Future Science and technology - Where will it bring us?

As time goes on the human race is continuously making new discoveries that teach us more and more about the world we live in. But where will we end up and how much will we learn? The future is something that no one is sure about. Science is mans only explanation for how the universe and everything in it works, yet there are so many unanswered questions. But is this a bad thing? Can we know too much or will our knowledge always be valuable?

One area of science that many people find worrisome is that of cloning. The ability to clone opens up so many options for science. Scientists hope to be able to clone organs to be used in transplants, something that many people would appreciate immensely. Researchers also hope to be able to clone certain animals to perform research on. These animals would be identical, creating a very stable research specimen. But what about the abuse of cloning? Things like overpopulation are huge fears in the eyes of almost everyone. Thomas W. Clark writes a letter to the editor of the new your times on this issue. He writes:

"Instead of rejecting therapeutic cloning as the first step on a slippery slope to eugenics, Mr. McKibben and other concerned progressives should draw the line where it really belongs: to prohibit applications of biotechnology that serve no curative purpose."

So what is the right move? Do scientists continue to research cloning and potentially discover something that could save countless lives yet also open the doors for disaster or do they halt their research because of the fear of disaster. This controversy is one that is happening in all different fields of science and one that needs to be addressed. Whatever happens, it is sure to be quite the roller coaster ride.




1. Clark, Thomas W. "Fear of Cloning - Letter - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 02 Apr. 2002. Web. 04 Sept. 2010. .

2. "Bennett Cartoon Archive: Human Cloning." The Cartoons of Clay Bennett. Web. 04 Sept. 2010. .

Changes in Technology

The possibilities of the science in technology seem endless. It's amazing going throughout the past few years seeing what we have gone through already. With new mp3 players, faster computers, and different ways of transferring information and data. It's quite interesting to see how fast technology for us passes by. Data transfer is one of the many that changes pretty rapidly.

The way we transfer our data throughout different types of cables is astounding if you think about it. Not too long ago was HDMI introduced for the new wave of high definition. This cable allowed us to transfer over video and audio into our tv's and monitors with resolutions up to 1080p. Now, just a few months ago, a new way of transferring data was introduced that will be apart of our upcoming technology and overtake HDMI - HDBaseT.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/goodbye-hdmi-hello-hdbaset/

Using ethernet cables that most of us already have in our homes, we will be able to use it as a video and audio cable that will provide even better quality. This will most likely be implemented in the up and coming devices such as Google TV.

It's amazing to see that people keep coming up with even better ways to transfer our data. The possibilities seem endless when it comes to technology. It's a good area to think about when exploring the question of "What will be possible?" Since technology changes so rapidly, I wouldn't be surprised if another form of data transportation was around the corner as well.

"Goodbye HDMI, Hello HDBaseT." Technology News, Product Reviews, Software Downloads | Digital Trends. Web. 04 Sept. 2010. .

Technology

I fear the world will become too dependent on machines. Not only in cases like blade runner. Where machines attempt to take over. But also in a ways were we cannot physically, or mentally live with out them. Can you live without a cell phone or computer? Today yes, you can still find a pay phone, or go to a library. Some which still have card catalogs. What will our children be so dependent on? Will they be sitting in moving chairs such as in the movie Wall E? Run by adds. Unaware of the world around them. Even depending on machines to clean up the mess they made of the earth. I fear the human race will forget what made us human in the first place - the earth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9s7afoYI-M

(the links feature is not working correctly for me.)

"Wall E... the sad future of human kind." you tube. Web. 4 Sep 2010. .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9s7afoYI-M

medical Advances; fears, and hopes.

When most thinking of the subject; Medical Advances they do not think of any possible fears. Although when it comes to being healthy, and getting rid of illnesses and pain, most jump right in that direction. I would love for science to find us a cure to cancer, or AIDS, but I fear science may take us in the direction of Immortality, and the impossibility of feeling pain.
Everyday people suffer from illnesses such as cancer; they try risky medications and treatments such as chemotherapy to get rid of deathly illnesses. Meanwhile these treatments are killing off other important body parts, such as the liver and kidney. As treatment goes on the feel the side effects from that; lack of hunger, fatigue, nausea, pain,bruising, possibilities of further illnesses, and loss of hair. Like Cancer AIDS is taking over a large population, mostly in the Africa. Mothers are passing the illness down to their babies before they even have a chance to fight it. Much like Cancer, AIDS sucks every once of life out of you, before taking your actual life. As much as I'd love to have illnesses like this cured I am worried about what we will do in the mean time to stop the pain and suffering.
I fear that we will create a way to not feel any pain at all. Although feeling no pain through illnesses like Cancer and Aids would be ideal. The idea of not feeling any pain at all is deadly.
All the time I hear of incidents where people have injured their backs and take medication for it. When those people are on their medication they think the pain is gone for good and they are all better, then the hurt themselves even more. Imagine if there was no pain felt at all, we would never know if anything is wrong with us. Pain is the bodies way of letting each individual know something is wrong.
My strongest fear for in the medical world is the creation of immortality. I know a handfuls of people would enjoy this. Never having to fear dying. I think this will cause more damage then anything. What will happen if you choose to become immortal and the rest of your family does not? What happens if everyone chooses to be immortal, and people keep reproducing? The idea in general is scary, and I can think of limitless possibilities if this happens... all of them are negative.


source:H4HC: Help 4 Hurting Children. 04 Sept. 2010 .

Laurel's Hope for Science

Being a middle school education major, I have a lot of educational hopes surrounding science for the future. Rather than technological advances being a distraction, (students texting during class, going on Facebook instead of paying attention, etc), I hope to see science create some great educational tools. I would like to see science advance to a point where laptops are accessible and affordable for all students. While I know very little about video games, I think it would be safe to say that there aren't many entertaining educational ones. I hope that more entertaining, educational video games will be created will be created in the future.



While I know there are financial limitations on the research being done, I'd like to see more medical advances in the future. I'm not talking about unnecessary advances like designer babies or a pill to make your hair grow in straight, curly, or wavy,(read article here), but rather cures, or at least remedies to relive the symptoms of diseases and ailments(Mid Brain). Along the lines of medical advances, I'd like to see more of a push to develop more environmentally friendly products. One reason I feel people shy away from environmentally safe products is the higher cost associated with them. I hope that scientists develop more wallet friendly ways to save the planet in the future.



One hope I have regarding science in the future is that marine biologists explore more of the ocean. The ocean makes up 70 percent of the earth, and human eyes have only seen 5 percent of it (National Ocean Service). Who knows what could be down there?






Sources

1.Brain, Mid. "For Straight Hair Just Swallow A Pill." Web log post. The Beauty Brains. 12 Jan. 2010. Web. 4 Sept. 2010. .

2.Story Teller Media. "Part 1 Monsters of the Deep." Youtube. Story Teller Media, 20 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Sept. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVnh3NKJsuI.

3."To Date We Have Explored Less than Five Percent of the Ocean." US Department of Commerce. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 13 Jan. 2009. Web. 4 Sept. 2010. .

Possibilities

I think that the possibilities are near endless. The only real limitations in life are limits of knowledge, at the time, and the limits of resources. There are so many theories on how to do some amazing things. Physicists around the world postulate mathematically plausible solutions to faster then light travel and time travel. The only thing that keeps these from happening are the lack of resources. In this case, all of these theories require huge amounts of energy, or types of energy, that we simply don't have. That leads to the lack of knowledge, we don't know how to get these energies, though there are ideas, but many of these ideas require, again, resources that we don't have. Theres a strange cycle that has been going on since the beginning of time, a balance of knowledge and resources. We as a species learn something so that we can use something, which in turn lets us learn more, which lets us use more. This is the foundation of advancements, but also of the idea of infinite possibility. As physicist and science fiction author Authur C Clarke wrote, "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong."

Virtual Reality in Video Games- Fears

I think we've all heard the story before. Humans make machines. Machines get smarter than humans. Machines rule over humans. And someone makes a god awful science fiction story on how a single insignificant person somehow manages to free humanity from the shackles of oppression. Yeah, yeah, we've been here before.
But let's focus on a more realistic present day with a more modern media; let's face it, AI of that intelligence is still a long ways off from now. Right now, the closest example I can think of where machines rule over humans is when people play video games. Now let me explain before I get my head torn off.

11.5 million people, according to wikipedia, play the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft. WoW, is without a doubt one of the most popular games in the gaming market. It doesn't matter if you hate it or not. People play this game for hours at end. HOURS. They commit themselves for sometimes more than half the day, raiding with their buddies or simply killing a poor level 12 tauren hunter in the Barrens with forty other Alliance.

If you know someone who plays WoW, and chances are you do, you know how difficult it is to break these guys away from their beloved drug. I've heard stories of people actually skipping work for a month just to play the newest addition to the genre. The game is grabbing and addicting, to the point where people playing it can literally forget about their real life.

Now that I've made an enemy of probably every WoW fan-boy, let me finish by saying that WoW isn't the only game where people actually lose themselves in the experience. There's a thing in the gaming world called immersion. There's no clear way to describe it, but basically its when the player gets so "into" the game that they block out all distractions of reality and focus on the game play, the world of the game, and the rules within that world. Sometimes the effects are so great they can last even after you've stop playing. You can find yourself forced to walk home and think "Oh, that's okay I'll just use my hearthstone- Oh wait." Heck, you can get Deja vu of playing Grand Theft Auto while driving a car (though hopefully you don't act on it).

The reason for this is actually quite simple. You're so focused on the game that your brain makes reactions a general reflex. Between your brain and the game world is nothing more than a controller, which you can manipulate with a twitch of your fingers. (For more on controllers see Yahtzee)

Virtual Reality in video games is simply removing the controller and any physical reaction from the game, making immersion instantaneous. You think it, it happens. There's no button you have to press in order to make the guy jump. There's no joystick you have to move in just the right direction in order to move your character. Your brain gives the order, the game takes it. It's replacing your body with the game.

At first glance, this seems like a game designer's dream. Immersion can be a make or break thing when designing a triple A game. And if you have it all the time, well, we'd have some pretty amazing games.

But what's the bad? I can think of one big bad thing. How is the player supposed to know what's reality and what's the game? Think about it, our body's feedback in a game with controllers (even if it's just moving your thumbs) is sometimes really the only thing that lets us know its just a game we're playing. For some people even THAT'S not enough and they completely lose their touch in reality.

Science fiction stories like The Matrix seem frighteningly realistic when Virtual Reality is in play. Maybe it's not machines that take over but more realistically corporate businesses that sell people these games for an escape from reality. Maybe video games will really be a new drug if Virtual Reality gets invented, WoW is already showing us people want to escape from reality.Controllers are, right now, the best means of playing a video games for immersion. Personally, no real good can come out of having Virtual Reality, not to sound like a conservatist or anything.