If people could stop being lazy and start walking or cycling journeys under 3 miles, we wouldn’t have a traffic problem. It would help the populations health in multiple ways too.
People gonna people though.
World changing inventions
- Thread starter Merlin5
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If people could stop being lazy and start walking or cycling journeys under 3 miles, we wouldn’t have a traffic problem. It would help the populations health in multiple ways too.
People gonna people though.
Soldato
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In the context of this thread I'd argue fire is an invention. Humans knew it existed from seeing it occur in nature through lightning strikes and bushfire but the actual process of using the right materials and developing a reliable method of lighting a fire at will was an invention.
Granted a series of discoveries would have led to the process of lighting a fire but the process was an invention, not a discovery.
This is a great series documenting the journey of modern(ish) chemistry. Well worth a watch if you haven't seen it.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry:_A_Volatile_History
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry:_A_Volatile_History
Electricity was a major milestone, the inventions required to generate, store and control it have been amazing so far and I don't think we are finished yet.
An invention that can read human minds would progress humanity greatly. Crime would hopefully become a thing of the past as a guilty verdict would take a matter of seconds, should prove to be a worthy deterrent. Imagine ridding our world of the scum that inflict pain and suffering on others; that would create a better place for us all to live. The evil amongst us has been holding back progression for centuries and I see that such an invention could create problems of it's own, again instigated by the nefarious few.
Surprised nobody has mentioned time travel
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An invention that can read human minds would progress humanity greatly. Crime would hopefully become a thing of the past as a guilty verdict would take a matter of seconds, should prove to be a worthy deterrent. Imagine ridding our world of the scum that inflict pain and suffering on others; that would create a better place for us all to live. The evil amongst us has been holding back progression for centuries and I see that such an invention could create problems of it's own, again instigated by the nefarious few.
Surprised nobody has mentioned time travel
.yeah, that'll help global overpopulation.
Associate
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I think this new medicine that can suppress appetite with little side effects could be quite groundbreaking, it could be the end of the endless fatties you see waddling around.
Also stem cells and gene therapy could be massive, bigger than ai when we can cure everything and reverse aging.
Also stem cells and gene therapy could be massive, bigger than ai when we can cure everything and reverse aging.
Soldato
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We haven't scratched the surface IMHO
Soldato
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Borg?
Superconductivity.
This can be the holy grail for electrical distribution, computing, transportation in fact anything to do with how we live our lives today. Obviously much research and development is still to be completed on suitable materials. It is very exciting
This can be the holy grail for electrical distribution, computing, transportation in fact anything to do with how we live our lives today. Obviously much research and development is still to be completed on suitable materials. It is very exciting
Caporegime
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Serious money to be made there, along with memory and intelligence enhancing drugs.
Similar I guess. Internet connectivity hard wired to the brain along with optical overlays on the retina (which will give instant communication, telepathy and instant collective knowledge and memory). Increased physical strength and stamina with physical upgrades. Almost limitless life. Ability to work in harsher environments without a suit (such as the surface of Mars). It's not that far away now.
Soldato
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You tend to find obese people don't eat because they are hungry. Usually mental health issues, among other things. These drugs can help with the healing process though for sure.
Soldato
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Europe's energy problems are over if room temperature superconductors become reality as we'll just pay the Icelanders to sink another 10,000 boreholes and have free geothermal generated electricity.
Soldato
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sign me up, although I won't have to have work emails forced into my retinas will I?
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And you need another beer
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I don't know why the lie detection machine isn't used to stop benefits cheats etc.
And in here to post just that. This is something we could potentially see in our lifetime too. Now that would be cool.
I was born too early, I'd love to be around when we finally achieve this.
I don't think he's proposing it.
Using the sky more is a good shout. Same with the sea, space, and beneath the surface of the Earth.
Perhaps one day there'll be underground cities lit by artificial suns (from the above-mentioned implementation of controlled fusion).
One of the greatest problems society faces today though, is traffic congestion. So much productive time is wasted, we need to do something about it.
Flying cars would make congestion far worse because they require far more space between each car. They would also make the inevitable crashes far more deadly. It's not a solution to traffic congestion.
Tunnelling through the world instead of flying around it is a non-starter too because even if it was possible it would be far more resource-intensive and have enormous impact on the planet. You'd have to tunnel through the outer and inner core to go through the earth and even if we found a way to do so despite the immense pressure and heat and the rather large problem of maintaining a tunnel through chaotically flowing molten iron, it would affect the magnetic field of the earth. Tunnelling around in the crust wouldn't be useful - you'd still be going around the world rather than through it - and would be a silly idea anyway because the crust isn't entirely stable. Flying is far more practical and much faster. Straight through would be a good idea in one way - the energy cost would be negligable because you could just use mavity. Push a vehicle off the edge at one end and (if the tube is a vacuum) and it will arrive at the other end at rest to be easily moved to the edge. But that would be from one place only to one place only - you could hardly have many thousands of tunnels through the cores and even if you could then the only possible location would be the opposite side of the earth from where you started. Also, of course, you'd still have congestion.
If you're looking for unknown technology to ease traffic congestion, you'd be better off with teleportation. That's just as (im)plausible but unlike flying cars and tunnels through the world it would actually solve the problem if it worked.