What Could Be The Next Great Thing In Evolution?

Hepheastus420 said:

Everyone being perfect? Fuck that would suck. Without having flaws you wouldn't know what was good. Fuck technological evolution.

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Can you imagine being able to eliminate/prevent many flaws in your unborn child? With the technology available, would anyone answer no to the following questions?

Do you want your child to be attractive?
Would you like to eliminate any chance of birth defects or deformity?
Would you like us to withhold the obesity genes?
Would you like us to make sure your child has a high IQ?
Would you like us to turn off all addictive traits in your child? etc... Just because we would be able to start our lives without these hindrances, that would not mean we would be perfect. I would bet that some people would opt to just roll the genetic dice with their children thinking it 'unnatural' to manipulate physical advantages, just as I'm sure their are folks who opted not to take advantage of vaccines, anesthesia, antibiotics, and other technological advances. But what would be the justification behind these decisions? Stating that we should have physical flaws in order to know what is good is like saying we need sickness in order to know health. or that we need war in order to know peace. I've never been crippled, but I know that being able to walk and run is superior to that condition. Even with the maximum physical advantages we would still have PLENTY of challenges to face, trust me...

who knows, maybe 20 years from now, nanotech will be in full swing

cannabineer said:

Nanotech, the sci-fi staple that would yield nanobots up to and incl. "gray goo", isn't happening. Imo it's based on a misperception of the way very small things work. The nearest thing to nanotech is biology ... the bacterial flagellum "motor" is coolness. cn

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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110904140353.htm

i think we could make some cool stuff
i like the ideas about using these motors inside pipe walls to either collect power from flowing liquids, or use the motors the help push the liquid along and reduce friction. although i think i remember it saying its only at low temperatures right now. but in the future they may make it for room temp

Luger187 said:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110904140353.htm

i think we could make some cool stuff
i like the ideas about using these motors inside pipe walls to either collect power from flowing liquids, or use the motors the help push the liquid along and reduce friction. although i think i remember it saying its only at low temperatures right now. but in the future they may make it for room temp

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The main reason nanotechnology is being developed is as a micro delivery/building system...anyone who says it cannot happen needs to consider that when the scientists were working on the A Bomb the very concept of the internet probably seemed ridiculous.

Remember guys we've advanced more in the last 100 years than we have in the last 20,000...who's to say what's gonna happen in the next 25.

The Internet is essentially a scaling phenomenon of ideas and technologies whose cornerstones were already laid by the time of WW2.
Nanotechnology isn't a mere question of scaling something whose principles we know. There are barriers to realization that the futurists and general "tech hype squad" sorts don't acknowledge. I'm not quite saying it's impossible, but I do believe so since, after all, the behavior of simple machines does not scale well into the molecular size range. Every time I read an article about an actual nanotech-relevant experiment (like the molecular rotor Luger shared) I'm a bit amused by the limitations of an effect that required very special lab conditions to observe. When i was in grad school "molecular gears" were big. Beyond a few Nature and JACS articles, and the odd Ph.D thesis, not much came of them ... cn

Harrekin said:

Remember guys we've advanced more in the last 100 years than we have in the last 20,000...who's to say what's gonna happen in the next 25.

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Respectfully disagree. The great inventions - steam, electrification, internal combustion, metallurgy and material science - that built our industry and lifestyle have stalled since, say, 1970. Since then the appearance of whirlwind technical progress has been maintained exclusively by information tech - computers, cool phones, the net. But the principal applications of these devices are akin to the service economy. The Net, cool phones and computers have not helped us advance with the heavy capabilities we need ... a non-fossil energy source, major health/med breakthroughs, a decent space drive etc. I posit that the industrial revolution has stalled and turned inward. The rate of technical advancement seen from 1870-1970 is a historical aberration, a glorious exception, and we seem to be returning to a more characteristic and leisurely rate of real technical and scientific progress. cn

cannabineer said:

Respectfully disagree. The great inventions - steam, electrification, internal combustion, metallurgy and material science - that built our industry and lifestyle have stalled since, say, 1970. Since then the appearance of whirlwind technical progress has been maintained exclusively by information tech - computers, cool phones, the net. But the principal applications of these devices are akin to the service economy. The Net, cool phones and computers have not helped us advance with the heavy capabilities we need ... a non-fossil energy source, major health/med breakthroughs, a decent space drive etc. I posit that the industrial revolution has stalled and turned inward. The rate of technical advancement seen from 1870-1970 is a historical aberration, a glorious exception, and we seem to be returning to a more characteristic and leisurely rate of real technical and scientific progress. cn

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That's an interesting POV, Neer. I'll have to think about it...

cannabineer said:

Respectfully disagree. The great inventions - steam, electrification, internal combustion, metallurgy and material science - that built our industry and lifestyle have stalled since, say, 1970. Since then the appearance of whirlwind technical progress has been maintained exclusively by information tech - computers, cool phones, the net. But the principal applications of these devices are akin to the service economy. The Net, cool phones and computers have not helped us advance with the heavy capabilities we need ... a non-fossil energy source, major health/med breakthroughs, a decent space drive etc. I posit that the industrial revolution has stalled and turned inward. The rate of technical advancement seen from 1870-1970 is a historical aberration, a glorious exception, and we seem to be returning to a more characteristic and leisurely rate of real technical and scientific progress. cn

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I have to respectfully disagree, there are many game-changing technologies in the works that were only made possible by the huge strides we've made in the last 20 years. Just one of many examples of our achievements is the Human Genome Project, arguably the most important piece of research ever. Only this week scientists discovered how to clone human embryonic stem-cells which opens up a HUGE number of possibilities in medicine. Even nuclear fusion is just about at a 1 to 1 ratio of energy consumed to energy produced.

Also at the start of the month at CERN they found sub atomic particles that moved faster than light...

None of these things were even theorised 20 years ago, let alone put into practice and they would not have been made possible without the advancements we've made since then. Technology of all sorts is advancing at a momumental rate and the next 20 years are going to be extremely exciting.

did you say stem cell? Isnt that type of research banned in the US?

Harrekin said:

I have to respectfully disagree, there are many game-changing technologies in the works that were only made possible by the huge strides we've made in the last 20 years. Just one of many examples of our achievements is the Human Genome Project, arguably the most important piece of research ever. Only this week scientists discovered how to clone human embryonic stem-cells which opens up a HUGE number of possibilities in medicine. Even nuclear fusion is just about at a 1 to 1 ratio of energy consumed to energy produced.

Also at the start of the month at CERN they found sub atomic particles that moved faster than light...

None of these things were even theorised 20 years ago, let alone put into practice and they would not have been made possible without the advancements we've made since then. Technology of all sorts is advancing at a momumental rate and the next 20 years are going to be extremely exciting.

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Yeah as far as I know up until now human embryonic stem cell research is banned in the US because up until now they had to harvest them from embryos to get workable quantities.

With this new process they can harvest stem cells from a persons bone marrow and clone them to whatever quantity they need.

It's basically the first step to being able to grow organs in a lab that have a zero percent chance of being rejected because they are built using cells containing the recipients own DNA...seriously exciting stuff.

And just cos it's banned in the US doesn't mean the rest of us can't do it

I like both the Human Genome Project and the big colliders in terms of science. But I don't see useful technology coming from either in my lifetime. For over forty years I've heard that fusion energy, a cure for caries, and a rational approach to treating cancer were about 20 years out. Recently progress has been made ... futurists are now saying they're 30 years out. Wait ... this *isn't* the Is Time an Illusion thread? cn

There is a monumental amount of practical research coming from the Human Genome Project, it's how they're identifying what each gene or group of genes does...fusion is on a tipping point, because as laser technology has advanced and become more efficient, more power is being produced, it almost produces more power than it consumes.

Another recent technology is the hydrogen fuel cell, only reason it hasn't been implemented large scale is because China controls something like 98% of the worlds rare earth metals and as a result the catalyst for the cell is extremely expensive.

Come on dude, there's shitloads of other groundbreaking technologies from the past 20 years.

lets get back on track... the next big great thing

A global awareness of unjust and strong desire to fight for freedom of the land once again, disassembling and erecting a plethora of societies of our craziest dreams and worst nightmares. We will live and how we chose on our own free will. We will see things we never wanted to see and things we waited our entire lives to see. Monuments of epic proportion. Feats of mankind in science and progress that could run laps around current day technology.

Thats got NOTHING to do with evolution, and we were on topic...YOURE the one off topic dude

the human genome project is a discrimination against individuals with genetic disorders.

Harrekin said:

There is a monumental amount of practical research coming from the Human Genome Project, it's how they're identifying what each gene or group of genes does...fusion is on a tipping point, because as laser technology has advanced and become more efficient, more power is being produced, it almost produces more power than it consumes.

Another recent technology is the hydrogen fuel cell, only reason it hasn't been implemented large scale is because China controls something like 98% of the worlds rare earth metals and as a result the catalyst for the cell is extremely expensive.

Come on dude, there's shitloads of other groundbreaking technologies from the past 20 years.

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Harrekin said:

There is a monumental amount of practical research coming from the Human Genome Project, it's how they're identifying what each gene or group of genes does...fusion is on a tipping point, because as laser technology has advanced and become more efficient, more power is being produced, it almost produces more power than it consumes.

Another recent technology is the hydrogen fuel cell, only reason it hasn't been implemented large scale is because China controls something like 98% of the worlds rare earth metals and as a result the catalyst for the cell is extremely expensive.

Come on dude, there's shitloads of other groundbreaking technologies from the past 20 years.

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Your post makes me feel somewhat old, hidebound, ossified.
I could rebut each of your sentences, but I fear I might be arguing out of simple inertia.
I will leave it to folks younger, more optimistic, more dynamic than myself to lead into the future.

That confessed, allow me to belabor one example. I just tried googling "human genome project practical applications" and saw nothing that didn't bear the qualifier "potential". Wikipedia alludes to hundreds of gene-med clinical trials worldwide, but doesn't mention one that made it through the full clinical gauntlet to market. Using the HGP as the cornerstone, could you show me an existing, realized, bird-in-hand deliverable? What benefits to human therapy have already come of genomics?
I cannot identify a trend. cn

Kier Ruot said:

us humans have still not reached the full potential of brain power!

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maybe we aren't designed to handle that kind of abuse...like my subaru. If you continuously drive it at full potential, it will burn out real quick. goodbye piston number four!

I was wondering why every great scientist or philosopher has a wife / companion that commits suicide, like the assertiveness towards exploring their mind cause their girlfriends to go crazy.

cannabineer said:

Your post makes me feel somewhat old, hidebound, ossified.
I could rebut each of your sentences, but I fear I might be arguing out of simple inertia.
I will leave it to folks younger, more optimistic, more dynamic than myself to lead into the future.

That confessed, allow me to belabor one example. I just tried googling "human genome project practical applications" and saw nothing that didn't bear the qualifier "potential". Wikipedia alludes to hundreds of gene-med clinical trials worldwide, but doesn't mention one that made it through the full clinical gauntlet to market. Using the HGP as the cornerstone, could you show me an existing, realized, bird-in-hand deliverable? What benefits to human therapy have already come of genomics?
I cannot identify a trend. cn

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The HGP is the foundation for a massive amount of research being currently conducted that is truely groundbreaking. They've identified genes that cause a massive number of disorders, its just finding a practical method of influencing these genes that needs to be discovered, but they're working on it as we speak.

Come on man, nothing personal, I just dont understand the negativity, humanity is at a tipping point. Articifial life has been created already by making DNA from standard chemicals in a lab. The DNA sequences even contain philosophical quotes, the creators names and a marker that makes the bacterial cells blue...that in itself is monumental, life was created from inorganic chemicals. Try that 5-10-20 years ago

Harrekin, I think my negativity has two roots, one medical, the other philosophical. The medical ... I suffer from severe, atypical, refractory and progressive clinical depression. Not to wax pathetic, but it has become rather bad and is headed steadfastly for Worse.
Philosophically - I'm a "show me the money" sort of person. I've always been keenly interested in science and technology. Speaking now of technology rather than science, I tend to favor things that yield results, products, real economic change. Things like steam, internal combustion, the germ theory of disease, the integrated circuit.
The HGP doesn't meet my subjective standards. I think it is scientifically elegant; oh no argument there. I do however hold a quite contrarian view to the prevalent one that is so marvelously captured by your phrase about a tipping point. I don't think genomics will change medicine for some decades yet ... identifying a disorder's genes is not the same as fixing them, which is not the same as doing so in a patient ... is not the same as the patient being able to routinely afford it.
I truly want to believe that we are indeed at a tipping point beyond which lies a ski slope to the awesome. Perhaps it is an artifact of my seeing the world through NullSet-colored glasses, but I'm not seeing it happen. i've been disappointed by too many promises of imminent technical revolution. I am seeing a worldwide retreat from grand adventure into the self-referent twittering of, say, what 'm doing right now. I hope that is an artifact of my screwed brain chemistry, and I sincerely hope to be proven wrong someday. cn