things you would have thought would have been invented by now

Excellent point, Monsieur Train.

Once, they didn't have a cure for Polio or even a SHOT. When the president had it, it was developed QUICKLY. So... I guess it will not be long before a president develops it, and the cure will be found.

 

Or, maybe a president HAS had cancer and has already been treated and cured?

:::cue X-Files music:::

 

That closer to what you had in mind?

 

No kidding, JYD.

The robots I showed were toys.

My main point was that I got Robosapien for my son last year. For a toy, this robots pretty damn smart.

This new one is the Robosapien V2. Twice as tall, and twice as smart.

If these robots mature at the pace of PC's and gaming systems, we could see irobot in our homes sooner than you think.

BTW, Robosapien 1 = $100.
Robosapien V2 = $200.
Robopets = $60.

Awesome childrens gifts, btw.

 

It's weird to think about all the sci-fi I've read since the late '50's, and how we've developed things that weren't thought of by some truly visionary writers, and haven't developed things that we were sure to have by the beginning of this century.

I remember reading about space flight and space stations, and the "hero" was frantically working out a solution with his/her slide rule. Anyone remember those? And the kind of space station shown in 2001: A Space Odyssey was really thought to be inevitable, and in orbit by now. We would have a colony on the Moon, and have explored Mars by now.

Think about it... what do you think will be invented in another 40+ years? Where do you think we'll be? Will much of our coastal areas, where an enormous percentage of the world's population lives, be under water? It was written about in sci-fi decades ago. Will we have a new ice age, and/or dramatic climate change? It was written about in SF decades ago. Computers with the power to truly be "intelligent?" Written about decades ago.

Who knows? Someone should start a thread about, "Where will we be by 2050?" If you go by the advances made, and not made, over the last 40+ years, there is huge room for legitimate speculation. Scientifically, and politically, we are careening down a road in our world car, grabbing for the wheel, with it just out of our grasp.

We are at a turning point, I believe, and what we do over the next 5 or 10 years just may determine if our children and grandchildren, and their children, live in a world even remotely as good as what we have now, much less better, despite all the technological advances we are making and will make, or one so awful that it doesn't bear thinking about.

 

Star Trek holodecks? I think the main problem is that in the holodeck, everything is real, not just a 3-d image. That means you need force fields or something equivalent to surround the 3-d image.

There are two ways to go for virtual reality:

Star Trek holodecks or the Matrix.

I think we would sooner invent something like the Matrix than a holodeck.

 

Skittlebrau

 

IIRC, I think Sony patented some type of technology that would use ultrasounds to create sensations in our brains that would appeal to the 5 senses. It sounded somewhat like the Matrix, although you didn't need to drill a hole in your skull, which is always a plus.

 

1. Money minting machine for home and home office (all major currencies) - approved by the feds. (inflation be damned)

2. College football playoffs

3. Clockwise man-made twisters that can nullify the hurricanes or at least reduce their force by at least one half.

4. Exercise machine that can exercise the heart without much effort (i.e. running the treadmil or jogging).

5. Being able to pick and choose only the channels you want on your cable or satelite package without having to be gauged. Being able to watch TV channels from all over this earth without airwaves restrictions and limitations.

 

And I DO believe it ever since I read this story about how it is already happening


Believe it! Again!

 

Yep!

So what do they do? (besides shake hands)

 

*cough*

http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/conditions/10/06/cancer.vaccine.ap/index.html

 

Mine Detecting Shoes!

http://engadget.com/entry/1234000790062079/

 

I'd hardly call a vaccine that blocks two strains of HPV as a cure for cancer...

 

I'm wearing mine detecting shoes right now...I step on a mine while wearing them, and the mine is instantly detected...

 

Maybe not a cure, but a cancer blocker...

 

LOL!

 

No, it's a Human Papilloma Virus blocker.

Besides, the study was only done over two years, among women aged 16-26, not exactly an age group where cervical cancer is high. half of the group of 10,559 got the shot, half didn't. 21 women of the group that didn't get the shot developed cervical cancer, an infection rate of .39%.

I wonder how much Merck will charge for this shot that could potentially lower the rate of one form of cancer by less than 1/2 of one percent? Yeah, I don't think they'll be losing too much money on this "cancer blocking drug"...