Outright banning or heavily restricting a particular field of research is the fastest way to create a technological divide and be swept away by the pace of advancement, and at the rate it's going that means the country in discussion will be left in the dust in a handful of years.
You can't question the ethical nature of a technology itself and restrict it appropriately and also have progress. Would nuclear technology have advanced if they were worrying about the very long term consequences? You might argue that nuclear facilities haven't helped us all that much, and have done quite a bit of damage, but we also couldn't be taking steps toward fusion without learning from our mistakes with fission.
Essentially, the countries that take the risks and have the courage to step into unknown territory are going to see the biggest returns the fastest, since ultimately nanotech offers to return more resources than those expended getting to it. Meanwhile, anyone who pussyfoots around is going to find themself quickly losing military, economic, and technological prowess.
How to get Gulped?
You can pick up your own supply of this "limited release" product simply by turning in a used Gulp Cap at your local grocery store. How to get a Gulp Cap? Well, if you know someone who's already been "gulped," they can give you one. And if you don't know anyone who can give you one, don't worry - that just means you aren't cool. But very, very (very!) soon, you will be.
As soon as there are bionic parts better than normal ones I'm sure we'll start seeing replacements openly marketed for the non-disabled, but even before that there will be tiny "additions" that are concievable: under-the-skin medical/ID tags, AR (augmented reality) processors, stuff like that. Probably won't be another decade until any of the earliest stuff becomes available though. That's mostly a guess though, so don't quote me on that.
See: Gene Therapy
Specifically this line:
"In theory it is possible to transform either somatic cells (most cells of the body) or cells of the germline (such as stem cells, sperm and eggs). All gene therapy so far in people has been directed at somatic cells, whereas germline engineering in humans remains only a highly controversial prospect. For the introduced gene to be transmitted normally to offspring, it needs not only to inserted into the cell, but also to be incorporated into the chromosomes by genetic recombination."
In order for the altered genes to be passed on the germline would have to be involved in the gene therapy process, which is considered making "designer humans" and thus frowned upon by biological conservatives (read: ethicists).
The CEO of Advanced Cell Technologies (Dr. Michael West) has a book called the Immortal Cell. It's very good, I'd recommend it to anyone. This is a man who has been working his whole lifetime to find the ultimate cure to death and disease. It's a shame so few people recognise the long-term possibilities of stem cells.
I supposed I have to conceed your point, but still if I were to argue the sematics of what I said most people would find it easy to differentiate between visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation because, well, you can't see them. This is obviously a touchy point for astronomers though.
I'm fully aware of that. When I say "light" I mean "visible light," I don't feel the need for the added adjective when we already have such an anthrocentric view of everything. And I think you'd start getting funny looks if you started claiming radio was light. It's EM radiation, leave it at that.
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Radio waves, infrared, etc. all fall under the catagory, it just depends on the wavelength of the energy. Visible light is about 360-820 nanometers in wavelength. Anything above that starts getting into infrared, radio, microwave, etc. Below that number is ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma radiation. Even if we can't see it, we can develop instruments that can detect it.
This begs one to ask, if we keep finding these galaxies that are emitting energy but no light, is this dark matter or is it just normal matter that we just haven't been able to find yet? There might be a hell of a lot more dust out there than we thought there was originally.
I feel proud that we here in Seattle are the only ones to get 2-3 kWh/m2 per month while the rest of the continental US gets at least 3-4. You'd think we got a lot of rain or something.
"I know a lot of people who aren't savvy enough to get things off bittorrent
Or they aren't savvy enough to get around the firewall on their college campus that restricts their access to BT. *grumble*
Slashdot Mirror
No, you see, you're forgetting about the "fiction" part.
Outright banning or heavily restricting a particular field of research is the fastest way to create a technological divide and be swept away by the pace of advancement, and at the rate it's going that means the country in discussion will be left in the dust in a handful of years.
You can't question the ethical nature of a technology itself and restrict it appropriately and also have progress. Would nuclear technology have advanced if they were worrying about the very long term consequences? You might argue that nuclear facilities haven't helped us all that much, and have done quite a bit of damage, but we also couldn't be taking steps toward fusion without learning from our mistakes with fission.
Essentially, the countries that take the risks and have the courage to step into unknown territory are going to see the biggest returns the fastest, since ultimately nanotech offers to return more resources than those expended getting to it. Meanwhile, anyone who pussyfoots around is going to find themself quickly losing military, economic, and technological prowess.
Well, according to them you won't have to wait more than 2 more years for your flying car.
Holy crap! That's up to 61 dollars? Someone is either 61 dollars of stupid or thinks 61 dollars is worth a joke, both of which are pretty insane.
That's just because you're not cool. :P
How to get Gulped?
You can pick up your own supply of this "limited release" product simply by turning in a used Gulp Cap at your local grocery store. How to get a Gulp Cap? Well, if you know someone who's already been "gulped," they can give you one. And if you don't know anyone who can give you one, don't worry - that just means you aren't cool. But very, very (very!) soon, you will be.
As soon as there are bionic parts better than normal ones I'm sure we'll start seeing replacements openly marketed for the non-disabled, but even before that there will be tiny "additions" that are concievable: under-the-skin medical/ID tags, AR (augmented reality) processors, stuff like that. Probably won't be another decade until any of the earliest stuff becomes available though. That's mostly a guess though, so don't quote me on that.
See: Gene Therapy
Specifically this line:
"In theory it is possible to transform either somatic cells (most cells of the body) or cells of the germline (such as stem cells, sperm and eggs). All gene therapy so far in people has been directed at somatic cells, whereas germline engineering in humans remains only a highly controversial prospect. For the introduced gene to be transmitted normally to offspring, it needs not only to inserted into the cell, but also to be incorporated into the chromosomes by genetic recombination."
In order for the altered genes to be passed on the germline would have to be involved in the gene therapy process, which is considered making "designer humans" and thus frowned upon by biological conservatives (read: ethicists).
Fortunately the United States isn't the only country in the world, otherwise the future would be a nightmare of dystopian proportions.
The CEO of Advanced Cell Technologies (Dr. Michael West) has a book called the Immortal Cell. It's very good, I'd recommend it to anyone. This is a man who has been working his whole lifetime to find the ultimate cure to death and disease. It's a shame so few people recognise the long-term possibilities of stem cells.
I supposed I have to conceed your point, but still if I were to argue the sematics of what I said most people would find it easy to differentiate between visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation because, well, you can't see them. This is obviously a touchy point for astronomers though.
I'm fully aware of that. When I say "light" I mean "visible light," I don't feel the need for the added adjective when we already have such an anthrocentric view of everything. And I think you'd start getting funny looks if you started claiming radio was light. It's EM radiation, leave it at that.
Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation. Radio waves, infrared, etc. all fall under the catagory, it just depends on the wavelength of the energy. Visible light is about 360-820 nanometers in wavelength. Anything above that starts getting into infrared, radio, microwave, etc. Below that number is ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma radiation. Even if we can't see it, we can develop instruments that can detect it.
This begs one to ask, if we keep finding these galaxies that are emitting energy but no light, is this dark matter or is it just normal matter that we just haven't been able to find yet? There might be a hell of a lot more dust out there than we thought there was originally.
Not necessarily physical protection. From the headline it could be a new device that protects you from the active camoflage of those nasty Predators!
I feel proud that we here in Seattle are the only ones to get 2-3 kWh/m2 per month while the rest of the continental US gets at least 3-4. You'd think we got a lot of rain or something.
Since they can't chew gum at all, I'm going to have to agree with you.
Not to mention
Satan in Washington, DC (B) and
Antichrist in Washinton, DC
They're both there I guess.
Short answer? Money.
70 bucks for a keyboard with half as many keys as usual? It's that like Apple charging twice as much for a mouse with only one button?
I wish I had the influence for people to give me free things just so I could tell them it wasn't absolute crap!
"What do you think of this sir?"
"Meh." *Scuttles away with new toy.*
Fax machines make copies. How would you get back? There'd be two of you.
Or even before that if you believe Richard Duncan
"I know a lot of people who aren't savvy enough to get things off bittorrent Or they aren't savvy enough to get around the firewall on their college campus that restricts their access to BT. *grumble*