Techno-Phobia?

Mind Over Matter (courtesy Google Images)

When was the last time you saw a new technology that was developed simply to help the people?  When was the last time you saw a new technology that was primarily intended to help the people rather than generate fat profits for corporations or more power for government?  How many new technologies that might truly enrich the public have been suppressed in order to maintain profit levels for major corporation and power levels for the government?

Here’s a video of group of university scientists who developed a system whereby a “pilot” can fly a quad-copter with only his thoughts.

For most of my life, I would’ve said “Oooo, cool!” and wondered how long it would be before I could buy or build one of those systems for myself.  But after catching my first glimpse of this new technology, I was surprised to find my first reaction to be wondering how government will exploit this technology to push us deeper into the growing police state.

 

Synthetic Biology

Mad scientist or profit center?

The following video is a commercial from Fidelity Investments.  This commerical describes the relatively new field of science called “synthetic biology”–the creation of new life forms by man, computers and laboratories.  For example, with some genetic tweaking, scientists have already created a breed of goats that produce a milk that can be spun into spider silk that’s stronger than steel.   (How’d you like some of that milk on your Wheaties?)

The commercial mentions other new life forms that may be able to provide some astounding benefits for mankind and predicts that within 50 years we might have more “synthetic” life forms created by man than we currently find in nature.

If you’re an optimist, this commercial offers some exciting possibilities for the future.

 

TED: The Future of Nano-Electric Power Generation

Image via Wikipedia

The video below offers a glimpse of nano-technologies that may produce wonders in the near future.  The video is cause for hope and even joy.  But the video is purely about technological possibilities in the production of clean energy.  It does not address political realities such as resistance to the implementation of such technologies by current energy-producing corporations and governments which would rather keep the world in darkness than allow for cheap or virtually “free” energy.

New technology to advance the people’s standard of living is always available–but it’s not always “allowable”.

We shall see.

video  00:10:21

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ghhgUmGBjX8#!

 

Laser Light Show

Image by dmuth via Flickr

Technology produces images on the facade of a building in Germany.

Pretty remarkable.  The images inspire a child-like sense of wonder.

video

00:07:31

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=XVTga6GmbGw&vq=medium#t=74

 

Homemade REAL Pulse Laser Gun

Image via Wikipedia

The Laser gun in this video isn’t really that powerful.  Even so, given enough time, this “laser gun” can start fires, punch holes through thin sheets of metal and even blind people.

DIY “laser guns” will undoubtedly grow smaller, more powerful, more immediately effective and less expensive in the coming years.  It will soon be easier to build a DIY laser gun than to build a conventional “zip gun”.  And once built, the only “ammo” laser guns will require will be batteries.

 

Dr Helen Caldicott – Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Image via Wikipedia

Dr. Helen Caldicott is a doctor, political activist, dissident and internationally-recognized author and public speaker.  Dr. Caldicott recently made a chilling presentation on the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Dr. Caldicott’s presentation is especially disturbing because she, being a genteel Australian woman, is disinclined to rant, rave and pound her fist on a table (as her report might require).  Instead, she reports the Fukushima catastrophe with smiles and eccentricity that somehow make her warning doubly-impossible to ignore or forget.

It’s ironic and humbling for the Japanese (who are presumed to be so highly intelligent) to see that those damn fools built six nuclear reactors on an earthquake fault line.  Thanks to Japanese hubris, the Japanese have effectively “nuked” Japan and caused more radioactivity damage than was first inflicted by the US atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in WWII.

The Japanese have (nearly) “killed” Japan.

 

Lost in the Crowd?

Image by Anirudh Koul via Flickr

Not any more.

Here’s a link to a photo of a crowd of what may be tens of thousands of people taken with the “gigapan” technology.  You can double-click on any face in the crowd and the program will begin to zoom in.  Double-click again (or use the scroll wheel on your mouse) and the program will zoom in even closer.

Amazing.

http://gigapan.org/viewGigapanFullscreen.php?auth=033ef14483ee899496648c2b4b06233c

 

Interesting Times

Image via Wikipedia

The speaker in the 9-minute video (below) makes a number of allegations that sound like something from the tin-foil hat brigade.  He talks about a “government within the government” of the US that the President can’t control.  He talks about UFOs not only being real, but in close contact with the US government . . . that the US has developed its own UFOs . . . he even mentions government preparations for a possible war with space aliens.

I wouldn’t normally post such fantastic commentary.  But in this case, I’ll make an exception for two reasons:  1) the speaker’s demeanor seems rational, intelligent and knowledgeable (he doesn’t act like a nut); and 2) the speaker is former Canadian Defense Minister Paul Hellyer.

The man’s bearing and credentials suggest that he might know what he’s talking about.

If he does, we live in times that are far more “interesting” than most suppose.

 

New Treatment for Burns: The Skin Gun

Image via Wikipedia

The video below describes an impressive new technology for healing burns.

This technology is not the result of “hi-tech” so much as somebody’s “high intelligence”.   It’s actually pretty simple.

But it’s brilliant.

However, my cynical nature suggests that there’s a potential problem:  If this new technology works as brilliantly as the video suggests, burn victims who typically took weeks or months to heal (and thereby generated considerable profits for doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical firms) will heal so quickly that the medical industry’s profits will be somewhat reduced.  That would be bad under the modern “Hypocritic Oath” (“Do thy bank balance no harm.”).

 

Could Internet Games Spawn Political Revolutions?

Image via Wikipedia

The world invests 3 billion hours per week playing internet games.  The 2-minute video below suggests that the reason for spending so much time on games is that too many people are inadequately stressed in our daily lives.  I.e., our daily lives have become so organized and “tame” that they’ve become meaningless, so we’re seeking more “action” in an imaginary world of hi-tech, internet games.