The future of technology is all hype. Science and technology are grinding to a halt

[Kframe]

Medicine had grown tremendously in the past 50 years.


Crispr is going to be the next big thing. They’re growing miniature Neanderthal brains in Germany currently.

Crispir and other gene editing tech will eventually fundamentally change humanity. At some point, they will figure out how to stop aging and when it does.. Holy shit.

 

[PoundForPound]

When I saw the thread title, I was really expecting a source, study, or something other than observational humor

"Is normal"

What sort of leaps have we made with nervous system interfacing exactly?

On a PRACTICAL, everyday level, how far along are we in any of those fields?

From the electrodes perspective new materials such as shape memory polymers and variations/alterations to materials such as silicon carbide to modulate its modulus for whatever purpose. Advances in microfabrication have also lead to creation of ultra micro electrodes for improved immune response and high spatial selectivity for stimulation.

Magnetic stimulation and trans-cutaneous stimulation for non-invasive neural stimulation. There are also a whole line of different electrodes used for neural recording such the the LIFE and others I cannot remember.

Various labs are also developing wireleessly powered stimulating electrode, which have helped tremendously for long-term interfacing (~years range, animal experiments).

OH and I almost forgot the biggest advancement in the past 10 years: optogenetics! that's the big one... hopefully when people get past their fear of genetic manipulation (as well as better control of this technique) then this can be a very good candidate for highly selective (down to cell type) and highly temporally controlled method to interface with the nervous system.

As far as everyday life advances? I would suggest you stay put for advances made through vagus nerve stimulation, which is financially fueling the development of these technologies for human use.

I am not an expert on the topic of electrodes, but if you're interested in discussing more let me know. It never hurts to go outside ones comfort zone.

 

[panamaican]

I'm not the one measuring it. I can dig up the source, but I don't think it's really the point of disagreement here. I think you're looking at a couple of big things that happened very far apart and seeing big jumps as being constant, while my point is that big jumps are rare and lucky events rather than something that is normal.

Yes, that is the disagreement. I'd be curious to read your source, as always there is a small chance that I'm wrong.

I'm not looking at a couple of big things, I used big examples that had plenty of further innovation that followed from them. Just like the current innovations. The internal combustion engine is over 140 years old. It's become more efficient, smaller, more powerful but it's still extremely prevalent. I think most rockets still use some form of an internal combustion engine. So, we're talking about space travel but it's still based on a technology that's over a century old. The internet? The prototype is over 50 years old and we haven't innovated past it yet, we've just continued to refine it.

A couple of big things followed by years of smaller things.

 

[FascistDictator]

"Is normal"



From the electrodes perspective new materials such as shape memory polymers and variations/alterations to materials such as silicon carbide to modulate its modulus for whatever purpose. Advances in microfabrication have also lead to creation of ultra micro electrodes for improved immune response and high spatial selectivity for stimulation.

Magnetic stimulation and trans-cutaneous stimulation for non-invasive neural stimulation. There are also a whole line of different electrodes used for neural recording such the the LIFE and others I cannot remember.

Various labs are also developing wireleessly powered stimulating electrode, which have helped tremendously for long-term interfacing (~years range, animal experiments).

OH and I almost forgot the biggest advancement in the past 10 years: optogenetics! that's the big one... hopefully when people get past their fear of genetic manipulation (as well as better control of this technique) then this can be a very good candidate for highly selective (down to cell type) and highly temporally controlled method to interface with the nervous system.

As far as everyday life advances? I would suggest you stay put for advances made through vagus nerve stimulation, which is financially fueling the development of these technologies for human use.

I am not an expert on the topic of electrodes, but if you're interested in discussing more let me know. It never hurts to go outside ones comfort zone.

What's the most amount of energy that can be contained in a single cell of a biological organism?

Or rather...

What's the maximum number of anions a cell can hold?

 

[PoundForPound]

What's the most amount of energy that can be contained in a single cell of a biological organism?

Or rather...

What's the maximum number of anions a cell can hold?

Haha umm that's a random question. May I ask what you're trying to get to?

I would say it varies per cell type; probably neurons have the highest concentrations of anions, but that can change within a millisecond notice. In a naturally polarized state you can start with the Goldman Hodgkin Katz equation to give you a relative idea and then try to derive more absolute amount. I'm on my phone and don't feel like doing the research sorry lol.

Maybe we can get to a point without specific numbers?

Edit: in terms of voltage you can get around -65 to -100 mV resting membrane potential and probably higher with halorhodopsins, which hyperpolarize (make them even more negative) nerve cells

 

[Kframe]

This is actually not true. Medicine did have a guagantic leap with the invention of penicillin, and we are still stuck with the same type of antibiotics from the 60s... super bacterias are devoliping and Many are even resistante to vancomicine...

We are still not able to cure a damn flue for fuck sakes... in the grand scheme of themes, we are pretty much at the.same place as we were 50 years ago.

You cant cure "the flu". There are WAY more then 1 strain of "flu" virus. Potentially thousands of different strains.

 

[Kframe]

5 years? Is that such advance? It’s been 30 years for fuck sakes, about time god damn cancer gets a freaking cure

There is more then one cancer. Therefore you can not simply make a one size fits all cure..

 

[Canned Tuna]

I'm not saying that new technology doesn't still get created and isn't impressive. I'm saying that it is not improving anywhere near the rate that it was in past decades, and most science is pretty much discovered and already leveraged to it's limit.

I think you're confusing 'technology' with 'invention'. They aren't exactly the same thing. I understand what you're saying. There aren't a lot of really new things being invented, but technology is still changing extremely rapidly. Most modern inventions are improvements on old inventions as opposed to being completely new ideas. However, I think that has always been the case. The truly novel inventions throughout history that were completely new ideas at the time are pretty spaced out and there are relatively few of them.

 

[Canned Tuna]

Crispir and other gene editing tech will eventually fundamentally change humanity. At some point, they will figure out how to stop aging and when it does.. Holy shit.

I don't think that will happen, but if it does, they're going to have to come up with some pretty serious methods of population control

 

[Kframe]

you seen the comunicators in star trek? no one wants that flip phone shit.

LOL that was the first star trek series. And that flip communicator was a direct inspiration for the first flip phone. In later trek they were using Com badges, which I liken to Apple watches.

 

[Jack V Savage]

Yes, that is the disagreement. I'd be curious to read your source, as always there is a small chance that I'm wrong.

A lot of the overall points are from "The Rise and Fall of American Growth" by Robert Gordon, though I'd have to go into footnotes to get the actual sources. Tyler Cowen's "The Great Stagnation" is a secondary bit. And then there are reviews, rebuttals, counter-rebuttals, etc. that make points that have stuck.

I'm not looking at a couple of big things, I used big examples that had plenty of further innovation that followed from them. Just like the current innovations. The internal combustion engine is over 140 years old. It's become more efficient, smaller, more powerful but it's still extremely prevalent.

Yeah, but historically speaking 140 years is nothing. The way people look at it, there have been three separate industrial revolutions, and the internal combustion engine was a big part of the second one, which is by far the most significant and which is what's winding down (leading to slowing growth in the developed world). Again, I'd recommend looking into this, as I'm just dropping bits of a larger conversation. I think the points I've made stand on their own, but if you're really interested, there's a lot more here. I'm not trying to back out here, and I can just go into it deeper, but someone like you might appreciate the books I cited and the conversation that's already flowed from them more.

 

[ultramanhyata]

Anyone else feel this way? Think of all the greatest inventions in the world. Any of them in the past 2 decades?

Two words: Google Glass. This technology has completely reimagined and changed the way humans relate with one another and the world.

 

[7437]

LOL that was the first star trek series. And that flip communicator was a direct inspiration for the first flip phone. In later trek they were using Com badges, which I liken to Apple watches.

nobody wants a fuckin apple watch either. the future looks like it sucks.

 

[Kframe]

I don't think that will happen, but if it does, they're going to have to come up with some pretty serious methods of population control

I think the said that population growth would decline actually.

nobody wants a fuckin apple watch either. the future looks like it sucks.

Hmm.................

 

[7437]

I think the said that population growth would decline actually.

Hmm.................

this thread is kinda amusing though. some people seem to have a real lack of understanding how technological advancement works. and medical.

 

[SeefourDC]

5 years? Is that such advance? It’s been 30 years for fuck sakes, about time god damn cancer gets a freaking cure

You clearly have no earthly idea how complicated the body is. Most people don't even realize the reality of cancer. You are trying to kill a cell that's just a little off and taking over your own body. It's made of you and almost anything you do to harm it harms
The rest of you.

We just identified the actual thing that causes hunger in the last 3 years. Just this year we found a new organ that we couldn't see before because it's a mesh in between other organs that disappears when you cut into it.

 

[Ruprecht]

One thing that would really change everything would be desire modification--the true ultimate technology. Instead of going to the stars or replicating anything our brains could just be tweaked so we're happy where we are and with what we have. That's attainable, too.

There's any number of "paradigm shifts" that could come next.
Leaving the planet and transhumanism (including desire modification) are the obvious ones.
We're far from reaching the limits of out current information technology paradigm though.
We will reach the physical limit of shrinking transistors in the next decade. Even without fundamentally changing that approach, expanding the use of existing technology into the Internet of Things and smart manufacturing is well on it's way.
A truly global, omnipresent internet, connecting not only people through our mobile computational devices, but also every object humans interact with and the production of those objects... that's definitely a "lifestyle changer".

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

The internet? The prototype is over 50 years old and we haven't innovated past it yet, we've just continued to refine it.

Innovate past? The internet wasn't shit 30 years ago. Now it dominates daily life. Maximizing the tech is innovation in itself. Some chump with his dial-up and floppy disks back in the '80's wasn't anywhere near pulling a computer out of his pocket and scheduling an uber with his paypal. Or hitting Google maps on said computer and being able to navigate successfully. Or putting their opinions on facebook and being able to reach a billion people instantaneously.

So yeah, refining tech is an important part of taking advantage of it. In that regard, shit's changing on practically a daily basis.

 

[FascistDictator]

Haha umm that's a random question. May I ask what you're trying to get to?

I would say it varies per cell type; probably neurons have the highest concentrations of anions, but that can change within a millisecond notice. In a naturally polarized state you can start with the Goldman Hodgkin Katz equation to give you a relative idea and then try to derive more absolute amount. I'm on my phone and don't feel like doing the research sorry lol.

Maybe we can get to a point without specific numbers?

Edit: in terms of voltage you can get around -65 to -100 mV resting membrane potential and probably higher with halorhodopsins, which hyperpolarize (make them even more negative) nerve cells

My friend was wanting to know if it was possible for a genetically engineered cell to hold, say, 100+ MV

Would there be enough room?

 

[Judoka1532]

Anyone else feel this way? Think of all the greatest inventions in the world. Any of them in the past 2 decades?

Some inventions may have been improved in the past 2 decades, but very few are actually new concepts. We haven't really invented much new technology or had many scientific breakthroughs, but rather just iterated on existing concepts and made them better (which is great for our daily lives, but not for having flying cars by 2062). Think of all the shows/movies that predicted what we would have by the early 2000's and how far off they were.

The most impressive technological breakthroughs that have come from the past two decades has exclusively been hardware continuously getting smaller and faster and even that is going to quickly hit a limit, you can only make transistors so small (silicon's atomic size is 0.2 nm and we are already at 5 nm). So there's a definable limit to how good hardware can get.

Smartphones? Essentially just a small computer. Doesn't take a genius to say that someone might want to make a computer that would fit in their pocket, really it was only hardware improvements that made it possible, but again that is reaching it's limits.

You might say AI. The majority of AI concepts are from the 70's or older. AI is still very unsophisticated and only applicable to defined tasks. Just because it can simulate some human behaviour (speech being the main one), doesn't mean we are anywhere near any kind of singularity. Anyone who hypes up the singularity is spreading misinformation. I have both studied and worked in AI and I can tell you it will probably not happen, ever.

The only thing with real potential (but a lot of drawbacks as well) is quantum computing, but that isn't a new concept this side of the millenium.

We are running out of ways to leverage science to create new technologies. I believe in 60 years we will not experience anywhere near the same technological shock and awe that our grandparents experienced. It is especially disheartening considering the ability to communicate and share knowledge on the Internet has greatly improved, yet I have not seen the expected returns.

Honestly I'm terrified of technology. I'm worried that it's going to surpass our instinctual needs and work against us. Technological power doubles approx. every 1.5-2 years. Which means like our smartphones had more computing power in '09 than the computers that sent men to the moon. There's also robots and AI that could potentially turn on us. It could happen. I'm all for increase healthcare technology, but scientists are working on tech that can read our thoughts, control us, and take care of all of our needs. I just have my doubts as to how that will benefit people. We need challenge. I think some technology is good, but when our privacy and uniqueness is taken from...we will no longer be human.