*** SOMEWHAT OT ***
For me, the next step is nanotechnology. That's the science of engineering at the molecular level, precisely positioning atoms to create things (rather than hacking away at larger collections of atoms, as we currently use for every process, even microprocessor fabrication).
For more information about this, please see the following three web sites:
foresight.org The Foresight Institute
zyvex.com Zyvex LLC (in Richardson, TX)
alcor.org Alcor Life Extension Foundation
The first was formed to disseminate information about nanotechnology to the public; they also have created a web enhancement utility, CritSuite, which allows for discussions to occur on regular web pages using a front end (for a demo, click on crit.org -- note that all you need to do is prepend crit.org to any URL to view it through the markup utility). Electronic membership is free.
The second is the first company whose express purpose is to develop an assembler, which is a nanomachine that can make more of itself or other things -- the basic technology that we need in order to achieve nanotechnology. We will get there through protein engineering; our bodies are proof that nanotech will work. Lots of money is being spent on this, and it's going to happen within about 12 years, so please educate yourself on it so you will not be taken by surprise.
The third is a means for some of us to get to the future. I know I'll live another 12 years, and my parents most likely will also, but I'm not sure about my grandparents. Alcor will freeze a body upon death, and once we have nanotechnology we'll be able to perform cellular repairs to fix the holes that were poked in the cells by the water crystallizing as it froze.
This all sounds vaguely science-fictional, and that's because it mostly is. But then, so are submarines, air travel, landing a man on the moon, etc. Technology is conceived by the far-thinkers, who then have to convince everyone else that it's a future worth working toward.
I am so devoted to this future technology that I will give a gift to the first 100 people who send me email at kenbeal@bigfoot.com. This gift is the book _Nano_, by Ed Regis. All you have to do is send me a snail mail address, and I'll Amazon.com the book to you.
For those of you Dellionaires who can afford the $15.91, you can order the book from the following link:
amazon.com
What blows me away, every time I wake up, is that this technology is what all life, when it first starts evolving on a planet, hopes to achieve. To think that we'll achieve it within my lifetime! I am very fortunate (as are we all) -- billions, trillions of people have died before we got here.
I have become something of a missionary of late, helping to disseminate this to everyone on the planet. I know I'll only reach a tiny subset, but I'm doing what I can. And it's not a religious type of mission -- each person needs to make their own mind up about the technology, whether they think it'll come to pass or not, and I won't force my views on anyone; but I do want to share it with everyone, simply because there are dangers in the future, and the more time we have to think about it, the better prepared we'll be.
I hope you have a wonderful day!
Cheers,
Ken Beal |
