Bionic Hand controlled by brain signalsPosted on 01/18/2013 4:49:51 AM PST by Lucky9teen
We are living in an extremely exciting time in terms of science and technology. Things that have always been considered science fiction are becoming normal day-to-day components of our lives. And while we have been seeing invention after breakthrough over and over in the last couple of decades, this next ten years is going to blow everything else out of the water.
The awesome thing about all these scientific discoveries it that they create technology that allows us to make more breakthroughs even faster. Our ability to innovate is increasing exponentially as the years go by. To give you an idea of the magnitude of this reality, here are 10 amazing innovations to different sectors of life. They should give you a pretty good idea of what changes will be made by 2020.
Bionic Hand controlled by brain signalsOkay, it doesn’t let you crush rocks like you would think, BUT it does allow people without fingers to have fully functional hands that can pick up and handle delicate objects. It is completely controlled by the brain and requires no surgery. Touch Bionics, the company the produces the Pro Digits hand, is able to install the hand complete with “living skin,” a plastic covering resembling human skin, for under $50,000. A small price to pay for a new hand I think.
This beautiful building is going to be made of 59 independently rotating modules/floors so that inhabitants will have a constantly shifting view of the outside world. Each floor will rotate at approximately 6 meters per minute so that the inhabitants will not notice the movement. The independent rotations will also give the building an ever-changing exterior that can warp into very complex designs.
All of that aesthetic stuff is great and all, but the real innovation comes from the wind turbines built in between each floor. The resulting pollution-free energy will be enough to power the tower and several buildings in the surrounding area. Just Wow.
Touch
Big Blue reckons that soon enough mobile phone users will be able to touch a product through their device's screen. Using haptic technology (which some speculated would appear on the iPhone 5 earlier this year) people could, for example, touch the material on a piece of clothing before decided whether to buy it or not.
Of course users will not literally touch the material, but it will be a simulation of what the material would feel like. IBM says its scientists are already hard at work using haptic, infrared and pressure sensitive technologies that will be able to do this, with the retail industry likely to be the first to benefit from it.
Sight
Anyone who has used the "similar" on Google's image search will know that its algorithms are getting better at looking at an image and then finding ones similar. But it does that by using information tagged into the image by humans and is therefore quite limited.
IBM says that is soon going to change. Computers will soon be able to learn what is in an image, essentially making sense out of it in the same way a human would. The obvious use for this technology is the healthcare industry, where patient diagnosis could be given a helping hand. Telemedicine is one area that would certainly benefit from this sort of technology.
Hearing
There is an episode of The Simpsons where Herb, Homer's long-lost brother, invents a machine that can translate a baby's babbling into speech. IBM thinks technology to actually do that will be available within five years. Sensors will detect elements of sounds and computers will interpret them to find any meaning that would otherwise be hidden.
As well as the baby talk example IBM thinks that sensors will be able to use sounds to predict when a tree may fall in a forest or when a landslide is imminent. A real life example is happening in Galway Bay in Ireland, where IBM have put sensors underwater to pick up on noises being made by wave energy conversion machines and working out what impact that may be having on marine life.
Taste
This one would interest Heston Blumenthal, that's for sure. IBM claims that within the next five years computers will be able to pull together the perfect meal, one that uses a human's favorite smells and tastes and selects appropriate food. Big Blue said, "It will break down ingredients to their molecular level and blend the chemistry of food compounds with the psychology behind what flavors and smells humans prefer."
It wouldn't just be about the taste though. The technology would be able to recommend healthy options that whoever sits down to eat the meal is guaranteed to like. It will even be able to take into account medical issues such as diabetes or allergies, IBM said.
Smell
Within five years it will be possible for your smart phone to smell you and analyze if you are coming down with something like a cough or a cold. Tiny sensors embedded in the device will analyze biomarkers and the thousands of molecules in someone's breath and will pick up on any abnormalities.
Technology like this is already in use, such as art galleries using it to monitor the air around works of art, but IBM thinks it will eventually be used for clinical hygiene purposes as well. For example hospitals will be able to use to it work out whether a room has been sanitized or not.
That Macbook Air is pretty damn thin. So thin, in fact, that it makes you wonder if physical computers will even exist in 2020. Well according to developers at Intel, the keyboard and mouse surely won’t. Who needs QWERTY when you can control a computer with your mind?
Pomerleau and countless research groups around the world are working with brain scanning devices to map blood flow in the brain. They have found that when different individual focus on the same image, they have very similar patterns of blood flow in their brains. For example, one British group announced that they could discern where subjects were in a computer generated virtual environment by looking at where blood flowed in their brains.
The way in which we interact with the outside world has changed SO much since the introduction of the internet, smart phones, etc. In the very near future, another huge jump will be made: integrating the information on the internet with our surroundings.
By that I mean being able to look at a building, product or place and immediately seeing information about the subject on our devices and eventually just with our eyes.
If you’re still confused as to what I mean, check out the earliest innovation of this concept, Goggles by Google. This app allows you to take a picture of whatever you are looking at and instantly receive info about it on your Android phone.
CHECK OUT THIS VIDEO. Kurzweil says that “By 2020 we’ll routinely have pop ups in our visual field of view that give us background about the people and places that we’re looking at.” Your memory and the vast information bank of the internet will be one at all times.
Until we can do this with a chip in our brain, a new device has come out that overlays video onto our normal vision using special glasses. It’s called the Vuzix display Wrap 920AR and it goes on sale soon for around $800.
While we still can’t cure the common cold, custom-made organs are just around the corner.
A company called Organovo has developed the first commercial 3-D bio printer that builds custom organs cell-by-cell. Each individual cell is based upon sample cells from the body of the customer. Organovo reports that veins and arteries will be available in 5 years, and more complex organs like hearts and livers in 10.
On a more general note, nanotechnology is revolutionizing the health world. The awesome combination of a higher understanding of how DNA works and the ability to create very small cellular parts is painting a very bright future for medicine.
Scientists are finding specific sequences of DNA that code for conditions like schizophrenia, autism and even aging. The cures are actually in sight.
By that, I mean the ability of a Joe Nobody to come from nowhere and suddenly gain recognition and become a well known someone. The internet has been continually leveling the playing field so that you don’t need million in capital or marketing to get your ideas, creations and business into the spotlight.
10 year-olds are making thousands off their viral YouTube videos. Anyone with a business idea can start a website and get going for little to no capital. Even Twitter (which I am not a big fan of) can launch people into the spotlight if they can work the system in the right way.
Many people are getting huge jobs because companies are seeing how well their content does on the web. For example, Fede Alvarez, a director from Uruguay, recently had this short film go viral and was offered $30 million from a Hollywood company to direct a film for them. The internet is the perfect tool for capitalism, entrepreneurship, and dreaming. Whatever you can dream up, you can make possible on the World Wide Web.
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The first decade of the 21st century has been a remarkable time for innovation in robotics. While we’re still far away from having bots helping around the house or doing our construction, big strides have been made towards that future.
Recently a robot was able to teach itself human facial expressions by randomly contorting its face and receiving feedback on what resembled real expressions.
10 Illegal Baby Names http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-qjtKZz9F8
10 Unfortunately-Named Products http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dKcQ6Cdrz8
So true!
Carol Burnette and Tim Conway in “Wrong Number” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj4B5tKSTvM
He had scouted all the colleges and even the Canadian and European Leagues, but he couldn't find a ringer who could ensure a Super Bowl win.
Then one night while watching CNN he saw a war-zone scene in Afghanistan . In one corner of the background, he spotted a young Afghan Muslim soldier with a truly incredible arm. He threw a hand-grenade straight into a 15th story window 100 yards away.
KABOOM!
He threw another hand-grenade 75 yards away, right into a chimney.
KA-BLOOEY!
Then he threw another at a passing car going 90 mph.
BULLS-EYE!
"I've got to get this guy!" Coach said to himself. "He has the perfect arm!"
So, he brings him to the States and teaches him the great game of football. And the Bears go on to win the Super Bowl.
The young Afghan is hailed as the great hero of football, and when the coach asks him what he wants, all the young man wants is to call his mother.
"Mom," he says into the phone, "I just won the Super Bowl!"
"I don't want to talk to you, the old Muslim woman says. “You are not my son!"
"I don't think you understand, Mother," the young man pleads. "I've won the greatest sporting event in the world. I'm here among thousands of my adoring fans."
"No! Let me tell you!" his mother retorts. "At this very moment, there are gunshots all around us. The neighborhood is a pile of rubble. Your two brothers were beaten within an inch of their lives last week, and I have to keep your sister in the house so she doesn't get raped!" The old lady pauses, and then tearfully says,
"I will never forgive you for making us move to Chicago !!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO top 100
TGIF!
Now THAT'S funny right there.
I’ve heard variations on this joke before. It also works if the guy is recruited to play for the Raiders. :)
Yo, Ben. The picture ones and the word ones are great! But I can’t watch a bunch of youtubes at work (if I want to keep my job and all).
I will try to catch up on some of them this weekend, but I beg you to remember the video challenged on OFST day.
Also, I think it’s Burnett, without the e, but I could be wrong.
bump for later silliness!
So sorry, but later silliness is not permitted. Silliness must be in the moment. This according to the Obama Silliness Czar who issued a 240 page regulation on Silliness on April 1, 2010.
You didn't know Obama had a Silliness Czar? Have you not been following the news out of the White House?
Biden?
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