Slashdot Mirror
World's First Encyclopedia of Future Inventions
Deb Hellman writes "WIRED Magazine Writers, Cory Doctorow and Wil McCarthy, have joined VC Rick Patch and 2 futurists to judge the Immortalizer Technologies Project - a project designed to uncover a comprehensive list of future inventions. The project is being spearheaded by a futurist think-tank, the DaVinci Institute. The goal of the project is to create a compendium of future inventions, a roadmap of sorts for innovators. They probably won't get it right in the first edition, but I like how Tom Frey is thinking on this one. People can submit their ideas and have a future invention named after themselves. Deadline for submissions is April 30th."
It would seem to me that anyone attempting to create an invention that appears on a "to invent" list of this sort would not be an innovator.
I predict someone will mod you up for this.
This would allow people to plug their mobile phones into a cradle device, then use any phone in their house instead of having to have a landline phone. The idea consists of a cradle device (or multiple cradles, a base station (that utilizes the wiring of the house, and converts the analog signal to digital so mutiple mobile phones can be used at the same time), and digital-to-analog converters for each analog phone in the house.
Hammer of Truth
"Controlling the Weather - Since the beginning of time, man has been fighting the forces of nature. Clothing protects us from the weather in a small way. Buildings protect us in a much larger way. But wouldn't it be nice to spot a hurricane when it first starts to develop, shoot a special wave into it, and just put it out."
Better invention: How about clothing and buildings that are strong enough to withstand any weather? Why disrupt the natural world when we can adapt to it?
"Instant Sleep - People who need to finish an important project, but are beginning to get exhausted can just walk into the instant sleep chamber. In just a few seconds they can walk back out totally rejuvenated, ready to tackle their rest of their work."
Better invention: lets come up with an economy and lifestyle where we get a nice eight-hour sleep at night. I like sleeping. No more sleep, so that my employer can enjoy my improved productivity? This is progress?
In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane. -Oscar Wilde
This is not for yucks; just a list of way-cool things I've seen in science fiction over the years.
10. The Dream Recorder
9. Impervious material (like Adamantium, General Products Hulls, Mithril)
8. Teleportation booth/transporter
7. Time machine
6. Intelligent, walking robot (I'm thinking more Asimov than Star Wars). Something that can balance, walk and think. Hondo "ASIMO" is a mere toddler.
5. FTL space drive
4. Stasis Field (see Larry Niven....who needa a fridge when you have one of these?)
3. Antigravity
2. Fully creative genetic engineering. Yes, we need Moties and dragons in our world.
1. Brain wave reader machine that makes telepathy a reality.
This one is definitely in our future, once we realize the power of knowledge. It's simply a device that will bypass the learning process and education system that takes 16+ years and just beams information and knowledge into your memory. If we every figure this one out, we'll reach a golden age of humanity.
Hammer of Truth
I've read a few references about a fairly new drug that's been given to narcoleptics and been adopted by others that really seems to be a stay-awake drug that has few known side effects. Unlike stimulants that crank you up, this new drug simply keeps you from getting sleepy.
Non-narcoleptic users reported being able to stay awake for 4-5 days straight without any sleep. When they stop taking the drug, they get tired as per normal and sleep a normal 8 hours and wake up rested and "normal."
I think this is pretty revolutionary -- we talk about free time as being important, but what would it be like to get 10 additional hours a day? Feel like watching that 3 hour DVD, but its 11 PM and you know you'll be shot the next day if you do? What if the bigger worry was whether you had enough DVDs to occupy your time between 2 and 6 AM?
They don't know what the long term psychological impact of sleep deprivation like this would be, but there's no apparent physical problems reported by people who have been up 3-5 days. None of the paranoia and other psychotic behavior typically associated with long-term stimulant use and other sleep deprivation.
The amount of extra free time would be truly amazing, even if you only stayed "up" 2-3 nights a week, you could be gaining the equivilent of 50 days free time a year.
From what I recall, one thing that was kind of disturbing about the drug was that it worked so well that it appeared to have no side effects. Traditional sleep deprivation (ie, just staying awake and not sleeping) and heavy stimulant usage all have psychosis-like side effects (paranoia, hallucinations, etc) as well as big "crashes" of long sleeps to catch up (further worsened by the use of barbituates or tranquilizers). These are all well-known to be really harsh on your phsyical and mental well-being. Anyone who's ever met a hard-core tweaker can tell you about that (and anyone who has who isn't one can tell you how far away you want to stay from them).
I don't doubt that it might have longer-term psychological effects, but it doesn't appear to have any of the negative physical consequences associated with more familiar forms of sleep avoidance.
What I wonder about, though, is what's the mind of a 40 year old like if they've "added" an extra 2 years of living by using a drug like this? Does your mind age too fast? Do you feel 42? Wiser? More bored, tired, angry, ?
There are probably hidden side-effects from this, but they don't sound like they'd be evident without many years of repeated long-term waking "sessions" to find out.