Mind Controlled Digital World
EXPERTS WEIGH IN ON OUR NOT-SO-FAR-FLUNG SCI-FI’ISH FUTURE
When I started wondering, “When will I be able to tweet directly from my mind?” – I never imagined where that question would take me. It started as an idea for the CBC Radio program Spark – a show about tech, trends and ideas. I knew a biomedical engineer from the University of Wisconsin Madison had tweeted from his brain using an EEG system. I also knew researchers from the University of Utah recently announced they used microelectrodes implanted on the brain to decode a few words. I figured tweeting from our brains would be within our grasp.
It is and it isn’t.
King Tut’s gold couldn’t save him, but it saved his DNA
Everything the world knew about King Tut since Howard Carter discovered his tomb in 1922 was turned upside down when scientists applied today’s forensic science methods to the most famous mummy in the world.
King Tut was not a strong pharaoh riding chariots or murdered by some rival. Instead, he was a sick and frail king, born of incest, who needed walking sticks to get around.
[Continue reading: King Tut’s gold couldn’t save him, but it saved his DNA]
A High Temperature Superconducting Future
It’s hard to imagine a world where scientists have figured out how to get superconductors to work at room temperature.
Why superconductors are so cool is they can transmit electricity with virtually no resistance. If your laptop could do that, it would never heat up as it does now. Electronics waste energy.
The most practical use for superconductors that don’t have to be cooled to below -100 degrees Celsius would be to distribute energy. They could easily and efficiently transmit electricity from a windmill in Kansas to downtown San Francisco.
Other applications would be a little more difficult for us to get our minds around if it weren’t for the Jetsons.
[Continue reading: A High Temperature Superconducting Future]