treatments, and personal gene therapies? Check.

 

Ai breakthroughs, dark matter, programmable atoms and technological singularities? Check and check!

 

Could science fiction do any better?

 

How about this? Come to this site and talk with CYC, an AI that has been wandering the web learning new facts about the world. In this simple game, you help CYC learn new things. http://game.cyc.com/

 

When I first started helping CYC a few years ago, its questions were very toddler-like and simple to answer. Its questions now are much more sophisticated, but can now also be downright odd, which I suspect means it has been getting much contradictory information from the public, and is struggling to make sense of it.

 

More information about the controversial CYC AI Project and Cycorp can be found here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyc

 

Weird, huh?