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ideas about the furture.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Tue, 06 Jan 2015 22:55:33 -0800
parents 98ba603e251a
children 208424fee6f9
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@139 34 - the great computing slow-down :: in general, our computers are
rlm@139 35 getting faster and faster. However, eventually our brains will be
rlm@139 36 made of the same stuff our computers are made of! This has very
rlm@139 37 interesting consequences -- I can add 2+2 and get four in about a
rlm@139 38 second. Since my neurons actually work at around 10-60 hertz in
rlm@139 39 parallel, this means that it takes me around 10-30 operations to
rlm@139 40 do this addition. That's actually not bad in terms of computing
rlm@139 41 time. If my neurons were as fast as the latest transitors, then
rlm@139 42 most calculators would be SLOWER than me at adding numbers. Only
rlm@139 43 the newest, most optimized calculators would be faster, and then
rlm@139 44 only about 10 times faster! This means that once we begin to
rlm@139 45 think at the speed of our technology, that technology will
rlm@139 46 suddenly seem pitifully slow in comparison to how it seems
rlm@139 47 now. And no amount of technical progress will remedy it, because
rlm@139 48 that same progress will also make us all think faster. We'll
rlm@139 49 either have to settle with living in "slow time" to do some
rlm@139 50 computations, or learn to make smarter hardware with special
rlm@139 51 optimizations. But this is actually really hard, because we'll be
rlm@139 52 working with machines that will appear to us about as fast as
rlm@139 53 MECHANICAL computers. So, in the future, all the cool parties
rlm@139 54 will be in cyperspace at vastly accelerated speeds compared to
rlm@139 55 how we exist now. But at these parties, the computers will SUCK!
rlm@139 56 Of course, this is one of the few things that can save us from AI
rlm@139 57 risk, because those AI's won't seem so scary when the're build
rlm@139 58 out of rickety mechanical parts form our perspective.
rlm@139 59
rlm@139 60 - unitary reverse evolution of chaos+minds :: chaotic systems diverge
rlm@139 61 exponentially in state space. Do you get anything interesting
rlm@139 62 when part of the physical system associated with the chaotic
rlm@139 63 system is a object that performs some sort of computation? Is it
rlm@139 64 possible for the computational system to play a
rlm@139 65 percision-enabling role in determining the final/initial
rlm@139 66 conditions of the chaotic system, just by tracing out thoughts in
rlm@139 67 its decision paths? This is probably too vague of an idea right
rlm@139 68 now, I just wanted to write it down.
rlm@139 69
rlm@138 70 - microwave time :: the cooking time you enter on most microwaves is
rlm@138 71 insane. It's expressed in what I call a "hybrid base", a
rlm@138 72 combination of base 10 and base 60. You can get absurd things
rlm@138 73 like 100 < 61, and 120 == 80! I wonder if these hybrid base
rlm@138 74 systems could be very useful for some purposes!
rlm@138 75
rlm@138 76 - three-eyes :: if you had three eyes, would you still draw cubes like
rlm@138 77 we currently draw them? Or would all 2D-representations of 3D
rlm@138 78 space always look hopelessly fake?
rlm@138 79
rlm@138 80 - visual taste/smell assay :: get a grid of bacteria, each expressing
rlm@138 81 a human taste/smell receptor linked to some sort of fluorscent
rlm@138 82 activity or ion pump. Use a camera / electrical grid to transduce
rlm@138 83 the smell / taste signal into bits!
rlm@138 84
rlm@138 85 - carabiner mushroom lock :: you can take a trapazodial carabiner and
rlm@138 86 make it so that a chain link is caught between the wide end of
rlm@138 87 the carabiner and another chain attached to the carabiner.
rlm@138 88
rlm@138 89 - children's tool shop :: I think that kids should be provided with
rlm@138 90 tool shops -- these would be nice sheds with a good collection of
rlm@138 91 tools to do various things -- circuit components and soldering
rlm@138 92 irons, wires, a small lathe, drill press, belt sander, a
rlm@138 93 centrifuge, microscope, and telescope, etc. The idea is that the
rlm@138 94 kid can now think, "I could use X to do this thing that I'm
rlm@138 95 thinking about" -- the building becomes an extension of the kid's
rlm@138 96 body & mind.
rlm@138 97
rlm@138 98 - fluid display :: like the previous idea about matching refractances
rlm@138 99 between glass and liquid, except you make a lot of
rlm@138 100 switchable glass tubes in various patterns in the
rlm@138 101 glass, and actively pump colored liquid through the
rlm@138 102 tubes (the tubes have glass-like fluid in them by
rlm@138 103 default.) The result is that you can cause the
rlm@138 104 tubes to appear and dissappear, and vary their
rlm@138 105 colors as well!
rlm@138 106
rlm@137 107 - immunoincompatibility :: take the human genome, and refactor it so
rlm@137 108 that it doesn't use a particular codon at all. Then remove the
rlm@137 109 support from our ribosomes for that codon. What does this do for
rlm@137 110 us? It makes us immune to almost all viruses!
rlm@137 111
rlm@137 112 - life cycle :: it's called a cycle, right? So, the thing that repeats
rlm@137 113 itself over and over, right? Not much of a cycle if
rlm@137 114 you don't come back after you die, if you ask me!
rlm@137 115
rlm@137 116 - car with no blind spots :: use some cameras in the back of the car
rlm@137 117 to augment the rear-view mirror so that you never have to turn
rlm@137 118 around in order to lane change.
rlm@137 119
rlm@137 120 - partial cell death :: you freeze a set of cells using some cryo
rlm@137 121 protocol and 60% survive. How can this be explained? It seems to
rlm@137 122 me that if the cells are the same, and the conditions
rlm@137 123 homogoneous, then all the cells should either die or
rlm@137 124 live. However, suppose that there is a metabolic cycle that needs
rlm@137 125 to be in a certain phase for the cell to survive. If the cells
rlm@137 126 are asynchronous, then you might end up with some cells dying
rlm@137 127 because there were in the wrong part of their cycle. This implies
rlm@137 128 that you might be able to cryoprotect cells by causing them to
rlm@137 129 enter a certain metabolic mode before freezing.
rlm@137 130
rlm@137 131 - cryonics color appeal :: perfusate used by cryonics companies should
rlm@137 132 have red food coloring in it. It's just a nice touch so that the
rlm@137 133 cryonics patient looks more life-like than with clear CPAs, and
rlm@137 134 hopefully might get treated with more respect.
rlm@137 135
rlm@137 136 - paramagnetic CPA :: you take a CPA that can be influenced by
rlm@137 137 magnetic fields so that its degrees of freedom are limited. Then,
rlm@137 138 you release the field, instantaly increasing the size of the
rlm@137 139 state space of the system and dramatically decreasing the
rlm@137 140 temperature enough to plunge the system past homogenous
rlm@137 141 nucleation temperature and directly to the glass transition
rlm@137 142 temperature, creating a doubly unstable glass at much lower CPA
rlm@137 143 concentrations than possible at conventional CPA concentrations.
rlm@137 144
rlm@137 145 - room temp noodles :: how does the physics of cooking noodles work?
rlm@137 146 Could you use a vacuum instead of heat to force water into the
rlm@137 147 noodle?
rlm@137 148
rlm@137 149 - personal carbon offset :: feel bad about contribuiting to global
rlm@137 150 warming by using electricity / driving a car? Forget trying to
rlm@137 151 "conserve" or "minimize your carbon footprint". Follow the
rlm@137 152 Platinum rule -- make the world BETTER off than you found it!
rlm@137 153 This would be a small, self contained system that sucks C02 out
rlm@137 154 of the air. It uses electricity, but it's so efficient at
rlm@137 155 removing CO2 that it more than offsets the CO2 produced by even a
rlm@137 156 coal plant to produce that electricity. This way, you can still
rlm@137 157 drive even a gas guzzler, but have a net negative carbon
rlm@137 158 footprint! Maybe something cool could be done with the carbon as
rlm@137 159 well. Use as much electricity as you want, but negate the damage
rlm@137 160 to the enviroment with more technology.
rlm@137 161
rlm@137 162 - undoing spermogenesis :: with enough sperm, you can derive the
rlm@137 163 donor's entire genome. You gain more confidence in the alleles
rlm@137 164 for a particular gene the more sperm you have. Each additional
rlm@137 165 sperm gives you the same sort of information you'd get flipping a
rlm@137 166 coin and trying to decide whether the coin is H/T of H/H. Is
rlm@137 167 there enough sperm in the the average load for you to be as
rlm@137 168 confident as mitosis?
rlm@137 169
rlm@136 170 - mars life :: we could engineer life that could survive on mars
rlm@136 171 (probably some non-vascular photosynthetic
rlm@136 172 poikilohydric creature like a lichen) by taking an
rlm@136 173 extremophile from Antarctica and evolving it in
rlm@136 174 increasingly Martian conditions. This could be an easy
rlm@136 175 start to a terraforming process.
rlm@136 176
rlm@134 177 - problem with Aubrey de Grey's ideas :: Aubrey de Grey says that we
rlm@134 178 might be able to live forever by continually repairing our bodies
rlm@134 179 at the cellular level -- he details 7 different mechanisms of
rlm@134 180 damage and says that if all of them are dealt with /together/
rlm@134 181 that it would stop aging. (You can't miss even one because
rlm@134 182 they're all fatal.) However, it doesn't take into account that
rlm@134 183 we are also beings of information and that there is a very real
rlm@134 184 software component to our existence. Even if our biological
rlm@134 185 chassies can be maintained forever, I think it is unlikely that
rlm@134 186 our minds will operate well far outside of the design constraints
rlm@134 187 that we've evolved to handle. Say I programmed a webserver with
rlm@134 188 the express goal of it being able to serve webpages for month on
rlm@134 189 some stock server. I'll do fairly rigorous testing to make sure
rlm@134 190 that it can handle the expected load then then some. Now say that
rlm@134 191 you want to keep a particular instance of this webserver running
rlm@134 192 indefinitely. (The program instance is like your mind and the
rlm@134 193 computer it's running on is like your body). You might very well
rlm@134 194 be able to keep the physical computer infrastructure running for
rlm@134 195 forever by replacing hard drives / ram / CPUs, etc. However,
rlm@134 196 since I designed the webserver to work for a month, it probably
rlm@135 197 has memory leaks, rare stochastic bugs, or other built in limits
rlm@134 198 / constraints (think log files or some date rollover shenanigans)
rlm@135 199 that will ultimately kill the webserver even with eternally
rlm@134 200 perfect hardware. Do you really expect that a webserver
rlm@135 201 engineered to work for 1 month will run for 10 years without
rlm@135 202 catastrophically crashing? Not even Apache can do this! In fact,
rlm@135 203 if I put in the extreme effort to make it that robust, I've
rlm@135 204 wasted time that I could have spent on other projects by pursuing
rlm@135 205 an unnecessary engineering goal. Likewise, human minds have only
rlm@134 206 ever run for at most 122 years before they are destroyed due to
rlm@134 207 hardware degradation. Fixing the hardware doesn't change any
rlm@134 208 software bugs that are almost certainly present in the human
rlm@134 209 mind. Think of all the pathological things that can go wrong with
rlm@134 210 a webserver, multiply it by a million, and that likely how
rlm@134 211 evolution has designed our minds. For example, consider memory :
rlm@134 212 why should you expect that we have evolved the ability to
rlm@134 213 coherently organize memories past say 150 years? There's been
rlm@134 214 absolutely no selective pressure for this ability, so you can bet
rlm@134 215 that if there's any fitness to be gained from not having
rlm@134 216 unlimited memory potential (such as better metabolic efficiency),
rlm@134 217 we have it! You might think that maybe we would just forget
rlm@134 218 things the same way that we sort of forget things that happen
rlm@134 219 earlier in our lives, but complicated information processing
rlm@134 220 systems don't have to fail gracefully when they're pushed far
rlm@134 221 past their design constraints. A 150 year old person is just as
rlm@134 222 likely to suffer a catastrophic psychosis due to software
rlm@134 223 limitations associated with memory as he is to do something with
rlm@134 224 all those memories we might consider reasonable. More likely, in
rlm@134 225 fact, since there are so very many ways for a complicated
rlm@134 226 software system to break and so few ways for it to run
rlm@134 227 successfully. Therefore, I think Aubrey de Grey's "hardware-only"
rlm@134 228 approach is missing a very important component of longevity
rlm@134 229 science, and any successful effort to make people live orders of
rlm@134 230 magnitude longer than they do naturally will need to deal with
rlm@134 231 people's software as well as their hardware.
rlm@134 232
rlm@133 233 - validating neurocryopreservation :: Problem : you want to test
rlm@133 234 whether a brain is functionally preserved through vitrification,
rlm@133 235 but you don't want to figure out how to preserve all the other
rlm@133 236 organs in the animal. It might be possible to keep the rest of
rlm@133 237 the body at almost 0C and vitrify just the head for only a few
rlm@133 238 minutes. Induce hypothermia, then separate out the head's blood
rlm@133 239 supply from the rest of the body, then just cryoptotect and
rlm@133 240 vitrify the head. Might need some sort of thermal guard to keep
rlm@133 241 the outer head / neck from becoming too cold. You leave the
rlm@133 242 spinal cord intact! Then you devitrify to 0C, remove
rlm@133 243 cryoprotectant, and then reattach the blood supply. You can
rlm@133 244 determine brain preservation using behavioral assays!
rlm@133 245
rlm@133 246 - freezing water purifier :: you slowly freeze water, but also run
rlm@133 247 liquid water over the frozen mass. This takes away basically all
rlm@133 248 impurities and creates "washed ice" then you melt the ice. Maybe
rlm@133 249 you could re-use the heat from creating the ice to melt the ice?
rlm@133 250
rlm@133 251 - ultra strength :: allow a person to visualize their muscle
rlm@133 252 recruitment patterns. Give them adrenaline and let
rlm@133 253 them feel what it's like to have the normal limits
rlm@133 254 removed. See if they can replicate the effects.
rlm@133 255
rlm@133 256 - phone names :: make a PX record for domain names that's like the MX
rlm@133 257 record, except that it is a phone number instead of
rlm@133 258 an IP address. That way, you can use the domain name
rlm@133 259 registration system to provide names for phone
rlm@133 260 numbers. Then, as long as you control the domain, you
rlm@133 261 can point people to your current phone number by
rlm@133 262 updating that record.
rlm@133 263
rlm@133 264 - edible flowers :: Edible white flowers that you put in a colored
rlm@133 265 solution with flavor. When the flower turns the
rlm@133 266 right color, it is also flavored and ready to eat!
rlm@133 267
rlm@131 268 - suicide cryonics :: according to [[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html][this]], people who commit impulsive
rlm@131 269 suicides have a newfound sense of the importance of life. Perhaps
rlm@131 270 they are good cryonics targets.
rlm@131 271
rlm@131 272 - lead bone :: Could you fill in all the empty spaces in a bone with
rlm@131 273 lead? Might be cool.
rlm@131 274
rlm@131 275 - the quest for life :: Every stupid story has the "immortal who
rlm@131 276 wants to become mortal" or some other such idea. I want to story
rlm@131 277 where the protagonist loses their immortality and feels /angry/
rlm@131 278 and ashamed about losing something that's so absolutely crucial
rlm@131 279 to their identity. A reverse of "death makes life worth living",
rlm@131 280 they feel that living forever is what makes life worth
rlm@131 281 living. Now they've "lost their sunrise" or their "connection to
rlm@131 282 the timeless universe" or something. So they go on a quest to get
rlm@131 283 it back, learning about themselves along the way, and regaining
rlm@131 284 the precious thing they lost in the beginning.
rlm@131 285
rlm@130 286 - world-map :: take a small table and paint the continents in
rlm@130 287 toothpaste on the table. Make a slightly raised barrier
rlm@130 288 around the table. Slowly pour water onto the table, and
rlm@130 289 it will form the oceans!
rlm@130 290
rlm@95 291 - stage magic rituals :: rituals should incorporate elements of stage
rlm@95 292 magic. Foe example in Teller's tempest, they have a scene where
rlm@95 293 they levitate a crown in front of someone, then put it on his
rlm@95 294 head. They also have a wedding ceremony where they levitated the
rlm@95 295 bride as well. Actual weddings and other ceremonies should
rlm@95 296 incorporate stage magic as an enhancement.
rlm@95 297
rlm@95 298 - isotope time dilation :: use a cyclotron to speed up rare isotopes
rlm@95 299 developed in nuclear fusion experiments. The relativistic time
rlm@95 300 dilation will stop the isotopes from decaying, and allow time to
rlm@95 301 study them. This is based on radioactive isotopes that fall
rlm@95 302 through the earth's atmosphere that take hundreds of times
rlm@95 303 longer to decay than normal.
rlm@95 304
rlm@95 305 - marsupial stimulation :: You take a freshly pouched marsupial baby,
rlm@95 306 and show it videos and other interactive things while it matures
rlm@95 307 in the pouch. What mental effects would this have?
rlm@95 308
rlm@135 309 - dynamic re-keying :: Some older ways of tuning instruments sound
rlm@95 310 better, but we use the even-tempered scale today because it makes
rlm@95 311 it easier to switch keys. With electronic music, why not make
rlm@95 312 key-annotations and dynamically re-tune the piece to sound good
rlm@135 313 in the current key? Could be done as a midi+annotation -> midi
rlm@95 314 compiler for experimentation.
rlm@95 315
rlm@95 316 - death always implies damage :: is is possible for a corpse to differ
rlm@95 317 from a living person only in the fact that one is dead and the
rlm@95 318 other is alive? NO! A corpse must always have some sort of
rlm@95 319 molecular damage which causes the loss of function!
rlm@95 320
rlm@95 321 - inner eye :: Surgically install a bunch of tiny cameras inside a
rlm@95 322 person. Then, you can activate them all and get a
rlm@95 323 picture of your internal organs for diagnostic
rlm@95 324 purposes.
rlm@95 325
rlm@135 326 - chaos rails :: should make a visualization of the homoclinic tangle,
rlm@95 327 it's truly beautiful.
rlm@95 328
rlm@95 329 - context gobbler :: this would be in "inside-out macro" that takes
rlm@95 330 the context (like you use for things like error, continuations,
rlm@95 331 and friends) and transforms it to something else. Maybe useful?
rlm@95 332
rlm@91 333 - cryonics middle ages :: some people say that cryonics is an
rlm@91 334 experiment and that it is foolish to wait until we have revived a
rlm@91 335 human. There is a middle ground where the procedure has a dismal
rlm@91 336 success rate on humans, say 1 in 20, so that you'd be a fool to
rlm@91 337 try revival. Nonetheless, this very risky procedure could be the
rlm@91 338 legal proof of concept needed to create a new class of life
rlm@91 339 between "living" and "dead": "stasis".
rlm@91 340
rlm@91 341 - philosophy of the mirror :: neat thought experiment -- if you take a
rlm@91 342 mirror of someone by actually reversing a person's chirality
rlm@94 343 molecule by molecule, then will the only be able to read mirror
rlm@91 344 writing? The answer is yes, by analogy to a purely mechanical
rlm@94 345 scan-tron device. This is one of the only interesting transforms I
rlm@91 346 know that can take a human brain and change it in subtle,
rlm@91 347 non-destructive ways. It's also an argument against dualism.
rlm@91 348
rlm@91 349 - biosphere in a bottle :: There are around 15 million species. 15
rlm@91 350 million stem cells will fill only a tiny size, far less than a cubic
rlm@91 351 inch. Preserve a single cell from every species on earth in this
rlm@91 352 small space, and you will have a record of our current biosphere
rlm@91 353 that can be protected. "Hold the genetic data of all species in
rlm@92 354 your hand!"
rlm@91 355
rlm@90 356 - chaos lock :: The "arrow of time" points in the direction of
rlm@90 357 increasing entropy. The time evolution of chaotic
rlm@90 358 systems depend exquisitely on their initial state. If
rlm@90 359 you take a measurement of a chaotic system at any
rlm@90 360 given point of time, you can evolve that system
rlm@90 361 backwards or forwards based on your measurement. So
rlm@90 362 let's say you start the chaotic system in a VERY low
rlm@90 363 entropy state, then let it run for a while, then take
rlm@90 364 a measurement with some uncertainty. Your
rlm@90 365 measurement is pretty good, but obviously not
rlm@90 366 PERFECT. If you evolve the chaotic system back in
rlm@90 367 time, then you will see that you don't really reach
rlm@90 368 a state with low entropy an hour before (the entropy
rlm@90 369 is easy to measure with surrogates like alignment,
rlm@90 370 etc). So use this technique to SEARCH for a more
rlm@90 371 accurate measurement! This potentially can give you
rlm@90 372 many more orders of magnitude than you could get alone
rlm@90 373 just using an instrument. Sometimes it will give you
rlm@90 374 bad results, the the odds of it doing that are
rlm@90 375 infinitesimal, and you can just measure a couple of
rlm@90 376 times.
rlm@90 377
rlm@90 378 - cryo-evolution :: perhaps there would be a way to rapidly evolve a
rlm@90 379 symbiotic bacterial organism that could protect
rlm@90 380 human tissues from freezing damage.
rlm@90 381
rlm@87 382 - suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
rlm@87 383 reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
rlm@87 384 depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
rlm@87 385 back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
rlm@87 386 it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
rlm@88 387 causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain
rlm@87 388 parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
rlm@87 389 mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
rlm@88 390 parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems:
rlm@87 391 - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
rlm@87 392 answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
rlm@87 393 cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
rlm@88 394 - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should
rlm@88 395 be more common among people who share a contagion
rlm@88 396 vector. There should be suicides that don't make any
rlm@87 397 sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
rlm@87 398 reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
rlm@87 399 should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
rlm@87 400 their brains.
rlm@86 401
rlm@89 402 - domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much
rlm@89 403 more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research
rlm@94 404 to make very appealing bugs? Beetles, in particular, seem to be
rlm@94 405 excellent targets for domestication because they have extreme
rlm@94 406 levels of genetic malleability.
rlm@87 407
rlm@87 408 - birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
rlm@87 409 into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
rlm@87 410 is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
rlm@87 411 the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
rlm@88 412 can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it
rlm@87 413 would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
rlm@87 414 have a culture where people reward people who were
rlm@87 415 especially awesome are "reborn" from their
rlm@88 416 backups. Imagine having a young Bach every
rlm@87 417 generation, etc.
rlm@86 418
rlm@94 419 - pronunciation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and
rlm@94 420 it returns a simple, English sentence describing exactly how to
rlm@84 421 pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA.
rlm@86 422
rlm@87 423 - cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
rlm@87 424 search space of possible actions.
rlm@87 425
rlm@83 426 - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person
rlm@83 427 who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about
rlm@83 428 teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a
rlm@83 429 member of that society (after all, the difference between animals
rlm@83 430 and humans is that humans are creatures of pure information while
rlm@83 431 animals are burdened with base matter, "that's how you travel the
rlm@83 432 stars, etc") Humans are born normally, grow up, and then
rlm@83 433 eventually transcend via destructive upload. Analogies to jumping
rlm@83 434 off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for
rlm@83 435 a long time), etc.
rlm@83 436
rlm@87 437 - no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
rlm@87 438 forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
rlm@87 439 the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
rlm@87 440 lips. For bars and fancy things.
rlm@87 441
rlm@82 442 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
rlm@82 443 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
rlm@82 444 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
rlm@82 445 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get
rlm@82 446 fleeced in the process with fees. Bitcoin could greatly reduce
rlm@82 447 the cost of sending money from America to Mexico, but I don't
rlm@82 448 believe that it's currently used for that among Mexican
rlm@82 449 immigrants currently due to lack of knowledge. I bet you could
rlm@82 450 set up physical locations like those obnoxious Western Union huts
rlm@82 451 in places like Texas, Arizona, etc, and greatly undercut
rlm@82 452 them. Or, perhaps some educational seminars about bitcoin might
rlm@82 453 be in order. There's some money to be made there because there is
rlm@82 454 great demand, and it's a good thing to boot!
rlm@82 455
rlm@81 456 - reverse eye-tracking :: A painting that is actually a digital screen
rlm@82 457 with a camera. It records people's eye tracks permanently. It's
rlm@81 458 "artistic" because paintings are normally these things that you
rlm@81 459 look at without changing, but this one is changed the second you
rlm@81 460 look at it, recording where /you/ looked forever for others to
rlm@81 461 see. Make it be a painting of a woman and see the trolling as the
rlm@81 462 breasts and groin area light up with interest from all the males
rlm@81 463 passing by.
rlm@81 464
rlm@80 465 - smart toilets :: Instead of using indirect measures like infrared
rlm@80 466 detectors of the presence of a person, use computer
rlm@80 467 vision to directly measure whether the toilet needs
rlm@80 468 to be flushed. I think a lot of things will end up
rlm@80 469 going this way as we get better computer vision.
rlm@80 470
rlm@77 471 - validate chemopreservation :: chemopreservation is difficult to
rlm@77 472 validate because it destroys the functionality of a brain, and
rlm@77 473 brain simulation will take a long time to mature as a
rlm@77 474 technology. However, one very powerful way to validate
rlm@77 475 chemopreservation would be to have a person/animal learn
rlm@77 476 something with high complexity such as a number or the solution
rlm@80 477 to a maze, or a flashbulb memory. Then you preserve their brain
rlm@80 478 chemically, slice it up, and read /that specific memory/ from the
rlm@77 479 detailed brain scan. Much more difficult, but much more doable.
rlm@77 480
rlm@75 481 - candy screw :: edible candy screw with candy nuts that you can screw
rlm@75 482 as well.
rlm@76 483
rlm@74 484 - better bibliography :: when writing a thesis or paper, have the
rlm@80 485 bibliography not just be an opaque list of resources, but have it
rlm@74 486 be a list of /summaries/ and /qualities/ that each paper has in
rlm@80 487 the context of the paper being written. When examining a
rlm@80 488 bibliography, I want to know if reading the papers in the
rlm@74 489 bibliography are worth my time, and I also am probably also
rlm@74 490 interested in exactly the things that are being discussed in the
rlm@74 491 paper I'm reading. The bibliography is the perfect place to
rlm@74 492 provide information about the referenced papers from the
rlm@80 493 author's perspective. I will use this biographic form in my own
rlm@74 494 thesis.
rlm@74 495
rlm@73 496 - digital inter-library loan :: libraries at universities already do
rlm@80 497 inter-library loans for books, so why not do the same for access
rlm@73 498 to stupid paywalled digital papers? All the universities could
rlm@73 499 allow access to articles for registered students to all the files
rlm@73 500 available through any participating university. This could be
rlm@73 501 achieved by sending requests through proxies at participating
rlm@73 502 universities. Each university would decide who at the university
rlm@73 503 can access the proxy network. Access to the proxy network could
rlm@73 504 be made easy using something like http://libx.org/.
rlm@73 505
rlm@72 506 - chess visual :: to show the vast size of the game trees considered
rlm@72 507 by computers, show two people playing chess in a
rlm@72 508 void. They are floating in space, and there is a
rlm@72 509 simple chess board between them. Then, as they play,
rlm@72 510 the game tree's they are considering are drawn
rlm@72 511 behind him. The root of the tree starts centered in
rlm@72 512 their heads or whatever they use to think, and the
rlm@72 513 tree grows out from behind, never crossing the
rlm@72 514 dividing plane between the two players. Each
rlm@72 515 player's tree is a different color. As they grow,
rlm@72 516 there are animations for pruning, etc. Eventually,
rlm@72 517 they look like the hemispheres of a brain, wings,
rlm@72 518 etc. A human's tree might occasionally have a long
rlm@72 519 chain, while the computer tree would be more
rlm@72 520 uniform. You could compare deep blue and a modern
rlm@72 521 laptop. Use actual data when fighting two computers!
rlm@72 522
rlm@71 523 - time verification :: some standard way to verify that some piece of
rlm@71 524 data was recorded at a specific time. Might involve a time
rlm@73 525 server, a key for each time period, something like that.
rlm@71 526
rlm@70 527 - tamper proof gold bars :: [[http://www.tungsten-alloy.com/gold-plated-tungsten-alloy-bar.html][this site]] offers gold plated tungsten bars
rlm@70 528 as "novelty" items. One reason to prefer coins is because they
rlm@70 529 are much harder to counterfeit because there is less surface area
rlm@70 530 to mass ratio. However, gold bars are still a great design
rlm@70 531 because they can hold a lot of value in a small space. A gold bar
rlm@70 532 could be given the same protections (and more) that gold coins
rlm@70 533 have to offer by changing it into a "gold book", which would have
rlm@70 534 hundreds of "pages" of gold bound together. This could be
rlm@70 535 implemented with multiple steel rods going through the book which
rlm@70 536 can be removed, or some more classier mechanism for holding the
rlm@70 537 pages. The point is that the bar can be EASILY subdivided (and
rlm@70 538 people would perform this test before buying), thus guaranteeing
rlm@70 539 it's authenticity.
rlm@70 540
rlm@68 541 - aurellem shirt :: I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt.
rlm@68 542
rlm@86 543 - touch vision :: inspired by GelSight, I want to reexamine cortex and
rlm@86 544 see if I could implement touch as a very low range
rlm@86 545 form of vision.
rlm@86 546
rlm@67 547 - high school science :: this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The
rlm@67 548 goal is to calculate /g/, the local gravitational
rlm@67 549 acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's
rlm@67 550 /exactly/ 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they
rlm@67 551 doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's
rlm@67 552 neat because for any given school, /g/ is probably *not* exactly
rlm@67 553 equal to 9.81, because that is just an average!
rlm@67 554
rlm@67 555 - opencourseware subtitles :: there are ladies who type up lectures
rlm@67 556 while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and
rlm@67 557 given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are
rlm@67 558 recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles.
rlm@67 559
rlm@66 560 - screen locking timing :: you use your computer camera to see if you
rlm@66 561 are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen
rlm@66 562 will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a
rlm@67 563 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to
rlm@66 564 initiate the countdown, just with more information.
rlm@66 565
rlm@66 566 - mirror toilet :: a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead
rlm@67 567 or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a
rlm@66 568 wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion
rlm@66 569 system works.
rlm@66 570
rlm@80 571 - test dummies :: why don't we clone anencephalic humans and use then to
rlm@62 572 test /in vivo/ human organ systems and drugs? It
rlm@62 573 would be ethical as long as there are women who are
rlm@62 574 willing to host the clones, and it would be a
rlm@67 575 tremendous resource for studying the human body. I
rlm@62 576 see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is
rlm@67 577 suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout
rlm@62 578 more advanced technology.
rlm@62 579
rlm@62 580 - X-ray telepresence :: given that a doctor is operating on a patient
rlm@62 581 via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into
rlm@62 582 the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system
rlm@80 583 was coupled with a Bayesian model of the layout of the structure,
rlm@67 584 and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the
rlm@62 585 model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage
rlm@62 586 and surgery risk could be minimized.
rlm@62 587
rlm@62 588 - superfluid vascular system :: I wonder what would happen if you
rlm@62 589 replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the
rlm@62 590 physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the
rlm@62 591 vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells,
rlm@62 592 or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to
rlm@62 593 retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during
rlm@62 594 perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses
rlm@62 595 superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by
rlm@67 596 superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to
rlm@62 597 simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid
rlm@62 598 instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human.
rlm@51 599
rlm@59 600 - projective guessing :: I think that we read and see things by
rlm@67 601 making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see,
rlm@59 602 and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really
rlm@59 603 doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the
rlm@59 604 image from first principles, but most stuff is projective
rlm@59 605 guessing.
rlm@59 606
rlm@67 607 - Intestinal flora maintenance :: why not inoculate babies at birth
rlm@59 608 with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they
rlm@59 609 naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient
rlm@67 610 extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts
rlm@94 611 not stink for life, too. MORE IMPORTANTLY, might help to
rlm@91 612 preventatively stop some forms of /colic/, which affects 1 in 5
rlm@94 613 babies and causes constant screaming and pain for about 5 weeks.
rlm@59 614
rlm@56 615 - server culture : mirrors :: make a distributed system where people
rlm@56 616 can mirror the websites of people they like -- essentially cover
rlm@56 617 the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular
rlm@56 618 websites run at no cost. The system would require that the
rlm@56 619 mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like
rlm@67 620 bit-torrent for websites.
rlm@56 621
rlm@56 622 - map programming :: one problem with functional programming is that
rlm@56 623 in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up
rlm@67 624 into each calling function to get the full range of behavior
rlm@56 625 from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a
rlm@67 626 compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic
rlm@67 627 variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the
rlm@56 628 advantages of making a programming language where every function
rlm@67 629 receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol
rlm@56 630 bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all
rlm@56 631 subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on
rlm@56 632 the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults,
rlm@56 633 etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea.
rlm@56 634
rlm@55 635 - rest nest :: a small EEG device you would attach to your head when
rlm@55 636 you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine
rlm@55 637 your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an
rlm@55 638 alarm clock that you could give a time range, say
rlm@55 639 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an
rlm@55 640 ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90
rlm@55 641 min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon
rlm@55 642 waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be
rlm@55 643 some other uses for the EEG data as well.
rlm@55 644
rlm@50 645 - image compression :: use a library like gimp or opencv to process an
rlm@50 646 image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of
rlm@50 647 those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a
rlm@80 648 super-compressed image file (possibly accepting some
rlm@80 649 losses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one
rlm@50 650 to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the
rlm@50 651 image.
rlm@50 652
rlm@47 653 - fixed cryopreservation :: why not use a fixative to buy enough time
rlm@42 654 to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room
rlm@42 655 temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and
rlm@42 656 vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the
rlm@47 657 fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures
rlm@42 658 do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage.
rlm@38 659
rlm@67 660 - dilated security camera :: a security camera that would capture
rlm@58 661 full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep
rlm@58 662 only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something
rlm@58 663 "interesting" happening.
rlm@58 664
rlm@40 665 - bitcoin wallet :: Part of "server culture", this would be something
rlm@40 666 like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as
rlm@40 667 your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins
rlm@40 668 from anywhere.
rlm@40 669
rlm@40 670 - libpay :: this would be a free library which would enable
rlm@40 671 micro-donations to software projects and other projects,
rlm@47 672 so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would
rlm@47 673 be automatically split up to every person who has ever
rlm@40 674 contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of
rlm@40 675 community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the
rlm@47 676 community decides. This might make it possible for
rlm@40 677 programmers to live entirely off of free programming.
rlm@40 678
rlm@45 679 - distributed graphics :: Browser based graphics-card accelerated
rlm@45 680 distributed computing API.
rlm@41 681
rlm@40 682 - pronouns :: use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve
rlm@40 683 pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to
rlm@40 684 say, and you can encode useful information into the
rlm@40 685 choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings
rlm@40 686 shall be presided over by the president, unless she is
rlm@42 687 absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the
rlm@40 688 president, unless P is absent." We already use this a
rlm@40 689 little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and
rlm@40 690 object respectively.
rlm@40 691
rlm@40 692 - phone DSP :: software app that inserts an audio DSP between the
rlm@40 693 input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious
rlm@40 694 and configurable, and can allow men to make their
rlm@40 695 voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear
rlm@40 696 your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how
rlm@40 697 their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to
rlm@47 698 immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good
rlm@40 699 presets.
rlm@40 700
rlm@47 701 - predestined body learning :: a good example of predestined learning
rlm@40 702 might be the mirror neurons.
rlm@40 703
rlm@47 704 - restaurant receipt :: use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid
rlm@40 705 copies.
rlm@40 706
rlm@41 707 - anti google glass :: glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision
rlm@41 708 that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them.
rlm@41 709
rlm@40 710 - wearable towel :: towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows
rlm@40 711 one to wear the towel more securely than just
rlm@40 712 wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best.
rlm@40 713
rlm@47 714 - crossdressing :: Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to
rlm@44 715 wear a burka.
rlm@41 716
rlm@40 717 - book-mode :: intelligent color highlighting for books and
rlm@40 718 articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved
rlm@93 719 references. For example, if "Rachael" was assigned the
rlm@93 720 color red, and "the blonde haired girl" refers to
rlm@93 721 "Rachael", then "the blonde haired girl" would be
rlm@93 722 colored red. Also, you could disambiguate multi part
rlm@93 723 run-on sentences by highlighting each
rlm@93 724 subcomponent. Maybe would also have applications to
rlm@93 725 scientific reading.
rlm@40 726
rlm@40 727 - Handheld light Rain measurement :: this would be a clear, teflon
rlm@47 728 coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would
rlm@40 729 be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of
rlm@40 730 accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by
rlm@40 731 using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops.
rlm@40 732
rlm@40 733 - Big Brother Farming :: This would be a vision system that would
rlm@40 734 individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure
rlm@40 735 maximum/uniform growth for each plant.
rlm@40 736
rlm@40 737 - Discrete Faucet :: A faucet with discrete ticks instead of
rlm@47 738 continuous.
rlm@40 739
rlm@40 740 - Laser Circle :: take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one
rlm@40 741 end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect,
rlm@40 742 large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam
rlm@47 743 into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of
rlm@40 744 the laser.
rlm@40 745
rlm@40 746 - Invisible Glass :: Take a container of liquid and embed a
rlm@40 747 glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index
rlm@40 748 of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be
rlm@40 749 totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed
rlm@40 750 when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy
rlm@40 751 wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass.
rlm@40 752
rlm@47 753 - Caterpillar people :: A race of caterpillar like creatures gains
rlm@40 754 intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These
rlm@47 755 caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large
rlm@40 756 butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the
rlm@40 757 caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal,
rlm@40 758 dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person
rlm@47 759 the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and
rlm@40 760 religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as
rlm@40 761 good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and
rlm@47 762 necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can
rlm@40 763 mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person
rlm@47 764 because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the
rlm@47 765 memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the
rlm@40 766 butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the
rlm@40 767 butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big
rlm@47 768 deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is
rlm@40 769 actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible
rlm@47 770 tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the
rlm@40 771 metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important
rlm@40 772 members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to
rlm@40 773 prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves.
rlm@40 774
rlm@40 775 This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being
rlm@40 776 something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds,
rlm@40 777 something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that
rlm@40 778 hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains
rlm@40 779 now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic
rlm@40 780 legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a
rlm@40 781 compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second
rlm@40 782 gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes
rlm@40 783 homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of
rlm@47 784 pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the
rlm@47 785 lens of the the caterpillar people.
rlm@40 786
rlm@46 787 - relationships as a business :: [[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx][Turnover-Crisis]] is an excellent talk
rlm@46 788 about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business
rlm@46 789 by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their
rlm@47 790 "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni
rlm@46 791 network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied
rlm@46 792 ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might
rlm@46 793 consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with
rlm@46 794 new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and
rlm@46 795 how they worked out.
rlm@43 796
rlm@47 797 - coffee with tea :: /rlm-tea/ contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20%
rlm@43 798 dylan coffee. /dylan coffee/ contains 5% sugar,
rlm@43 799 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings
rlm@43 800 with recursion!
rlm@43 801
rlm@43 802 - psychic crystal :: in a science fiction story, this would be an
rlm@43 803 object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely
rlm@43 804 difficult to move with telekinesis.
rlm@43 805
rlm@40 806 - http://betsofbitco.in/ :: what a great place for an AI/person to
rlm@40 807 prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be
rlm@40 808 automated.
rlm@40 809
rlm@44 810 - true reflection :: don't forget about that mirror in the student
rlm@44 811 center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a
rlm@44 812 corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what
rlm@44 813 you actually look like, instead of your mirror image.
rlm@33 814
rlm@33 815 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote
rlm@32 816 power/logic.
rlm@32 817
rlm@47 818 - encrypted email phone book :: public (distributed?) database of
rlm@44 819 email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption.
rlm@32 820
rlm@44 821 - universal eye color :: every equivalent creature will see each
rlm@44 822 others' eyes as black -- it's universal. Even if the creatures
rlm@44 823 see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged
rlm@44 824 metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see
rlm@44 825 black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed
rlm@44 826 by the sensor array).
rlm@32 827
rlm@33 828 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields
rlm@83 829 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infrared
rlm@32 830 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,
rlm@32 831 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is
rlm@32 832 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since
rlm@32 833 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of
rlm@47 834 the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer,
rlm@47 835 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically
rlm@32 836 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much
rlm@47 837 faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with
rlm@32 838 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.
rlm@32 839
rlm@39 840 + Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would
rlm@39 841 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.
rlm@32 842
rlm@39 843 + Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods
rlm@39 844 and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been
rlm@54 845 cooked before -- it can get faster the more it's used.
rlm@32 846
rlm@47 847 - compression :: brain-aware image compression algorithm
rlm@32 848
rlm@44 849 - Credit card proxy :: would be a company which works like paypal
rlm@44 850 except for real world transactions
rlm@32 851
rlm@33 852 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete
rlm@33 853 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.
rlm@33 854
rlm@47 855 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and instead
rlm@47 856 uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank
rlm@33 857 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to
rlm@33 858 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle
rlm@33 859 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.
rlm@33 860
rlm@47 861 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically separate
rlm@33 862 fluids with different index of refraction
rlm@33 863
rlm@33 864 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy
rlm@33 865 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a
rlm@33 866 certain direction.
rlm@33 867
rlm@44 868 - silver socks :: socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial
rlm@44 869 properties.
rlm@32 870
rlm@53 871 - UROP :: magnet gear/metal teeth tape
rlm@53 872
rlm@82 873 - Rod of Moses :: device to distill urine through evaporation and
rlm@53 874 easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --
rlm@53 875 produce drinkable water.
rlm@32 876
rlm@47 877 - UROP :: Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so
rlm@44 878 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes
rlm@44 879 distance of internal magnet from windings depending on
rlm@44 880 desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency.
rlm@32 881
rlm@47 882 - lottery scraper :: web scraper which monitors various lotteries,
rlm@44 883 looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x
rlm@44 884 winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value...
rlm@34 885
rlm@34 886 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make
rlm@34 887 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.
rlm@34 888
rlm@44 889 - Conductive concrete :: concrete that has embedded metal fibers so
rlm@44 890 that it can conduct electricity.
rlm@34 891
rlm@44 892 - little bitty melting pot :: might be useful for some types of
rlm@44 893 manufacturing/3D printing -- how small can an induction melter be
rlm@44 894 made, for example.
rlm@34 895
rlm@44 896 - power strip/timer programmable combination :: meh
rlm@34 897
rlm@47 898 - algorithms :: which learn what their inputs are and in what order,
rlm@44 899 and can adapt to changing circumstances -- they
rlm@44 900 remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond
rlm@44 901 to different connections.
rlm@34 902
rlm@47 903 - true pure tones :: hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the
rlm@44 904 nerves of the ear
rlm@43 905
rlm@43 906 - mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp :: would be an object
rlm@43 907 with two levers -- you pull on one lever and the other moves the
rlm@43 908 same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This
rlm@47 909 analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people.
rlm@34 910
rlm@47 911 - paper folding device :: make it convenient to fold lots of papers in
rlm@34 912 various ways.
rlm@34 913
rlm@34 914 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.
rlm@34 915
rlm@47 916 - light capacitor :: suspend some ball of material with a high index
rlm@43 917 of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would
rlm@43 918 the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited
rlm@43 919 quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be
rlm@43 920 released slowly by frustrated internal reflection?
rlm@34 921
rlm@40 922 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. One way to
rlm@34 923 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the
rlm@34 924 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which
rlm@34 925 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)
rlm@34 926 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I
rlm@34 927 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill
rlm@47 928 which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their
rlm@34 929 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their
rlm@34 930 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!
rlm@34 931
rlm@47 932 - optimize an article :: capture reading of a scientific article via
rlm@44 933 screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the
rlm@44 934 article better. like the movie-pruning idea.
rlm@35 935
rlm@44 936 - super reading program :: teaches people the ideal mental mask to
rlm@44 937 apply during reading so as to read very fast.
rlm@35 938
rlm@44 939 - explosive thermite epoxy putty :: one part would contain the rust,
rlm@47 940 one part the aluminum.
rlm@34 941
rlm@44 942 - reading comprehension :: use the above screen capture routine to
rlm@44 943 make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content
rlm@44 944 you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf
rlm@44 945 came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate
rlm@44 946 word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help
rlm@44 947 others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the
rlm@44 948 interesting parts.
rlm@34 949
rlm@44 950 - hard sword :: make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of
rlm@44 951 martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better
rlm@44 952 sword.
rlm@32 953
rlm@44 954 - close range wireless :: use the induction technology used to
rlm@44 955 recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data
rlm@44 956 without any metal at all!
rlm@32 957
rlm@44 958 - reading :: is a form of synsethesia
rlm@32 959
rlm@44 960 - DNA printer :: A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into
rlm@44 961 actual DNA
rlm@32 962
rlm@44 963 - black generator :: ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro
rlm@44 964 generator to make electricity
rlm@32 965
rlm@44 966 - alcohol battery :: alcohol/fluid flow powered battery
rlm@32 967
rlm@44 968 - folding razor blade sword ::
rlm@32 969
rlm@44 970 - perfect pitch :: learn perfect pitch using another sense in
rlm@44 971 combination (sight or touch)
rlm@32 972
rlm@44 973 - kaleidoscope projector ::
rlm@32 974
rlm@44 975 - razor blade de-sharpener :: for guilt free disposal
rlm@32 976
rlm@44 977 - bricks :: filled with luminescent plant material
rlm@32 978
rlm@47 979 - bio metallic structure :: metal grids with seeds inside, which grow
rlm@44 980 together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal
rlm@44 981 substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?)
rlm@44 982 Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical
rlm@44 983 interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled
rlm@44 984 photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures.
rlm@32 985
rlm@44 986 - conducting extracellular matrix :: to allow better control of
rlm@44 987 organic systems and an enhanced nervous system.
rlm@32 988
rlm@44 989 - cross-modal memory hashing :: a way to retrieve memories more
rlm@44 990 robustly.
rlm@32 991
rlm@47 992 - flossing thimble-guards :: (these actually exist)
rlm@32 993
rlm@44 994 - rules + lattice learning :: integrate lattice learning with rules by
rlm@44 995 generating hypothetical examples
rlm@32 996
rlm@47 997 - wooden refrigerator :: to give food a better taste Dylan: like
rlm@44 998 barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor
rlm@44 999 planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of
rlm@44 1000 temperature on volatility?
rlm@32 1001
rlm@35 1002 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious
rlm@35 1003 metals or something else economically advantageous.
rlm@32 1004
rlm@47 1005 - crowd preservation :: inoculate food with tons of harmless
rlm@44 1006 bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of
rlm@44 1007 preservation
rlm@32 1008
rlm@47 1009 - old school preservation :: Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon
rlm@47 1010 as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o
rlm@47 1011 refrigeration.
rlm@32 1012
rlm@47 1013 - restaurant policy :: Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter
rlm@44 1014 of course -- make ambiance much better.
rlm@32 1015
rlm@47 1016 - clean windows :: make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant
rlm@44 1017 water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it
rlm@44 1018 to clean windows of buildings.
rlm@32 1019
rlm@44 1020 - ocarina :: make an ocarina out of pure silver
rlm@32 1021
rlm@35 1022 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing
rlm@47 1023 any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the
rlm@35 1024 human's energy?
rlm@32 1025
rlm@44 1026 - website to design your own soda :: and label, and have it mailed to
rlm@44 1027 you / sell it from your own online store.
rlm@35 1028
rlm@44 1029 - solar panels :: that float on the ocean
rlm@43 1030
rlm@35 1031 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining
rlm@43 1032 people, binding them to environment, etc.
rlm@35 1033
rlm@35 1034 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify
rlm@35 1035 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe
rlm@35 1036 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech
rlm@43 1037 to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the
rlm@35 1038 wavefront encoded as a vector image.
rlm@32 1039
rlm@44 1040 - Mouse :: with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical
rlm@44 1041 scroll wheel
rlm@32 1042
rlm@47 1043 - logic maintenance system for big institutions :: to make sure the
rlm@44 1044 things they are thinking about doing are not retarded
rlm@32 1045
rlm@47 1046 - http://www.regulations.gov/ :: cool site
rlm@32 1047
rlm@44 1048 - genetically engineered glowing fruit :: sell seeds?
rlm@32 1049
rlm@36 1050 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory
rlm@36 1051 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ
rlm@36 1052 itself changes? those memories would become
rlm@47 1053 inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember
rlm@36 1054 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen
rlm@47 1055 throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from
rlm@36 1056 his childhood?
rlm@32 1057
rlm@47 1058 - make a completely indestructible phone :: no moving parts or display
rlm@36 1059 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will
rlm@36 1060 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal
rlm@36 1061 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no
rlm@36 1062 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to
rlm@36 1063 inductive charging and data transfer.
rlm@32 1064
rlm@44 1065 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program :: (online website? buy ocarinas from
rlm@44 1066 it too)
rlm@32 1067
rlm@44 1068 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) :: like the 8.03
rlm@44 1069 lecture
rlm@32 1070
rlm@40 1071 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot, throw it at something, and it
rlm@40 1072 makes sparkles!
rlm@32 1073
rlm@44 1074 - nuclear energy :: Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational
rlm@44 1075 campaign and public debate forum to enforce its
rlm@44 1076 transparent and open nature. France needn't be the
rlm@44 1077 world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan)
rlm@32 1078
rlm@44 1079 - bubbles :: Engineer a material which has both ductility and high
rlm@44 1080 surface tension to make the "third"
rlm@44 1081 minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended
rlm@44 1082 between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are
rlm@44 1083 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles,
rlm@44 1084 and a double-cone)
rlm@38 1085
rlm@38 1086 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of
rlm@38 1087 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
rlm@38 1088 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
rlm@38 1089 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
rlm@38 1090 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
rlm@40 1091 knowledge. /One./
rlm@40 1092
rlm@40 1093 ** From Jacob's idea list
rlm@40 1094
rlm@47 1095 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed
rlm@43 1096 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this
rlm@40 1097 work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from
rlm@40 1098 tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by
rlm@40 1099 receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound
rlm@40 1100 waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu
rlm@40 1101
rlm@40 1102 - ClackerAlert -- tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data
rlm@40 1103 (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e
rlm@40 1104
rlm@40 1105 - Panic Pin :: separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to
rlm@41 1106 identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards)