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Top Ten Advances in 2004

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the blinded-me-with-science dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Technology Research News has released it's top ten picks for advances of 2004. Something for everyone here including notable advances in biotechnology, communications, computing, engineering, energy, security, nanotechnology, applied physics and the Internet."

11 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Where the heck by Sergeant+Beavis · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Is Space Ship One?

    --
    There is nothing inherently safe about liberty. That's why so many people died protecting it.
  2. sigh.... by exhilaration · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It's all cool stuff but nothing truly revolutionary. Where's my flying car? My transporter? I think that in 50 or a 100 years, life will be pretty much the same, except stuff will be smaller, quieter, and maybe cheaper.

    1. Re:sigh.... by shokk · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I for one *never* want flying cars until such time that we are rid of people who feel like drinking and/or drugging themselves into a stupor and then trying to pilot regular ground-based cars. We have enough trouble with drunk drivers crashing, I don't want to think about someone crashing a fully fueled flying car from a thousand feet up into a supermarket either mistakenly or purposely. We have a lot of maturing to do before we're worthy of that kind of technology.

      And by the way, where the hell are you going that you need to fly there in a car and don't want to go to a small airport for the same trip? Have you heard of those? Or is it just something nifty that society owes you for your entertainment? To paraphrase the open-source priesthood, what are you doing to bring about that goal?

      --
      "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
  3. Hey! by albn · · Score: 3, Interesting

    China's implimentation of IPV6 was pretty cool...

    --
    Some call me Howie Feltersnatch
  4. Strange picks... by ZSpade · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Stem cells, and spaceship one didn't even make the list!? If this were in a standard Newspaper, I'd say it'd belong in the opinion section.

    --
    Go ahead and call me unreliable; reliable is just a synonym for predictable.
  5. Quantum Teleportation by Chembryl · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I can't think of anything better than this:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/3576594. stm

    --
    - This and all my posts are public domain. I am a Physicist. I am not your Physicist. This is not Physically advice
  6. Re:Missing Category: Ethics by Marge+N.+Lacoste · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Suppose you were testing a new drug for some life-threatening/disabling disease. Suppose also that there are alternative treatments available. Should your control group go without any treatment at all?

  7. Top invention of the year by gmuslera · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Get the Facts campaign from Microsoft. Maybe is not an advance that help humanity, but is a clear demostration to how far into the insanity realm could be reached just playing with numbers.

  8. Re:China's Pebble Bed Reactor Plan by Mr.Sharpy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'd put in for China's plan to expand their energy generation.

    But the article is about technilogical advancements that have occured this year. While admirable, China's plan is to IMPLEMENT a technology that has been around for quite a while. If there is any sort of advancement in that plan, I would submit that it is their forward thinking in energy policy that is new to the world. Most of the other governments don't seem to have grasped that concept yet.

  9. Re:Missing Category: Ethics by Marge+N.+Lacoste · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Okaaaay, so that's one for the control group, then? Thanks for volunteering.

    Seriously, please read some of the other posts in this thread, especially joak's (who thinks I'm misinformed, btw).

    Then also read this: Cambodia's Premier Halts Planned Trials of AIDS Drug

    Please clarify: is it short-sighted to ask the question of ethics, or just short-sighted to take a position against placebos in particular (which I did not)?

    Is there or can there be a better way than what your were taught in science class? Was this matter solved in Hensinki in 1964?

    P.S. Where does my IQ enter into all of this? I felt your knee jerk all the way over here.

  10. Re:"its" versus "it's" by qtothemax · · Score: 2, Interesting

    To all the high schoolers out there:
    Remember this when you take your college entrance tests. My ACT english score rose by 4 when someone told me to remember that. It was on the test 3 or 4 times.