One of the subjects that we monitor with great consistency is the subject of technology. Early adaptation to technological advances is a fountainhead for civilization’s “progress”. I have to use “quotes” around the word ‘progress’ as we must think of this concept in a very different way than it’s historically accepted definition, at least since the Victorian era of ... upward and onward.
Ray Kurzweil has proposed that by 2010, the first 10 years of the 21st century, that we will have created more technological advancement than in all history combined ... 4 million years vs. 10 years.
In this essay I want to briefly look at three of those advancements. First up, quantum wires. These wires are made of carbon nano-tubes, which means they are atomic in origin. They will result in major increases in electrification efficiency. The key is that the wire has so little electrical resistance that they do not dissipate heat. No more need for expensive cooling apparatus. The breakthrough has come in the ability of these “micro-molecules” to be applied in a “macro” context. Additionally, these tubes can be fabricated with relatively simple etching methods and they can be studied at room temperature. Next step? ... quantum dots. This would be a piece of pure semiconductor. I guess we’ll be advancing Moore’s law beyond current limits soon.
Next up, metabolomics. The goal of this subject is to probe the mechanisms that contribute flux in cells, tissue and organisms so as to better understand human interactions with drugs, disease and nutrition. The main technology employed here is nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. MRI’s can now be conducted at the atomic level. A solvent extract from a sample is placed in a magnetic field and exposed to radio waves. How that sample absorbs the energy delivers entirely new insights into human biological behavior. In effect, we can now identify specific genes associated with specific diseases. Upwards of 300 companies are now involved in commercial applications ... yet another way the world is showing just how many new ways to make money are showing up on our radar screen.
The final technology to briefly discuss is biomechtronics. It appears to me that this discipline kind of combines the first two. It is an inter-disciplinary study of biology, mechanics and electrons. It looks at the interactivity between biological origins and electromechanical devices. The primitive applications have included both the defibrillator and the pacemaker. Soon we’ll see similar devices for diabetics/pancreas, electronically controlled muscle stimulators for stroke patients and accident survivors and, are you ready ... cameras wired to the brain so blind people can see again. Wow!!
Have a great month.
W2
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