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ideas from reading /life in the frozen state/.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Sun, 07 Sep 2014 21:35:52 -0700
parents 04394e3857e2
children 8bf12217d0fa
rev   line source
rlm@43 1 #+title: Big List O' Ideas
rlm@43 2 #+author: Robert McIntyre
rlm@43 3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu
rlm@43 4 #+description: list of ideas from the last ~ 7 years
rlm@47 5 #+keywords: aurellem ideas half-baked random
rlm@43 6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
rlm@43 7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
rlm@43 8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
rlm@43 9
rlm@42 10 * Ideas
rlm@42 11
rlm@43 12 This is a list of all the ideas I've had that I felt like writing down
rlm@90 13 for the past ~ 8 years. Some of them could be practical inventions and
rlm@47 14 are "just" waiting the that 95% perspiration to bring them to
rlm@47 15 fruition, some are ideas for science fiction, and some are simple
rlm@48 16 observations. Some are really only for my own personal notes and are
rlm@48 17 not meant to be comprehensible. They are arranged roughly in reverse
rlm@48 18 chronological order, with the most recent ideas at the top of the
rlm@48 19 list. The ones at the bottom of the list are heavily influenced by my
rlm@48 20 time at MIT.
rlm@43 21
rlm@43 22 If you find some of these interesting and would like to collaborate on
rlm@43 23 them with me or discuss them in more detail, I'd love to hear from
rlm@43 24 you. You can email me at ideas@aurellem.org.
rlm@43 25
rlm@52 26 If you want to use one of these ideas as your own and run with it,
rlm@52 27 please feel free. I'd love to hear about it if you do.
rlm@52 28
rlm@62 29 #+begin_quote
rlm@62 30 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about
rlm@62 31 getting credit.
rlm@62 32 #+end_quote
rlm@62 33
rlm@136 34 - mars life :: we could engineer life that could survive on mars
rlm@136 35 (probably some non-vascular photosynthetic
rlm@136 36 poikilohydric creature like a lichen) by taking an
rlm@136 37 extremophile from Antarctica and evolving it in
rlm@136 38 increasingly Martian conditions. This could be an easy
rlm@136 39 start to a terraforming process.
rlm@136 40
rlm@134 41 - problem with Aubrey de Grey's ideas :: Aubrey de Grey says that we
rlm@134 42 might be able to live forever by continually repairing our bodies
rlm@134 43 at the cellular level -- he details 7 different mechanisms of
rlm@134 44 damage and says that if all of them are dealt with /together/
rlm@134 45 that it would stop aging. (You can't miss even one because
rlm@134 46 they're all fatal.) However, it doesn't take into account that
rlm@134 47 we are also beings of information and that there is a very real
rlm@134 48 software component to our existence. Even if our biological
rlm@134 49 chassies can be maintained forever, I think it is unlikely that
rlm@134 50 our minds will operate well far outside of the design constraints
rlm@134 51 that we've evolved to handle. Say I programmed a webserver with
rlm@134 52 the express goal of it being able to serve webpages for month on
rlm@134 53 some stock server. I'll do fairly rigorous testing to make sure
rlm@134 54 that it can handle the expected load then then some. Now say that
rlm@134 55 you want to keep a particular instance of this webserver running
rlm@134 56 indefinitely. (The program instance is like your mind and the
rlm@134 57 computer it's running on is like your body). You might very well
rlm@134 58 be able to keep the physical computer infrastructure running for
rlm@134 59 forever by replacing hard drives / ram / CPUs, etc. However,
rlm@134 60 since I designed the webserver to work for a month, it probably
rlm@135 61 has memory leaks, rare stochastic bugs, or other built in limits
rlm@134 62 / constraints (think log files or some date rollover shenanigans)
rlm@135 63 that will ultimately kill the webserver even with eternally
rlm@134 64 perfect hardware. Do you really expect that a webserver
rlm@135 65 engineered to work for 1 month will run for 10 years without
rlm@135 66 catastrophically crashing? Not even Apache can do this! In fact,
rlm@135 67 if I put in the extreme effort to make it that robust, I've
rlm@135 68 wasted time that I could have spent on other projects by pursuing
rlm@135 69 an unnecessary engineering goal. Likewise, human minds have only
rlm@134 70 ever run for at most 122 years before they are destroyed due to
rlm@134 71 hardware degradation. Fixing the hardware doesn't change any
rlm@134 72 software bugs that are almost certainly present in the human
rlm@134 73 mind. Think of all the pathological things that can go wrong with
rlm@134 74 a webserver, multiply it by a million, and that likely how
rlm@134 75 evolution has designed our minds. For example, consider memory :
rlm@134 76 why should you expect that we have evolved the ability to
rlm@134 77 coherently organize memories past say 150 years? There's been
rlm@134 78 absolutely no selective pressure for this ability, so you can bet
rlm@134 79 that if there's any fitness to be gained from not having
rlm@134 80 unlimited memory potential (such as better metabolic efficiency),
rlm@134 81 we have it! You might think that maybe we would just forget
rlm@134 82 things the same way that we sort of forget things that happen
rlm@134 83 earlier in our lives, but complicated information processing
rlm@134 84 systems don't have to fail gracefully when they're pushed far
rlm@134 85 past their design constraints. A 150 year old person is just as
rlm@134 86 likely to suffer a catastrophic psychosis due to software
rlm@134 87 limitations associated with memory as he is to do something with
rlm@134 88 all those memories we might consider reasonable. More likely, in
rlm@134 89 fact, since there are so very many ways for a complicated
rlm@134 90 software system to break and so few ways for it to run
rlm@134 91 successfully. Therefore, I think Aubrey de Grey's "hardware-only"
rlm@134 92 approach is missing a very important component of longevity
rlm@134 93 science, and any successful effort to make people live orders of
rlm@134 94 magnitude longer than they do naturally will need to deal with
rlm@134 95 people's software as well as their hardware.
rlm@134 96
rlm@133 97 - validating neurocryopreservation :: Problem : you want to test
rlm@133 98 whether a brain is functionally preserved through vitrification,
rlm@133 99 but you don't want to figure out how to preserve all the other
rlm@133 100 organs in the animal. It might be possible to keep the rest of
rlm@133 101 the body at almost 0C and vitrify just the head for only a few
rlm@133 102 minutes. Induce hypothermia, then separate out the head's blood
rlm@133 103 supply from the rest of the body, then just cryoptotect and
rlm@133 104 vitrify the head. Might need some sort of thermal guard to keep
rlm@133 105 the outer head / neck from becoming too cold. You leave the
rlm@133 106 spinal cord intact! Then you devitrify to 0C, remove
rlm@133 107 cryoprotectant, and then reattach the blood supply. You can
rlm@133 108 determine brain preservation using behavioral assays!
rlm@133 109
rlm@133 110 - freezing water purifier :: you slowly freeze water, but also run
rlm@133 111 liquid water over the frozen mass. This takes away basically all
rlm@133 112 impurities and creates "washed ice" then you melt the ice. Maybe
rlm@133 113 you could re-use the heat from creating the ice to melt the ice?
rlm@133 114
rlm@133 115 - ultra strength :: allow a person to visualize their muscle
rlm@133 116 recruitment patterns. Give them adrenaline and let
rlm@133 117 them feel what it's like to have the normal limits
rlm@133 118 removed. See if they can replicate the effects.
rlm@133 119
rlm@133 120 - phone names :: make a PX record for domain names that's like the MX
rlm@133 121 record, except that it is a phone number instead of
rlm@133 122 an IP address. That way, you can use the domain name
rlm@133 123 registration system to provide names for phone
rlm@133 124 numbers. Then, as long as you control the domain, you
rlm@133 125 can point people to your current phone number by
rlm@133 126 updating that record.
rlm@133 127
rlm@133 128 - edible flowers :: Edible white flowers that you put in a colored
rlm@133 129 solution with flavor. When the flower turns the
rlm@133 130 right color, it is also flavored and ready to eat!
rlm@133 131
rlm@131 132 - suicide cryonics :: according to [[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html][this]], people who commit impulsive
rlm@131 133 suicides have a newfound sense of the importance of life. Perhaps
rlm@131 134 they are good cryonics targets.
rlm@131 135
rlm@131 136 - lead bone :: Could you fill in all the empty spaces in a bone with
rlm@131 137 lead? Might be cool.
rlm@131 138
rlm@131 139 - the quest for life :: Every stupid story has the "immortal who
rlm@131 140 wants to become mortal" or some other such idea. I want to story
rlm@131 141 where the protagonist loses their immortality and feels /angry/
rlm@131 142 and ashamed about losing something that's so absolutely crucial
rlm@131 143 to their identity. A reverse of "death makes life worth living",
rlm@131 144 they feel that living forever is what makes life worth
rlm@131 145 living. Now they've "lost their sunrise" or their "connection to
rlm@131 146 the timeless universe" or something. So they go on a quest to get
rlm@131 147 it back, learning about themselves along the way, and regaining
rlm@131 148 the precious thing they lost in the beginning.
rlm@131 149
rlm@130 150 - world-map :: take a small table and paint the continents in
rlm@130 151 toothpaste on the table. Make a slightly raised barrier
rlm@130 152 around the table. Slowly pour water onto the table, and
rlm@130 153 it will form the oceans!
rlm@130 154
rlm@95 155 - stage magic rituals :: rituals should incorporate elements of stage
rlm@95 156 magic. Foe example in Teller's tempest, they have a scene where
rlm@95 157 they levitate a crown in front of someone, then put it on his
rlm@95 158 head. They also have a wedding ceremony where they levitated the
rlm@95 159 bride as well. Actual weddings and other ceremonies should
rlm@95 160 incorporate stage magic as an enhancement.
rlm@95 161
rlm@95 162 - isotope time dilation :: use a cyclotron to speed up rare isotopes
rlm@95 163 developed in nuclear fusion experiments. The relativistic time
rlm@95 164 dilation will stop the isotopes from decaying, and allow time to
rlm@95 165 study them. This is based on radioactive isotopes that fall
rlm@95 166 through the earth's atmosphere that take hundreds of times
rlm@95 167 longer to decay than normal.
rlm@95 168
rlm@95 169 - marsupial stimulation :: You take a freshly pouched marsupial baby,
rlm@95 170 and show it videos and other interactive things while it matures
rlm@95 171 in the pouch. What mental effects would this have?
rlm@95 172
rlm@135 173 - dynamic re-keying :: Some older ways of tuning instruments sound
rlm@95 174 better, but we use the even-tempered scale today because it makes
rlm@95 175 it easier to switch keys. With electronic music, why not make
rlm@95 176 key-annotations and dynamically re-tune the piece to sound good
rlm@135 177 in the current key? Could be done as a midi+annotation -> midi
rlm@95 178 compiler for experimentation.
rlm@95 179
rlm@95 180 - death always implies damage :: is is possible for a corpse to differ
rlm@95 181 from a living person only in the fact that one is dead and the
rlm@95 182 other is alive? NO! A corpse must always have some sort of
rlm@95 183 molecular damage which causes the loss of function!
rlm@95 184
rlm@95 185 - inner eye :: Surgically install a bunch of tiny cameras inside a
rlm@95 186 person. Then, you can activate them all and get a
rlm@95 187 picture of your internal organs for diagnostic
rlm@95 188 purposes.
rlm@95 189
rlm@135 190 - chaos rails :: should make a visualization of the homoclinic tangle,
rlm@95 191 it's truly beautiful.
rlm@95 192
rlm@95 193 - context gobbler :: this would be in "inside-out macro" that takes
rlm@95 194 the context (like you use for things like error, continuations,
rlm@95 195 and friends) and transforms it to something else. Maybe useful?
rlm@95 196
rlm@91 197 - cryonics middle ages :: some people say that cryonics is an
rlm@91 198 experiment and that it is foolish to wait until we have revived a
rlm@91 199 human. There is a middle ground where the procedure has a dismal
rlm@91 200 success rate on humans, say 1 in 20, so that you'd be a fool to
rlm@91 201 try revival. Nonetheless, this very risky procedure could be the
rlm@91 202 legal proof of concept needed to create a new class of life
rlm@91 203 between "living" and "dead": "stasis".
rlm@91 204
rlm@91 205 - philosophy of the mirror :: neat thought experiment -- if you take a
rlm@91 206 mirror of someone by actually reversing a person's chirality
rlm@94 207 molecule by molecule, then will the only be able to read mirror
rlm@91 208 writing? The answer is yes, by analogy to a purely mechanical
rlm@94 209 scan-tron device. This is one of the only interesting transforms I
rlm@91 210 know that can take a human brain and change it in subtle,
rlm@91 211 non-destructive ways. It's also an argument against dualism.
rlm@91 212
rlm@91 213 - biosphere in a bottle :: There are around 15 million species. 15
rlm@91 214 million stem cells will fill only a tiny size, far less than a cubic
rlm@91 215 inch. Preserve a single cell from every species on earth in this
rlm@91 216 small space, and you will have a record of our current biosphere
rlm@91 217 that can be protected. "Hold the genetic data of all species in
rlm@92 218 your hand!"
rlm@91 219
rlm@90 220 - chaos lock :: The "arrow of time" points in the direction of
rlm@90 221 increasing entropy. The time evolution of chaotic
rlm@90 222 systems depend exquisitely on their initial state. If
rlm@90 223 you take a measurement of a chaotic system at any
rlm@90 224 given point of time, you can evolve that system
rlm@90 225 backwards or forwards based on your measurement. So
rlm@90 226 let's say you start the chaotic system in a VERY low
rlm@90 227 entropy state, then let it run for a while, then take
rlm@90 228 a measurement with some uncertainty. Your
rlm@90 229 measurement is pretty good, but obviously not
rlm@90 230 PERFECT. If you evolve the chaotic system back in
rlm@90 231 time, then you will see that you don't really reach
rlm@90 232 a state with low entropy an hour before (the entropy
rlm@90 233 is easy to measure with surrogates like alignment,
rlm@90 234 etc). So use this technique to SEARCH for a more
rlm@90 235 accurate measurement! This potentially can give you
rlm@90 236 many more orders of magnitude than you could get alone
rlm@90 237 just using an instrument. Sometimes it will give you
rlm@90 238 bad results, the the odds of it doing that are
rlm@90 239 infinitesimal, and you can just measure a couple of
rlm@90 240 times.
rlm@90 241
rlm@90 242 - cryo-evolution :: perhaps there would be a way to rapidly evolve a
rlm@90 243 symbiotic bacterial organism that could protect
rlm@90 244 human tissues from freezing damage.
rlm@90 245
rlm@87 246 - suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
rlm@87 247 reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
rlm@87 248 depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
rlm@87 249 back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
rlm@87 250 it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
rlm@88 251 causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain
rlm@87 252 parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
rlm@87 253 mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
rlm@88 254 parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems:
rlm@87 255 - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
rlm@87 256 answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
rlm@87 257 cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
rlm@88 258 - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should
rlm@88 259 be more common among people who share a contagion
rlm@88 260 vector. There should be suicides that don't make any
rlm@87 261 sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
rlm@87 262 reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
rlm@87 263 should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
rlm@87 264 their brains.
rlm@86 265
rlm@89 266 - domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much
rlm@89 267 more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research
rlm@94 268 to make very appealing bugs? Beetles, in particular, seem to be
rlm@94 269 excellent targets for domestication because they have extreme
rlm@94 270 levels of genetic malleability.
rlm@87 271
rlm@87 272 - birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
rlm@87 273 into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
rlm@87 274 is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
rlm@87 275 the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
rlm@88 276 can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it
rlm@87 277 would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
rlm@87 278 have a culture where people reward people who were
rlm@87 279 especially awesome are "reborn" from their
rlm@88 280 backups. Imagine having a young Bach every
rlm@87 281 generation, etc.
rlm@86 282
rlm@94 283 - pronunciation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and
rlm@94 284 it returns a simple, English sentence describing exactly how to
rlm@84 285 pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA.
rlm@86 286
rlm@87 287 - cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
rlm@87 288 search space of possible actions.
rlm@87 289
rlm@83 290 - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person
rlm@83 291 who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about
rlm@83 292 teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a
rlm@83 293 member of that society (after all, the difference between animals
rlm@83 294 and humans is that humans are creatures of pure information while
rlm@83 295 animals are burdened with base matter, "that's how you travel the
rlm@83 296 stars, etc") Humans are born normally, grow up, and then
rlm@83 297 eventually transcend via destructive upload. Analogies to jumping
rlm@83 298 off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for
rlm@83 299 a long time), etc.
rlm@83 300
rlm@87 301 - no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
rlm@87 302 forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
rlm@87 303 the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
rlm@87 304 lips. For bars and fancy things.
rlm@87 305
rlm@82 306 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
rlm@82 307 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
rlm@82 308 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
rlm@82 309 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get
rlm@82 310 fleeced in the process with fees. Bitcoin could greatly reduce
rlm@82 311 the cost of sending money from America to Mexico, but I don't
rlm@82 312 believe that it's currently used for that among Mexican
rlm@82 313 immigrants currently due to lack of knowledge. I bet you could
rlm@82 314 set up physical locations like those obnoxious Western Union huts
rlm@82 315 in places like Texas, Arizona, etc, and greatly undercut
rlm@82 316 them. Or, perhaps some educational seminars about bitcoin might
rlm@82 317 be in order. There's some money to be made there because there is
rlm@82 318 great demand, and it's a good thing to boot!
rlm@82 319
rlm@81 320 - reverse eye-tracking :: A painting that is actually a digital screen
rlm@82 321 with a camera. It records people's eye tracks permanently. It's
rlm@81 322 "artistic" because paintings are normally these things that you
rlm@81 323 look at without changing, but this one is changed the second you
rlm@81 324 look at it, recording where /you/ looked forever for others to
rlm@81 325 see. Make it be a painting of a woman and see the trolling as the
rlm@81 326 breasts and groin area light up with interest from all the males
rlm@81 327 passing by.
rlm@81 328
rlm@80 329 - smart toilets :: Instead of using indirect measures like infrared
rlm@80 330 detectors of the presence of a person, use computer
rlm@80 331 vision to directly measure whether the toilet needs
rlm@80 332 to be flushed. I think a lot of things will end up
rlm@80 333 going this way as we get better computer vision.
rlm@80 334
rlm@77 335 - validate chemopreservation :: chemopreservation is difficult to
rlm@77 336 validate because it destroys the functionality of a brain, and
rlm@77 337 brain simulation will take a long time to mature as a
rlm@77 338 technology. However, one very powerful way to validate
rlm@77 339 chemopreservation would be to have a person/animal learn
rlm@77 340 something with high complexity such as a number or the solution
rlm@80 341 to a maze, or a flashbulb memory. Then you preserve their brain
rlm@80 342 chemically, slice it up, and read /that specific memory/ from the
rlm@77 343 detailed brain scan. Much more difficult, but much more doable.
rlm@77 344
rlm@75 345 - candy screw :: edible candy screw with candy nuts that you can screw
rlm@75 346 as well.
rlm@76 347
rlm@74 348 - better bibliography :: when writing a thesis or paper, have the
rlm@80 349 bibliography not just be an opaque list of resources, but have it
rlm@74 350 be a list of /summaries/ and /qualities/ that each paper has in
rlm@80 351 the context of the paper being written. When examining a
rlm@80 352 bibliography, I want to know if reading the papers in the
rlm@74 353 bibliography are worth my time, and I also am probably also
rlm@74 354 interested in exactly the things that are being discussed in the
rlm@74 355 paper I'm reading. The bibliography is the perfect place to
rlm@74 356 provide information about the referenced papers from the
rlm@80 357 author's perspective. I will use this biographic form in my own
rlm@74 358 thesis.
rlm@74 359
rlm@73 360 - digital inter-library loan :: libraries at universities already do
rlm@80 361 inter-library loans for books, so why not do the same for access
rlm@73 362 to stupid paywalled digital papers? All the universities could
rlm@73 363 allow access to articles for registered students to all the files
rlm@73 364 available through any participating university. This could be
rlm@73 365 achieved by sending requests through proxies at participating
rlm@73 366 universities. Each university would decide who at the university
rlm@73 367 can access the proxy network. Access to the proxy network could
rlm@73 368 be made easy using something like http://libx.org/.
rlm@73 369
rlm@72 370 - chess visual :: to show the vast size of the game trees considered
rlm@72 371 by computers, show two people playing chess in a
rlm@72 372 void. They are floating in space, and there is a
rlm@72 373 simple chess board between them. Then, as they play,
rlm@72 374 the game tree's they are considering are drawn
rlm@72 375 behind him. The root of the tree starts centered in
rlm@72 376 their heads or whatever they use to think, and the
rlm@72 377 tree grows out from behind, never crossing the
rlm@72 378 dividing plane between the two players. Each
rlm@72 379 player's tree is a different color. As they grow,
rlm@72 380 there are animations for pruning, etc. Eventually,
rlm@72 381 they look like the hemispheres of a brain, wings,
rlm@72 382 etc. A human's tree might occasionally have a long
rlm@72 383 chain, while the computer tree would be more
rlm@72 384 uniform. You could compare deep blue and a modern
rlm@72 385 laptop. Use actual data when fighting two computers!
rlm@72 386
rlm@71 387 - time verification :: some standard way to verify that some piece of
rlm@71 388 data was recorded at a specific time. Might involve a time
rlm@73 389 server, a key for each time period, something like that.
rlm@71 390
rlm@70 391 - tamper proof gold bars :: [[http://www.tungsten-alloy.com/gold-plated-tungsten-alloy-bar.html][this site]] offers gold plated tungsten bars
rlm@70 392 as "novelty" items. One reason to prefer coins is because they
rlm@70 393 are much harder to counterfeit because there is less surface area
rlm@70 394 to mass ratio. However, gold bars are still a great design
rlm@70 395 because they can hold a lot of value in a small space. A gold bar
rlm@70 396 could be given the same protections (and more) that gold coins
rlm@70 397 have to offer by changing it into a "gold book", which would have
rlm@70 398 hundreds of "pages" of gold bound together. This could be
rlm@70 399 implemented with multiple steel rods going through the book which
rlm@70 400 can be removed, or some more classier mechanism for holding the
rlm@70 401 pages. The point is that the bar can be EASILY subdivided (and
rlm@70 402 people would perform this test before buying), thus guaranteeing
rlm@70 403 it's authenticity.
rlm@70 404
rlm@68 405 - aurellem shirt :: I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt.
rlm@68 406
rlm@86 407 - touch vision :: inspired by GelSight, I want to reexamine cortex and
rlm@86 408 see if I could implement touch as a very low range
rlm@86 409 form of vision.
rlm@86 410
rlm@67 411 - high school science :: this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The
rlm@67 412 goal is to calculate /g/, the local gravitational
rlm@67 413 acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's
rlm@67 414 /exactly/ 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they
rlm@67 415 doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's
rlm@67 416 neat because for any given school, /g/ is probably *not* exactly
rlm@67 417 equal to 9.81, because that is just an average!
rlm@67 418
rlm@67 419 - opencourseware subtitles :: there are ladies who type up lectures
rlm@67 420 while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and
rlm@67 421 given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are
rlm@67 422 recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles.
rlm@67 423
rlm@66 424 - screen locking timing :: you use your computer camera to see if you
rlm@66 425 are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen
rlm@66 426 will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a
rlm@67 427 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to
rlm@66 428 initiate the countdown, just with more information.
rlm@66 429
rlm@66 430 - mirror toilet :: a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead
rlm@67 431 or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a
rlm@66 432 wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion
rlm@66 433 system works.
rlm@66 434
rlm@80 435 - test dummies :: why don't we clone anencephalic humans and use then to
rlm@62 436 test /in vivo/ human organ systems and drugs? It
rlm@62 437 would be ethical as long as there are women who are
rlm@62 438 willing to host the clones, and it would be a
rlm@67 439 tremendous resource for studying the human body. I
rlm@62 440 see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is
rlm@67 441 suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout
rlm@62 442 more advanced technology.
rlm@62 443
rlm@62 444 - X-ray telepresence :: given that a doctor is operating on a patient
rlm@62 445 via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into
rlm@62 446 the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system
rlm@80 447 was coupled with a Bayesian model of the layout of the structure,
rlm@67 448 and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the
rlm@62 449 model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage
rlm@62 450 and surgery risk could be minimized.
rlm@62 451
rlm@62 452 - superfluid vascular system :: I wonder what would happen if you
rlm@62 453 replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the
rlm@62 454 physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the
rlm@62 455 vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells,
rlm@62 456 or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to
rlm@62 457 retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during
rlm@62 458 perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses
rlm@62 459 superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by
rlm@67 460 superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to
rlm@62 461 simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid
rlm@62 462 instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human.
rlm@51 463
rlm@59 464 - projective guessing :: I think that we read and see things by
rlm@67 465 making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see,
rlm@59 466 and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really
rlm@59 467 doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the
rlm@59 468 image from first principles, but most stuff is projective
rlm@59 469 guessing.
rlm@59 470
rlm@67 471 - Intestinal flora maintenance :: why not inoculate babies at birth
rlm@59 472 with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they
rlm@59 473 naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient
rlm@67 474 extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts
rlm@94 475 not stink for life, too. MORE IMPORTANTLY, might help to
rlm@91 476 preventatively stop some forms of /colic/, which affects 1 in 5
rlm@94 477 babies and causes constant screaming and pain for about 5 weeks.
rlm@59 478
rlm@56 479 - server culture : mirrors :: make a distributed system where people
rlm@56 480 can mirror the websites of people they like -- essentially cover
rlm@56 481 the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular
rlm@56 482 websites run at no cost. The system would require that the
rlm@56 483 mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like
rlm@67 484 bit-torrent for websites.
rlm@56 485
rlm@56 486 - map programming :: one problem with functional programming is that
rlm@56 487 in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up
rlm@67 488 into each calling function to get the full range of behavior
rlm@56 489 from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a
rlm@67 490 compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic
rlm@67 491 variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the
rlm@56 492 advantages of making a programming language where every function
rlm@67 493 receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol
rlm@56 494 bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all
rlm@56 495 subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on
rlm@56 496 the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults,
rlm@56 497 etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea.
rlm@56 498
rlm@55 499 - rest nest :: a small EEG device you would attach to your head when
rlm@55 500 you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine
rlm@55 501 your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an
rlm@55 502 alarm clock that you could give a time range, say
rlm@55 503 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an
rlm@55 504 ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90
rlm@55 505 min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon
rlm@55 506 waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be
rlm@55 507 some other uses for the EEG data as well.
rlm@55 508
rlm@50 509 - image compression :: use a library like gimp or opencv to process an
rlm@50 510 image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of
rlm@50 511 those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a
rlm@80 512 super-compressed image file (possibly accepting some
rlm@80 513 losses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one
rlm@50 514 to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the
rlm@50 515 image.
rlm@50 516
rlm@47 517 - fixed cryopreservation :: why not use a fixative to buy enough time
rlm@42 518 to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room
rlm@42 519 temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and
rlm@42 520 vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the
rlm@47 521 fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures
rlm@42 522 do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage.
rlm@38 523
rlm@67 524 - dilated security camera :: a security camera that would capture
rlm@58 525 full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep
rlm@58 526 only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something
rlm@58 527 "interesting" happening.
rlm@58 528
rlm@40 529 - bitcoin wallet :: Part of "server culture", this would be something
rlm@40 530 like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as
rlm@40 531 your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins
rlm@40 532 from anywhere.
rlm@40 533
rlm@40 534 - libpay :: this would be a free library which would enable
rlm@40 535 micro-donations to software projects and other projects,
rlm@47 536 so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would
rlm@47 537 be automatically split up to every person who has ever
rlm@40 538 contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of
rlm@40 539 community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the
rlm@47 540 community decides. This might make it possible for
rlm@40 541 programmers to live entirely off of free programming.
rlm@40 542
rlm@45 543 - distributed graphics :: Browser based graphics-card accelerated
rlm@45 544 distributed computing API.
rlm@41 545
rlm@40 546 - pronouns :: use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve
rlm@40 547 pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to
rlm@40 548 say, and you can encode useful information into the
rlm@40 549 choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings
rlm@40 550 shall be presided over by the president, unless she is
rlm@42 551 absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the
rlm@40 552 president, unless P is absent." We already use this a
rlm@40 553 little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and
rlm@40 554 object respectively.
rlm@40 555
rlm@40 556 - phone DSP :: software app that inserts an audio DSP between the
rlm@40 557 input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious
rlm@40 558 and configurable, and can allow men to make their
rlm@40 559 voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear
rlm@40 560 your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how
rlm@40 561 their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to
rlm@47 562 immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good
rlm@40 563 presets.
rlm@40 564
rlm@47 565 - predestined body learning :: a good example of predestined learning
rlm@40 566 might be the mirror neurons.
rlm@40 567
rlm@47 568 - restaurant receipt :: use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid
rlm@40 569 copies.
rlm@40 570
rlm@41 571 - anti google glass :: glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision
rlm@41 572 that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them.
rlm@41 573
rlm@40 574 - wearable towel :: towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows
rlm@40 575 one to wear the towel more securely than just
rlm@40 576 wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best.
rlm@40 577
rlm@47 578 - crossdressing :: Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to
rlm@44 579 wear a burka.
rlm@41 580
rlm@40 581 - book-mode :: intelligent color highlighting for books and
rlm@40 582 articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved
rlm@93 583 references. For example, if "Rachael" was assigned the
rlm@93 584 color red, and "the blonde haired girl" refers to
rlm@93 585 "Rachael", then "the blonde haired girl" would be
rlm@93 586 colored red. Also, you could disambiguate multi part
rlm@93 587 run-on sentences by highlighting each
rlm@93 588 subcomponent. Maybe would also have applications to
rlm@93 589 scientific reading.
rlm@40 590
rlm@40 591 - Handheld light Rain measurement :: this would be a clear, teflon
rlm@47 592 coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would
rlm@40 593 be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of
rlm@40 594 accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by
rlm@40 595 using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops.
rlm@40 596
rlm@40 597 - Big Brother Farming :: This would be a vision system that would
rlm@40 598 individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure
rlm@40 599 maximum/uniform growth for each plant.
rlm@40 600
rlm@40 601 - Discrete Faucet :: A faucet with discrete ticks instead of
rlm@47 602 continuous.
rlm@40 603
rlm@40 604 - Laser Circle :: take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one
rlm@40 605 end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect,
rlm@40 606 large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam
rlm@47 607 into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of
rlm@40 608 the laser.
rlm@40 609
rlm@40 610 - Invisible Glass :: Take a container of liquid and embed a
rlm@40 611 glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index
rlm@40 612 of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be
rlm@40 613 totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed
rlm@40 614 when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy
rlm@40 615 wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass.
rlm@40 616
rlm@47 617 - Caterpillar people :: A race of caterpillar like creatures gains
rlm@40 618 intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These
rlm@47 619 caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large
rlm@40 620 butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the
rlm@40 621 caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal,
rlm@40 622 dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person
rlm@47 623 the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and
rlm@40 624 religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as
rlm@40 625 good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and
rlm@47 626 necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can
rlm@40 627 mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person
rlm@47 628 because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the
rlm@47 629 memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the
rlm@40 630 butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the
rlm@40 631 butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big
rlm@47 632 deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is
rlm@40 633 actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible
rlm@47 634 tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the
rlm@40 635 metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important
rlm@40 636 members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to
rlm@40 637 prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves.
rlm@40 638
rlm@40 639 This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being
rlm@40 640 something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds,
rlm@40 641 something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that
rlm@40 642 hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains
rlm@40 643 now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic
rlm@40 644 legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a
rlm@40 645 compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second
rlm@40 646 gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes
rlm@40 647 homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of
rlm@47 648 pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the
rlm@47 649 lens of the the caterpillar people.
rlm@40 650
rlm@46 651 - relationships as a business :: [[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx][Turnover-Crisis]] is an excellent talk
rlm@46 652 about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business
rlm@46 653 by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their
rlm@47 654 "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni
rlm@46 655 network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied
rlm@46 656 ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might
rlm@46 657 consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with
rlm@46 658 new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and
rlm@46 659 how they worked out.
rlm@43 660
rlm@47 661 - coffee with tea :: /rlm-tea/ contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20%
rlm@43 662 dylan coffee. /dylan coffee/ contains 5% sugar,
rlm@43 663 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings
rlm@43 664 with recursion!
rlm@43 665
rlm@43 666 - psychic crystal :: in a science fiction story, this would be an
rlm@43 667 object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely
rlm@43 668 difficult to move with telekinesis.
rlm@43 669
rlm@40 670 - http://betsofbitco.in/ :: what a great place for an AI/person to
rlm@40 671 prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be
rlm@40 672 automated.
rlm@40 673
rlm@44 674 - true reflection :: don't forget about that mirror in the student
rlm@44 675 center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a
rlm@44 676 corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what
rlm@44 677 you actually look like, instead of your mirror image.
rlm@33 678
rlm@33 679 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote
rlm@32 680 power/logic.
rlm@32 681
rlm@47 682 - encrypted email phone book :: public (distributed?) database of
rlm@44 683 email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption.
rlm@32 684
rlm@44 685 - universal eye color :: every equivalent creature will see each
rlm@44 686 others' eyes as black -- it's universal. Even if the creatures
rlm@44 687 see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged
rlm@44 688 metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see
rlm@44 689 black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed
rlm@44 690 by the sensor array).
rlm@32 691
rlm@33 692 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields
rlm@83 693 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infrared
rlm@32 694 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,
rlm@32 695 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is
rlm@32 696 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since
rlm@32 697 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of
rlm@47 698 the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer,
rlm@47 699 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically
rlm@32 700 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much
rlm@47 701 faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with
rlm@32 702 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.
rlm@32 703
rlm@39 704 + Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would
rlm@39 705 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.
rlm@32 706
rlm@39 707 + Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods
rlm@39 708 and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been
rlm@54 709 cooked before -- it can get faster the more it's used.
rlm@32 710
rlm@47 711 - compression :: brain-aware image compression algorithm
rlm@32 712
rlm@44 713 - Credit card proxy :: would be a company which works like paypal
rlm@44 714 except for real world transactions
rlm@32 715
rlm@33 716 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete
rlm@33 717 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.
rlm@33 718
rlm@47 719 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and instead
rlm@47 720 uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank
rlm@33 721 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to
rlm@33 722 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle
rlm@33 723 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.
rlm@33 724
rlm@47 725 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically separate
rlm@33 726 fluids with different index of refraction
rlm@33 727
rlm@33 728 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy
rlm@33 729 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a
rlm@33 730 certain direction.
rlm@33 731
rlm@44 732 - silver socks :: socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial
rlm@44 733 properties.
rlm@32 734
rlm@53 735 - UROP :: magnet gear/metal teeth tape
rlm@53 736
rlm@82 737 - Rod of Moses :: device to distill urine through evaporation and
rlm@53 738 easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --
rlm@53 739 produce drinkable water.
rlm@32 740
rlm@47 741 - UROP :: Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so
rlm@44 742 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes
rlm@44 743 distance of internal magnet from windings depending on
rlm@44 744 desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency.
rlm@32 745
rlm@47 746 - lottery scraper :: web scraper which monitors various lotteries,
rlm@44 747 looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x
rlm@44 748 winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value...
rlm@34 749
rlm@34 750 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make
rlm@34 751 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.
rlm@34 752
rlm@44 753 - Conductive concrete :: concrete that has embedded metal fibers so
rlm@44 754 that it can conduct electricity.
rlm@34 755
rlm@44 756 - little bitty melting pot :: might be useful for some types of
rlm@44 757 manufacturing/3D printing -- how small can an induction melter be
rlm@44 758 made, for example.
rlm@34 759
rlm@44 760 - power strip/timer programmable combination :: meh
rlm@34 761
rlm@47 762 - algorithms :: which learn what their inputs are and in what order,
rlm@44 763 and can adapt to changing circumstances -- they
rlm@44 764 remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond
rlm@44 765 to different connections.
rlm@34 766
rlm@47 767 - true pure tones :: hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the
rlm@44 768 nerves of the ear
rlm@43 769
rlm@43 770 - mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp :: would be an object
rlm@43 771 with two levers -- you pull on one lever and the other moves the
rlm@43 772 same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This
rlm@47 773 analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people.
rlm@34 774
rlm@47 775 - paper folding device :: make it convenient to fold lots of papers in
rlm@34 776 various ways.
rlm@34 777
rlm@34 778 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.
rlm@34 779
rlm@47 780 - light capacitor :: suspend some ball of material with a high index
rlm@43 781 of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would
rlm@43 782 the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited
rlm@43 783 quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be
rlm@43 784 released slowly by frustrated internal reflection?
rlm@34 785
rlm@40 786 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. One way to
rlm@34 787 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the
rlm@34 788 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which
rlm@34 789 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)
rlm@34 790 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I
rlm@34 791 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill
rlm@47 792 which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their
rlm@34 793 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their
rlm@34 794 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!
rlm@34 795
rlm@47 796 - optimize an article :: capture reading of a scientific article via
rlm@44 797 screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the
rlm@44 798 article better. like the movie-pruning idea.
rlm@35 799
rlm@44 800 - super reading program :: teaches people the ideal mental mask to
rlm@44 801 apply during reading so as to read very fast.
rlm@35 802
rlm@44 803 - explosive thermite epoxy putty :: one part would contain the rust,
rlm@47 804 one part the aluminum.
rlm@34 805
rlm@44 806 - reading comprehension :: use the above screen capture routine to
rlm@44 807 make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content
rlm@44 808 you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf
rlm@44 809 came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate
rlm@44 810 word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help
rlm@44 811 others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the
rlm@44 812 interesting parts.
rlm@34 813
rlm@44 814 - hard sword :: make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of
rlm@44 815 martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better
rlm@44 816 sword.
rlm@32 817
rlm@44 818 - close range wireless :: use the induction technology used to
rlm@44 819 recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data
rlm@44 820 without any metal at all!
rlm@32 821
rlm@44 822 - reading :: is a form of synsethesia
rlm@32 823
rlm@44 824 - DNA printer :: A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into
rlm@44 825 actual DNA
rlm@32 826
rlm@44 827 - black generator :: ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro
rlm@44 828 generator to make electricity
rlm@32 829
rlm@44 830 - alcohol battery :: alcohol/fluid flow powered battery
rlm@32 831
rlm@44 832 - folding razor blade sword ::
rlm@32 833
rlm@44 834 - perfect pitch :: learn perfect pitch using another sense in
rlm@44 835 combination (sight or touch)
rlm@32 836
rlm@44 837 - kaleidoscope projector ::
rlm@32 838
rlm@44 839 - razor blade de-sharpener :: for guilt free disposal
rlm@32 840
rlm@44 841 - bricks :: filled with luminescent plant material
rlm@32 842
rlm@47 843 - bio metallic structure :: metal grids with seeds inside, which grow
rlm@44 844 together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal
rlm@44 845 substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?)
rlm@44 846 Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical
rlm@44 847 interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled
rlm@44 848 photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures.
rlm@32 849
rlm@44 850 - conducting extracellular matrix :: to allow better control of
rlm@44 851 organic systems and an enhanced nervous system.
rlm@32 852
rlm@44 853 - cross-modal memory hashing :: a way to retrieve memories more
rlm@44 854 robustly.
rlm@32 855
rlm@47 856 - flossing thimble-guards :: (these actually exist)
rlm@32 857
rlm@44 858 - rules + lattice learning :: integrate lattice learning with rules by
rlm@44 859 generating hypothetical examples
rlm@32 860
rlm@47 861 - wooden refrigerator :: to give food a better taste Dylan: like
rlm@44 862 barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor
rlm@44 863 planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of
rlm@44 864 temperature on volatility?
rlm@32 865
rlm@35 866 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious
rlm@35 867 metals or something else economically advantageous.
rlm@32 868
rlm@47 869 - crowd preservation :: inoculate food with tons of harmless
rlm@44 870 bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of
rlm@44 871 preservation
rlm@32 872
rlm@47 873 - old school preservation :: Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon
rlm@47 874 as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o
rlm@47 875 refrigeration.
rlm@32 876
rlm@47 877 - restaurant policy :: Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter
rlm@44 878 of course -- make ambiance much better.
rlm@32 879
rlm@47 880 - clean windows :: make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant
rlm@44 881 water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it
rlm@44 882 to clean windows of buildings.
rlm@32 883
rlm@44 884 - ocarina :: make an ocarina out of pure silver
rlm@32 885
rlm@35 886 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing
rlm@47 887 any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the
rlm@35 888 human's energy?
rlm@32 889
rlm@44 890 - website to design your own soda :: and label, and have it mailed to
rlm@44 891 you / sell it from your own online store.
rlm@35 892
rlm@44 893 - solar panels :: that float on the ocean
rlm@43 894
rlm@35 895 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining
rlm@43 896 people, binding them to environment, etc.
rlm@35 897
rlm@35 898 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify
rlm@35 899 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe
rlm@35 900 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech
rlm@43 901 to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the
rlm@35 902 wavefront encoded as a vector image.
rlm@32 903
rlm@44 904 - Mouse :: with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical
rlm@44 905 scroll wheel
rlm@32 906
rlm@47 907 - logic maintenance system for big institutions :: to make sure the
rlm@44 908 things they are thinking about doing are not retarded
rlm@32 909
rlm@47 910 - http://www.regulations.gov/ :: cool site
rlm@32 911
rlm@44 912 - genetically engineered glowing fruit :: sell seeds?
rlm@32 913
rlm@36 914 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory
rlm@36 915 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ
rlm@36 916 itself changes? those memories would become
rlm@47 917 inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember
rlm@36 918 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen
rlm@47 919 throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from
rlm@36 920 his childhood?
rlm@32 921
rlm@47 922 - make a completely indestructible phone :: no moving parts or display
rlm@36 923 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will
rlm@36 924 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal
rlm@36 925 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no
rlm@36 926 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to
rlm@36 927 inductive charging and data transfer.
rlm@32 928
rlm@44 929 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program :: (online website? buy ocarinas from
rlm@44 930 it too)
rlm@32 931
rlm@44 932 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) :: like the 8.03
rlm@44 933 lecture
rlm@32 934
rlm@40 935 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot, throw it at something, and it
rlm@40 936 makes sparkles!
rlm@32 937
rlm@44 938 - nuclear energy :: Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational
rlm@44 939 campaign and public debate forum to enforce its
rlm@44 940 transparent and open nature. France needn't be the
rlm@44 941 world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan)
rlm@32 942
rlm@44 943 - bubbles :: Engineer a material which has both ductility and high
rlm@44 944 surface tension to make the "third"
rlm@44 945 minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended
rlm@44 946 between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are
rlm@44 947 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles,
rlm@44 948 and a double-cone)
rlm@38 949
rlm@38 950 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of
rlm@38 951 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
rlm@38 952 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
rlm@38 953 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
rlm@38 954 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
rlm@40 955 knowledge. /One./
rlm@40 956
rlm@40 957 ** From Jacob's idea list
rlm@40 958
rlm@47 959 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed
rlm@43 960 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this
rlm@40 961 work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from
rlm@40 962 tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by
rlm@40 963 receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound
rlm@40 964 waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu
rlm@40 965
rlm@40 966 - ClackerAlert -- tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data
rlm@40 967 (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e
rlm@40 968
rlm@40 969 - Panic Pin :: separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to
rlm@41 970 identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards)