New Tech

Technology and Gaming
#1

This thread is basically a list I have compiled of all the new technology, everything from augmented reality to carbon nanotubes.
Unfortunately, most of these are still in the R&D sector of corporate labs, but we could still see some of them within our lifetime.

NOTE: This area of science is very sketchy. It is entirely possible that some of these are impossible.

The reason we can see some of these within our lifetime is that medical research is advancing so fast that some people claim that, within the next forty years, scientists will be able to extend the human lifespan by more than 175 years. There are already one or two groups dedicated towards this goal, and more are on the way.
For you skeptics, it is entirely feasible. Several possible routes include gene therapy, limb/organ replacement, even uploading neural patterns into a robotic host body. (<< long way off)
There’s really no way to tell when this is going to be available. The date that seems to get thrown around most is sometime in 2050, but there’s no way to know.

The leading cause of death is disease or injury. This may not be the case for long.
Nanobots are incredibly tiny robots. To small to be seen with anything short of an electron microscope. They are, as their name suggest, robots. I’m not sure exactly how they function, but basically they can break down or manipulate molecules. This clears up cancer, diabetes, most blood diseases, heart attacks, fat, pregnancy, sexual disease…actually, pretty much any disease.
The reason is that they can be “programmed” to hunt down and destroy certain amounts of certain cells in certain areas. It’s also possible that, somewhere down the line, they will be able to alter our genetics, but that’s a long way off.
It’s also been suggested that they could manipulate cells and molecules to speed up the healing process. They could also be used to turn off pain, increase neural activity, increase concentration, intelligence, and memory, as well as being able to stimulate certain emotions. Assuming you don’t mind have trillions of tiny robots floating around in your bloodstream.
What happens if you get tasered?..
These will be available soon. They are being tested right now, and are expected to hit the market sometime next year.
Just like how episode 3 is going to be released in 2007.

Then there’s carbon nanotubes.
These are very small, conductive tubes that are stronger than anything we have right now. They are so strong that, hypothetically, were you to drop a car from a mile up onto one, it would SLICE THE CAR IN FUCKING HALF.
Yeah.
The possible applications of this are literally endless. The most obvious one is combat armor that is more or less death proof. It could be used to reinforce any given structure, making it indestructible.

It could also build the space elevator.

Yup.

You’re paying attention now, aren’t you?

For those 1 or 2 people who don’t know, the space elevator is a hypothetical…elevator…that goes into space.
The way it works is that there’s a platform/station on earth, usually proposed to be on a boat. On this platform there would be several entwined cables. Attached to those cables is a gigantic elevator, that either connects to the moon or to another platform that just sits there in orbit.
That’s a very basic summary, and I don’t really get the technicals, but there you go. I also have 2 images:

468×577 314 KB


Carbon nanotubes are also supposed to make the smallest and most powerful computers to date, but I really don’t know how.
There’s one or two products with carbon nanotubes out already. They are being very rapidly developed, so expect to see more soon.

To change the subject, one company says they are going to have VR by 2014. 'Nuff said.

There’s also exoskeletons. That term is used broadly, but in essence it means a semi-automated, full-body, mechanical device that assists/augments the human body.
There are more than enough examples of this in sci-fi. One is the lifter from aliens. Another is the H.E.V. suit. Yet another would be the nanosuit.
There are several of these in development.
My favorite is still in the design phase, but it can lift 220 pounds indefinitely.
It is worn by the user, and is connected in such a way that it simply mirror’s the users movements.
I know there are several others in development, but I can only recall the specifics of one other.
It is done by a Japanese company. It is still in the R&D phase, but it is significantly further along than the other ones. In fact, there was a video showing one of the workers using it to carry another worker across the office. I do not know how much this one can lift.
This is where it gets weird.
The company very stupidly got a website called skynet. I do not remember the rest of it-- it was something/something/.eu/es or something like that-- but for a company making robotic exoskeletons, that’s pretty ominous.
Then there’s the fact that the exoskeleton was made out of a smooth, white, chitinous casing with glowing blue centers. I shit you not. For those who don’t get it, this pic is the thing that it looks like most:

If any knows the site, please post it.
This technology can be expected within the next 10 years.

Next is cars. I’m not going to write much on this, as it depresses me, but here’s the basics:
First, the manufacturers have decreed that priuses/hybrids/“green” cars are too quite. Supposedly, quite enough to be a menace.
The logical solution here would be to install louder horns, or, better yet, expect people to slow down when they are about to run someone over.
That’s the LOGICAL solution.
The manufacturer’s solution is to allow people to upload MP3’s in place of horns. This seems like a good idea, until you realize that
A: Other people have different tastes in music, and
B: They are going to be blowing their horns for the hell of it.
This means that in the middle of a traffic jam it’s going to be a regular lady gaga festival, leading to road rage, manslaughter, and general insanity.
It also means that you have no idea if someone’s actually about to run you over, or if they’re just being a douche.
The only plausible upshot is tailgating someone with the jaws theme.
Also with cars, they are developing cars that are:
covered in foam,
are painted green,
relay their location to ???,
are modular?
and, bizarrely enough, drive vertically and attach themselves to the balcony of your apartment.

We also have augmented reality.
This is an age-old concept where you have contacts/glasses/implants that let you see an “enhanced” version of reality. To explain, here are 2 pictures:

^^does not exist yet^^

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^^exists^^

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, this technology is here. Now. It’s still in it’s infancy, but it’s here.
But only as iphone apps.
Yes, you can have it, but you will be perpetually holding up your Iphone in front of you, squinting at the readout.
Here are some links, if you want them:
https://mashable.com/2009/12/05/augmented-reality-iphone/
https://layar.com/

For those who still don’t get it, augmented reality is the pinnacle of the information age. You glance at someone, and you immediately get their name, facebook page, twitter feed, phone number, DOB, Educational/sexual/criminal history…the list is endless.
You can also get directions to a location, link up with satellites, project images or webpages onto blank walls or really any surface.
If you are in the military, you can receive silent commands, get enemy locations, see what the enemy is wielding, where it’s pointing the gun, where your squad is…again, the possibilities are endless.
“But BMSMG,” you ask, “How could we use this when we’re holding the Iphone up to our face all the time?”
Here’s how:




It’s called bionic vision, and it is the most awesome thing in all of recent frakking history.
It is, in short, a monitor that overlays your vision. Anything you could display on a computer monitor is RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU.
That, my friends, is how we will use augmented vision.

Now we also have another species to share augmented vision with!
Say hello to Jules.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kThr6CMLrvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKLuXUh3M4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vArdTJfTOzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysU56JzBjTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elVdiboCa80
Jules is a conversational robot with facial recognition systems and lots of memory. He uses that memory to recall how people acted towards him in previous conversations, and then re-acts accordingly. In the words of his maker:
“Be nice to jules or he may not treat you well”
We have a word for that. You know what it is?
VENGEANCE.:fffuuu:
So if you see him, be nice.

Also it appears that we are soon going to be battling large, mechanical spiders just for the hell of it.
https://www.lamachine.co.uk/index.php
You don’t actually battle these, and there’s nothing excitingly futuristic about this tech, but my steampunk obsessed mind would go crazy if I didn’t post this.

Now that you have all these technology’s buzzing throughout your head, read this article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity
Also, here are some links for the extended life tech:
https://www.extended-eternallife.org/frame.html
https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.01/forever.html
https://www.nytimes.com/library/magazine/home/20000130mag-hall6.html

Images taken from /gajitz.com /portal wiki /thegamereviews.com /wikipedia
If you want to know more about any of this, just ask me, or, better yet, just freaking google it.

#2

#3

I’m really interested in this thread, but I’m dissapointed that you didn’t include any sources. Some of these things I’ve heard of, like the carbon-fiber nanotubes and the space elevator, but penis I’d still like the sources so I could do some further reading.

Would the rest of you post your sources please with your contributions, if possible? Thanks.

#4

Use spellcheck any?
I’ll see if I can find something, but really, try google first.

#5

I’m still waiting for the LHC results, oh wait, the project was shut down for another year.

I think that nuclear fusion plants will be some epic shit in the future.

#6

Also, here is REEM-B, a robot that can pour beverages but cannot remove bottlecaps.

#7

Here’s one I forgot:
https://www.lamachine.co.uk/index.php
Also, say hello to jules:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kThr6CMLrvg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNKLuXUh3M4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vArdTJfTOzo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysU56JzBjTY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elVdiboCa80
–Enjoy your nightmares!

#8

I remember seeing a presentation on carbon nanotubes at an engineering seminar I went to. Apparently there little tiny tubes made of a single layer of carbon atoms. Also with this space elevator, I think the that rather than connecting to the moon (this would be problematic as the moon is actully slowly moving away from us) or other natural body, it would connect to a manmade space station in geosychronous orbit. It would have to be built on the equator, as this is the only place where geosyncronous orbit can be achived.

#9

They’re getting ready to set up an internet on Mars. Connection to Earth’s internet would be slow, sporradic, and unreliable, but hey, interplaNET.

Question regarding the space elevator: Is it’s destination in geosynchronous orbit with or without stabilizing thrusters, because if it were to be without them, it would have to be approximately 7 and a half earth radii from the surface, and that would be a HELL of a lift ride. If it were closer, it would have to be stabilized and helped along by thrusters, otherwise, no matter what material, the tension would be too great, and the lift rails (can’t think of a better descriptive word) would eventually snap, or cease to be usable as a lift rail. If it’s got thrusters, it’s kickass, though.

#10

Cool stuff all over this post but there is one thing I must say to the majority of it:

[Citation Needed]

#11

Not quite :stuck_out_tongue:

It’s running at 7 trillion electron Volts at the moment, which is as high as they want to take it on the current design. The concern is with the copper surrounding the magnets that take away the heat in the event of a quench, where the magnet suddenly heats up.

They need 14TeV to simulate conditions after the big bang, so they’re going to run at the current level until 2011 to investigate dark matter, then take it offline for a year, upgrade it and run it up to 14TeV. Its a prototype of itself…

But until then don’t worry, we can carry on quoting superstrings theory, it aint wrong yet :smiley:

@OP I’ll read this later, impressive post. I’ll be back…

#12

@OP

Sounds like 99% bullshit to me.

#13

@OP Pregnancy is a disease?

#14

About the space elevator:

You say it will be connected to a moon or gigantic satellite…That isn’t necessary. If you make the rope long enough, it just will stand straight on it’s own. When you take a small rope yourself and turn around fast, the rope will make a straight line. That’s centrifugal force. The earth’s rotation will do the same to a large rope. If the rope is long enough, the centrifugal force will be larger than the earth’s gravitation, and the rope will “magically” stand up.

The tension on the rope will be immense (like Madcat1030 already said), about 50 to 100 GigaPascal. Steel breaks at 2 GPa. So the idea is to create a rope made out of nanotubes, which are a lot stronger than steel. Now nanotubes have only a length in the order of millimeters, so there’s still some work to do.

#15

Yeah but you kind of need some form of space station on the end for it to be of any use.

#16

I always thought that the space elevator is to avoid fighting with gravity on takeoff, so at the other end would be a space station with all the space ships and shit, but they won’t have to take off from earth and waste half the fuel reserve just to take off.

#17

Gordammit I forgot the LHC.
Have to include it later.

Madcat, As stated, I really don’t know the technicals of the space elevator. Probably because it doesn’t exist.

Obnoxious, what raw bean said.

Nickavv, no, but it could prevent it nonetheless.

Sersoft, nope. if it is, (which some of it very well might be) it’s only about 30% bullshit.
But I don’t think it is.

Hypnotek, Exactly. Most of this is just what people claim is going to happen. Some of it might be publicity stunts or whatnot. But again, I don’t think so.

#18

Yes, the space elevator would provide an alternative to the massive amounts of rocket fuel required to escape earth’s orbit each launch, but ships would have to be built in space (not a bad thing, just different, because we’d have to ship up the construction parts piece by piece), around some sort of theoretical space-dock, which would be the end-point of what would most likely be the MAIN space lift, if not the only. They’d be massively expensive, require extensive maintenance to keep them from snapping, and some sort of epic shielding. Even on a track, the atmosphere’s gonna put up a fight against anything passing through, so the cabins would likely have to be replaced every couple of years. I’d suspect if we ever got a space elevator, it would be the only one for a very long time.

That, and the space elevator’s track could house cables, allowing for any station on the end to hook into Earth’s internet. As with the interplaNET on mars, they’re working on getting ready to launch a few satellites around the ISS to provide it with it’s own internet and flimsy direct downlink to Earth’s internet. The space-elevator would get rid of this need by extending Earth’s own internet.

Well, yeah, it isn’t necessary, but the pod would just go flying off into space. Yeah, that MIGHT be useful if you just sat a rocket on it and used the lift to get it through the atmosphere, and just letting it coast the rest of the way, but we’d get much more use out of it if we used it to build in space. If we got this theoretical elevator hooked up to a ‘small’ space station, we could use it to send the supplies to create an geosynchronous superstation, see space-dock above.

Also, because this elevator would likely span many Earth-radii beyond our atmosphere, there would have to be defense stations along the span, with some sort of mounted turrets to ward off meteorites. They would be a real danger to the spans.

#19

in the spirit of this thread, I’m guessing that by the time the space elevator is complete, technology will allow people to teleport via the internet anywhere(even out to space) as long as there’s decent signal and low packet loss. :stuck_out_tongue:

Seriously though, I bet people will pay good money just to ride the elevator up and down.

#20

Expect new links within the next 1 or 2 days.

Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.