Category Archives: The Future

This could be the decade of tiny robots

I’ve just noticed something that has been slowly happening over the last ten or twenty years. New technology and manufacturing techniques will soon make it possible to make millions of tiny machines, perhaps even microscopic robots, cheaply. For example, it … Continue reading

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The Lingering Reasonableness of Alcubierre's Metric

As an aging ex-physics major, knowing just barely enough to glimpse at possible answers but not enough to really know if I’m right–a little knowledge is a dangerous thing because it makes you presumptive that you’ve got all the facts … Continue reading

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It was never merely about population

Sometime this year Earth’s human population passed 7 billion people. Sometime this year, for the first time, more than 50% of humanity lived in cities and towns. The predictions are that humanity’s population will peak around 10 billion or so … Continue reading

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Can Technology Change Human Nature?

Yes, I think it can. Some have argued no. They say you could use a time machine and take baby from ancient China and raise it in our modern world. This baby would adapt just perfectly fine or at least … Continue reading

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Neurosynaptic silicon chips

So I just learned that IBM has built a new kind of experimental silicon chip that more closely models how neurons process and communicate information. Now, as a hard science fiction nerd, I’ve talked about computational neurology and the Blue … Continue reading

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Shades of Algernon

The Blue Brain Project requires one of the most powerful supercomputers on the planet to simulate a single cortical column of a rat’s brain. This project of computational neurology has been running since 2005. In my opinion, this project, out … Continue reading

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MLK Day Again!

Today, I worked. But I saw something interesting today. A lot of people didn’t come to work. I base this on the mostly empty park and ride lots my bus zoomed past into Lynnwood. This wasn’t the pattern only just … Continue reading

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Burning Down Hilbert's Hotel

There’s an idea that’s been plaguing me for a number of years since I read Max Tegmark’s article in Scientific American. What if there are infinitely many universes that have existed for all eternity? Doesn’t that imply that everything is … Continue reading

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All humans are vermin in the eyes of Morbo!

I can find no rational reason for aliens to invade the Earth. If they need energy, water, metals or radioactives there are plenty in space to mined or harvested without dealing with pesky natives. If some super-civilization needed all the … Continue reading

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Three Futuristic Questions

So, about a week ago, Jamais Casico put up a page where he asked the following three questions: What do you fear we’ll likely see in fifteen years? What do you hope we’ll likely see in fifteen years? What do … Continue reading

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