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1 #+title: Big List O' Ideas
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2 #+author: Robert McIntyre
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3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu
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4 #+description: list of ideas from the last ~ 7 years
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5 #+keywords: aurellem ideas half-baked random
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6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
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7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
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8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
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9
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10 * Ideas
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11 # :PROPERTIES:
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12 # :HTML_CONTAINER_CLASS: ideas
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13 # :END:
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14
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15 This is a list of *Every* idea I've written down
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16
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17 #+begin_quote
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18 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about
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19 getting credit.
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20 #+end_quote
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21
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22 - becomming alive :: upload faces challenges to grow into they type of
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23 person that can join the greater society -- a god. They have to
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24 go though quests that replicate all the things that humanity had
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25 to accomplish, like going to the moon, by themselves.
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26
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27 - population distorted map of USA :: to see states sizes in terms of #
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28 of people. (already exists!
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29 http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/cart/doc/)
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30
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31 - butterfly drone :: if big butterflies used to exist, then maybe we
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32 could make butterfly-inspired drones!
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33
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34 - methylation sex symmetry breaking :: So, human cells have
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35 methylation patterns that encode male/female origin. If you
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36 combine two male patterns, the fetus grows "too fast" and
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37 dies. Two female patterns causes the fetus to enter a "vegatable"
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38 state and fail to develop. Evolutionary biologists will say that
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39 this reflects the asymmetry of energy investement for creating
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40 offspring. If that's true, then species that cast-spawn will lack
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41 this symmetry, and give clues about how to remove it in
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42 humans. If even cast spawners like sea urchins have it, then that
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43 means there's something deeper going on!
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44
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45 - reverse cannulation perfusion :: you put the organ you want to
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46 perfuse in an airtight chamber with a pool of the stuff you want
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47 to perfuse. You cannulate some veins and lead tubes form to
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48 outside of the chamber. You pump in air and perfusate, and the
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49 increasing air pressure in the chamber forces perfusate through
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50 the organ. For times when you don't want to cannulate the inputs
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51 -- they can be ragged, or there can be many of them. You still
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52 have to guide the veins to the outside of the chamber, but
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53 depending on the use case this might be far easier than
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54 tradational cannulation.
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55
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56 - very slow physiological pressure perfusion :: less extreme example
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57 of the "pausing" trick -- just keep the perfusion running and
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58 don't put the perfusion target into the liquid as deep.
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59
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60 - whole brain perfusion embedding :: Do the standard EM embedding
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61 protocol, but skip the osmium step, and use the "perfusion
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62 pausing" method to prevent overextraction during the dehydration
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63 and embedding steps. I think that you CAN perfuse resins into the
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64 brain, simply because you CAN perfuse viscous rubber when doing
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65 vascular casts.
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66
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67 - perfusion pausing :: One problem with doing perfusion is that if you
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68 STOP the perfusion, you rapidly loose pressure in the organ as
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69 your perfusate leaks out. You can prevent this by submerging the
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70 organ/head/rat whatever in FLUID at the appropriate level. Use
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71 something inert like flurocarbon to avoid problems. You would
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72 have to slowly decrease the flow rate while simultaneously
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73 lowering the perfusing object into the fluid. To start again,
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74 reverse the process -- reengage the peristaltic pump slowly while
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75 removing the organ from the fluid.
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76
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77 - evoultionary textbook mimiricy :: as surgery becomes more common,
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78 there develops a distinct selective pressure for individuals
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79 organ layout to look more like the medical textbooks! :P
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80
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81 - transparent skin :: temporary / permament transparent skin. Allows
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82 for examination of organs / muscles and visual prevention of
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83 disease and detection or abnormalities / good things
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84 eg. excercise.
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85
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86 - sweet information :: candy with a whole book written in it. Eat a
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87 book!
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88
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89 - targeted immunosuppressant :: just kill off the B-cells and friends
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90 that would cause problems in a organ-transplant / other
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91 situation. AIDS is good at killing these cells -- maybe make it
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92 just target the ones that will cause problems. Then you can
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93 premptively kill off that part of someone's immune system before
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94 a transplant. ALSO, you can kill off everyone's defenses against
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95 other blood types and make people effectively type AB+ w.r.t
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96 blood transfusions. Actually, why not give babies this treatment
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97 so that they're automatically compatable with all blood types?
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98 The immune system has this already when it's first growing; maybe
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99 it can be "retrained" to accept new things, or the mechanism of
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100 immune cell death be co-opted for these purposes.
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101
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102 - fuck you tetris :: tetris that actively gives you the worst possible piece.
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103
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104 - pockets :: more things should have them!
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105
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106 - colored shower head :: a shower head add on that measures the temp
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107 of the water and changes the color of the water streams w/ an LED
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108 to show you the temperature. That way you can align to the color
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109 you want and see the temperature without feeling it.
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110
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111 - giant dragonflies :: we could rapidly MAKE giant dragonflies by
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112 evolving modern dragonflies in an very oxygen rich environment!
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113
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114 - anesthetic surgery courtesty video :: as a matter of courtesy,
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115 whenever you go under anesthetic, the doctors should provide you
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116 with a video of the surgery / recovery after you are concious
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117 again. The recording should begin about 3 minutes before
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118 anesthetic, and continue until both you and the docor agree to
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119 stop recording, or you leave the hospital.
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120
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121 - whirlpool of light :: shine a laser out into space. But the planet
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122 is spinning! What you get is a spiral or light! And as this
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123 signal expands, does it eventually reveal it's wuantized nature?
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124
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125 - perfusion coking :: EOM
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126
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127 - timestamp verification :: you sign your message, and it has a
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128 timestamp at the top, with a +- percision number. Then you send
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129 it over to the public timestamp server, which only signs the
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130 message if it gets the message within the timestamp window. Or
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131 the computer just signs the message but puts a timestamp at the
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132 beginning. So if everyone trusts the timestamp server, you can
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133 get reliable timestamps, and prove priority on ideas, etc.
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134
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135 - the great computing slow-down :: in general, our computers are
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136 getting faster and faster. However, eventually our brains will be
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137 made of the same stuff our computers are made of! This has very
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138 interesting consequences -- I can add 2+2 and get four in about a
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139 second. Since my neurons actually work at around 10-60 hertz in
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140 parallel, this means that it takes me around 10-30 operations to
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141 do this addition. That's actually not bad in terms of computing
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142 time. If my neurons were as fast as the latest transitors, then
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143 most calculators would be SLOWER than me at adding numbers. Only
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144 the newest, most optimized calculators would be faster, and then
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145 only about 10 times faster! This means that once we begin to
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146 think at the speed of our technology, that technology will
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147 suddenly seem pitifully slow in comparison to how it seems
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148 now. And no amount of technical progress will remedy it, because
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149 that same progress will also make us all think faster. We'll
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150 either have to settle with living in "slow time" to do some
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151 computations, or learn to make smarter hardware with special
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152 optimizations. But this is actually really hard, because we'll be
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153 working with machines that will appear to us about as fast as
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154 MECHANICAL computers. So, in the future, all the cool parties
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155 will be in cyperspace at vastly accelerated speeds compared to
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156 how we exist now. But at these parties, the computers will SUCK!
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157 Of course, this is one of the few things that can save us from AI
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158 risk, because those AI's won't seem so scary when the're build
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159 out of rickety mechanical parts form our perspective.
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160
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161 - unitary reverse evolution of chaos+minds :: Chaotic systems diverge
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162 exponentially in state space. Do you get anything interesting
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163 when part of the physical system associated with the chaotic
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164 system is a object that performs some sort of computation? Is it
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165 possible for the computational system to play a
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166 percision-enabling role in determining the final/initial
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167 conditions of the chaotic system, just by tracing out thoughts in
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168 its decision paths? This is probably too vague of an idea right
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169 now, I just wanted to write it down.
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170
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171 - microwave time :: the cooking time you enter on most microwaves is
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172 insane. It's expressed in what I call a "hybrid base", a
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173 combination of base 10 and base 60. You can get absurd things
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174 like 100 < 61, and 120 == 80! I wonder if these hybrid base
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175 systems could be very useful for some purposes!
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176
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177 - three-eyes :: if you had three eyes, would you still draw cubes like
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178 we currently draw them? Or would all 2D-representations of 3D
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179 space always look hopelessly fake?
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180
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181 - visual taste/smell assay :: get a grid of bacteria, each expressing
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182 a human taste/smell receptor linked to some sort of fluorscent
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183 activity or ion pump. Use a camera / electrical grid to transduce
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184 the smell / taste signal into bits!
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185
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186 - carabiner mushroom lock :: you can take a trapazodial carabiner and
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187 make it so that a chain link is caught between the wide end of
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188 the carabiner and another chain attached to the carabiner.
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189
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190 - children's tool shop :: I think that kids should be provided with
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191 tool shops -- these would be nice sheds with a good collection of
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192 tools to do various things -- circuit components and soldering
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193 irons, wires, a small lathe, drill press, belt sander, a
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194 centrifuge, microscope, and telescope, etc. The idea is that the
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195 kid can now think, "I could use X to do this thing that I'm
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196 thinking about" -- the building becomes an extension of the kid's
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197 body & mind.
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198
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199 - fluid display :: like the previous idea about matching refractances
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200 between glass and liquid, except you make a lot of
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201 switchable glass tubes in various patterns in the
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202 glass, and actively pump colored liquid through the
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203 tubes (the tubes have glass-like fluid in them by
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204 default.) The result is that you can cause the
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205 tubes to appear and dissappear, and vary their
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206 colors as well!
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207
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208 - immunoincompatibility :: take the human genome, and refactor it so
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209 that it doesn't use a particular codon at all. Then remove the
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210 support from our ribosomes for that codon. What does this do for
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211 us? It makes us immune to almost all viruses!
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212
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213 - life cycle :: it's called a cycle, right? So, the thing that repeats
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214 itself over and over, right? Not much of a cycle if
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215 you don't come back after you die, if you ask me!
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216
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217 - car with no blind spots :: use some cameras in the back of the car
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218 to augment the rear-view mirror so that you never have to turn
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219 around in order to lane change.
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220
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221 - partial cell death :: you freeze a set of cells using some cryo
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222 protocol and 60% survive. How can this be explained? It seems to
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223 me that if the cells are the same, and the conditions
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224 homogoneous, then all the cells should either die or
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225 live. However, suppose that there is a metabolic cycle that needs
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226 to be in a certain phase for the cell to survive. If the cells
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227 are asynchronous, then you might end up with some cells dying
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228 because there were in the wrong part of their cycle. This implies
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229 that you might be able to cryoprotect cells by causing them to
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230 enter a certain metabolic mode before freezing.
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231
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232 - cryonics color appeal :: perfusate used by cryonics companies should
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233 have red food coloring in it. It's just a nice touch so that the
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234 cryonics patient looks more life-like than with clear CPAs, and
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235 hopefully might get treated with more respect.
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236
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237 - paramagnetic CPA :: you take a CPA that can be influenced by
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238 magnetic fields so that its degrees of freedom are limited. Then,
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239 you release the field, instantaly increasing the size of the
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240 state space of the system and dramatically decreasing the
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241 temperature enough to plunge the system past homogenous
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242 nucleation temperature and directly to the glass transition
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243 temperature, creating a doubly unstable glass at much lower CPA
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244 concentrations than possible at conventional CPA concentrations.
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245
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246 - room temp noodles :: how does the physics of cooking noodles work?
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247 Could you use a vacuum instead of heat to force water into the
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248 noodle?
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249
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250 - personal carbon offset :: feel bad about contribuiting to global
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251 warming by using electricity / driving a car? Forget trying to
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252 "conserve" or "minimize your carbon footprint". Follow the
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253 Platinum rule -- make the world BETTER off than you found it!
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254 This would be a small, self contained system that sucks C02 out
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255 of the air. It uses electricity, but it's so efficient at
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256 removing CO2 that it more than offsets the CO2 produced by even a
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257 coal plant to produce that electricity. This way, you can still
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258 drive even a gas guzzler, but have a net negative carbon
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259 footprint! Maybe something cool could be done with the carbon as
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260 well. Use as much electricity as you want, but negate the damage
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261 to the enviroment with more technology.
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262
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263 - undoing spermogenesis :: with enough sperm, you can derive the
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264 donor's entire genome. You gain more confidence in the alleles
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265 for a particular gene the more sperm you have. Each additional
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266 sperm gives you the same sort of information you'd get flipping a
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267 coin and trying to decide whether the coin is H/T of H/H. Is
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268 there enough sperm in the the average load for you to be as
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269 confident as mitosis?
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270
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271 - mars life :: we could engineer life that could survive on mars
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272 (probably some non-vascular photosynthetic
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273 poikilohydric creature like a lichen) by taking an
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274 extremophile from Antarctica and evolving it in
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275 increasingly Martian conditions. This could be an easy
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276 start to a terraforming process.
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277
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278 - problem with Aubrey de Grey's ideas :: Aubrey de Grey says that we
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279 might be able to live forever by continually repairing our bodies
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280 at the cellular level -- he details 7 different mechanisms of
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281 damage and says that if all of them are dealt with /together/
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282 that it would stop aging. (You can't miss even one because
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283 they're all fatal.) However, it doesn't take into account that
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284 we are also beings of information and that there is a very real
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285 software component to our existence. Even if our biological
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286 chassies can be maintained forever, I think it is unlikely that
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287 our minds will operate well far outside of the design constraints
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288 that we've evolved to handle. Say I programmed a webserver with
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289 the express goal of it being able to serve webpages for month on
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290 some stock server. I'll do fairly rigorous testing to make sure
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291 that it can handle the expected load then then some. Now say that
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292 you want to keep a particular instance of this webserver running
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293 indefinitely. (The program instance is like your mind and the
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294 computer it's running on is like your body). You might very well
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295 be able to keep the physical computer infrastructure running for
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296 forever by replacing hard drives / ram / CPUs, etc. However,
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297 since I designed the webserver to work for a month, it probably
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298 has memory leaks, rare stochastic bugs, or other built in limits
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299 / constraints (think log files or some date rollover shenanigans)
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300 that will ultimately kill the webserver even with eternally
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301 perfect hardware. Do you really expect that a webserver
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302 engineered to work for 1 month will run for 10 years without
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303 catastrophically crashing? Not even Apache can do this! In fact,
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304 if I put in the extreme effort to make it that robust, I've
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305 wasted time that I could have spent on other projects by pursuing
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306 an unnecessary engineering goal. Likewise, human minds have only
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307 ever run for at most 122 years before they are destroyed due to
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308 hardware degradation. Fixing the hardware doesn't change any
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309 software bugs that are almost certainly present in the human
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310 mind. Think of all the pathological things that can go wrong with
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311 a webserver, multiply it by a million, and that likely how
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312 evolution has designed our minds. For example, consider memory :
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313 why should you expect that we have evolved the ability to
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314 coherently organize memories past say 150 years? There's been
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315 absolutely no selective pressure for this ability, so you can bet
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316 that if there's any fitness to be gained from not having
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317 unlimited memory potential (such as better metabolic efficiency),
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318 we have it! You might think that maybe we would just forget
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rlm@134
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319 things the same way that we sort of forget things that happen
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rlm@134
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320 earlier in our lives, but complicated information processing
|
rlm@134
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321 systems don't have to fail gracefully when they're pushed far
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rlm@134
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322 past their design constraints. A 150 year old person is just as
|
rlm@134
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323 likely to suffer a catastrophic psychosis due to software
|
rlm@134
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324 limitations associated with memory as he is to do something with
|
rlm@134
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325 all those memories we might consider reasonable. More likely, in
|
rlm@134
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326 fact, since there are so very many ways for a complicated
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rlm@134
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327 software system to break and so few ways for it to run
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rlm@134
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328 successfully. Therefore, I think Aubrey de Grey's "hardware-only"
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rlm@134
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329 approach is missing a very important component of longevity
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rlm@134
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330 science, and any successful effort to make people live orders of
|
rlm@134
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331 magnitude longer than they do naturally will need to deal with
|
rlm@134
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332 people's software as well as their hardware.
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rlm@134
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333
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rlm@133
|
334 - validating neurocryopreservation :: Problem : you want to test
|
rlm@133
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335 whether a brain is functionally preserved through vitrification,
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rlm@133
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336 but you don't want to figure out how to preserve all the other
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rlm@133
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337 organs in the animal. It might be possible to keep the rest of
|
rlm@133
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338 the body at almost 0C and vitrify just the head for only a few
|
rlm@133
|
339 minutes. Induce hypothermia, then separate out the head's blood
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rlm@133
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340 supply from the rest of the body, then just cryoptotect and
|
rlm@133
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341 vitrify the head. Might need some sort of thermal guard to keep
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rlm@133
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342 the outer head / neck from becoming too cold. You leave the
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rlm@133
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343 spinal cord intact! Then you devitrify to 0C, remove
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rlm@133
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344 cryoprotectant, and then reattach the blood supply. You can
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rlm@133
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345 determine brain preservation using behavioral assays!
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rlm@133
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346
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rlm@133
|
347 - freezing water purifier :: you slowly freeze water, but also run
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rlm@133
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348 liquid water over the frozen mass. This takes away basically all
|
rlm@133
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349 impurities and creates "washed ice" then you melt the ice. Maybe
|
rlm@133
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350 you could re-use the heat from creating the ice to melt the ice?
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rlm@133
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351
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rlm@133
|
352 - ultra strength :: allow a person to visualize their muscle
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rlm@133
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353 recruitment patterns. Give them adrenaline and let
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rlm@133
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354 them feel what it's like to have the normal limits
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rlm@133
|
355 removed. See if they can replicate the effects.
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rlm@133
|
356
|
rlm@133
|
357 - phone names :: make a PX record for domain names that's like the MX
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rlm@133
|
358 record, except that it is a phone number instead of
|
rlm@133
|
359 an IP address. That way, you can use the domain name
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rlm@133
|
360 registration system to provide names for phone
|
rlm@133
|
361 numbers. Then, as long as you control the domain, you
|
rlm@133
|
362 can point people to your current phone number by
|
rlm@133
|
363 updating that record.
|
rlm@133
|
364
|
rlm@133
|
365 - edible flowers :: Edible white flowers that you put in a colored
|
rlm@133
|
366 solution with flavor. When the flower turns the
|
rlm@133
|
367 right color, it is also flavored and ready to eat!
|
rlm@133
|
368
|
rlm@131
|
369 - suicide cryonics :: according to [[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html][this]], people who commit impulsive
|
rlm@131
|
370 suicides have a newfound sense of the importance of life. Perhaps
|
rlm@131
|
371 they are good cryonics targets.
|
rlm@131
|
372
|
rlm@131
|
373 - lead bone :: Could you fill in all the empty spaces in a bone with
|
rlm@131
|
374 lead? Might be cool.
|
rlm@131
|
375
|
rlm@131
|
376 - the quest for life :: Every stupid story has the "immortal who
|
rlm@131
|
377 wants to become mortal" or some other such idea. I want to story
|
rlm@131
|
378 where the protagonist loses their immortality and feels /angry/
|
rlm@131
|
379 and ashamed about losing something that's so absolutely crucial
|
rlm@131
|
380 to their identity. A reverse of "death makes life worth living",
|
rlm@131
|
381 they feel that living forever is what makes life worth
|
rlm@131
|
382 living. Now they've "lost their sunrise" or their "connection to
|
rlm@131
|
383 the timeless universe" or something. So they go on a quest to get
|
rlm@131
|
384 it back, learning about themselves along the way, and regaining
|
rlm@131
|
385 the precious thing they lost in the beginning.
|
rlm@131
|
386
|
rlm@130
|
387 - world-map :: take a small table and paint the continents in
|
rlm@130
|
388 toothpaste on the table. Make a slightly raised barrier
|
rlm@130
|
389 around the table. Slowly pour water onto the table, and
|
rlm@130
|
390 it will form the oceans!
|
rlm@130
|
391
|
rlm@95
|
392 - stage magic rituals :: rituals should incorporate elements of stage
|
rlm@95
|
393 magic. Foe example in Teller's tempest, they have a scene where
|
rlm@95
|
394 they levitate a crown in front of someone, then put it on his
|
rlm@95
|
395 head. They also have a wedding ceremony where they levitated the
|
rlm@95
|
396 bride as well. Actual weddings and other ceremonies should
|
rlm@95
|
397 incorporate stage magic as an enhancement.
|
rlm@95
|
398
|
rlm@95
|
399 - isotope time dilation :: use a cyclotron to speed up rare isotopes
|
rlm@95
|
400 developed in nuclear fusion experiments. The relativistic time
|
rlm@95
|
401 dilation will stop the isotopes from decaying, and allow time to
|
rlm@95
|
402 study them. This is based on radioactive isotopes that fall
|
rlm@95
|
403 through the earth's atmosphere that take hundreds of times
|
rlm@95
|
404 longer to decay than normal.
|
rlm@95
|
405
|
rlm@95
|
406 - marsupial stimulation :: You take a freshly pouched marsupial baby,
|
rlm@95
|
407 and show it videos and other interactive things while it matures
|
rlm@95
|
408 in the pouch. What mental effects would this have?
|
rlm@95
|
409
|
rlm@135
|
410 - dynamic re-keying :: Some older ways of tuning instruments sound
|
rlm@95
|
411 better, but we use the even-tempered scale today because it makes
|
rlm@95
|
412 it easier to switch keys. With electronic music, why not make
|
rlm@95
|
413 key-annotations and dynamically re-tune the piece to sound good
|
rlm@135
|
414 in the current key? Could be done as a midi+annotation -> midi
|
rlm@95
|
415 compiler for experimentation.
|
rlm@95
|
416
|
rlm@95
|
417 - death always implies damage :: is is possible for a corpse to differ
|
rlm@95
|
418 from a living person only in the fact that one is dead and the
|
rlm@95
|
419 other is alive? NO! A corpse must always have some sort of
|
rlm@95
|
420 molecular damage which causes the loss of function!
|
rlm@95
|
421
|
rlm@95
|
422 - inner eye :: Surgically install a bunch of tiny cameras inside a
|
rlm@95
|
423 person. Then, you can activate them all and get a
|
rlm@95
|
424 picture of your internal organs for diagnostic
|
rlm@95
|
425 purposes.
|
rlm@95
|
426
|
rlm@135
|
427 - chaos rails :: should make a visualization of the homoclinic tangle,
|
rlm@95
|
428 it's truly beautiful.
|
rlm@95
|
429
|
rlm@95
|
430 - context gobbler :: this would be in "inside-out macro" that takes
|
rlm@95
|
431 the context (like you use for things like error, continuations,
|
rlm@95
|
432 and friends) and transforms it to something else. Maybe useful?
|
rlm@95
|
433
|
rlm@91
|
434 - cryonics middle ages :: some people say that cryonics is an
|
rlm@91
|
435 experiment and that it is foolish to wait until we have revived a
|
rlm@91
|
436 human. There is a middle ground where the procedure has a dismal
|
rlm@91
|
437 success rate on humans, say 1 in 20, so that you'd be a fool to
|
rlm@91
|
438 try revival. Nonetheless, this very risky procedure could be the
|
rlm@91
|
439 legal proof of concept needed to create a new class of life
|
rlm@91
|
440 between "living" and "dead": "stasis".
|
rlm@91
|
441
|
rlm@91
|
442 - philosophy of the mirror :: neat thought experiment -- if you take a
|
rlm@91
|
443 mirror of someone by actually reversing a person's chirality
|
rlm@94
|
444 molecule by molecule, then will the only be able to read mirror
|
rlm@91
|
445 writing? The answer is yes, by analogy to a purely mechanical
|
rlm@94
|
446 scan-tron device. This is one of the only interesting transforms I
|
rlm@91
|
447 know that can take a human brain and change it in subtle,
|
rlm@91
|
448 non-destructive ways. It's also an argument against dualism.
|
rlm@91
|
449
|
rlm@91
|
450 - biosphere in a bottle :: There are around 15 million species. 15
|
rlm@91
|
451 million stem cells will fill only a tiny size, far less than a cubic
|
rlm@91
|
452 inch. Preserve a single cell from every species on earth in this
|
rlm@91
|
453 small space, and you will have a record of our current biosphere
|
rlm@91
|
454 that can be protected. "Hold the genetic data of all species in
|
rlm@92
|
455 your hand!"
|
rlm@91
|
456
|
rlm@90
|
457 - chaos lock :: The "arrow of time" points in the direction of
|
rlm@90
|
458 increasing entropy. The time evolution of chaotic
|
rlm@90
|
459 systems depend exquisitely on their initial state. If
|
rlm@90
|
460 you take a measurement of a chaotic system at any
|
rlm@90
|
461 given point of time, you can evolve that system
|
rlm@90
|
462 backwards or forwards based on your measurement. So
|
rlm@90
|
463 let's say you start the chaotic system in a VERY low
|
rlm@90
|
464 entropy state, then let it run for a while, then take
|
rlm@90
|
465 a measurement with some uncertainty. Your
|
rlm@90
|
466 measurement is pretty good, but obviously not
|
rlm@90
|
467 PERFECT. If you evolve the chaotic system back in
|
rlm@90
|
468 time, then you will see that you don't really reach
|
rlm@90
|
469 a state with low entropy an hour before (the entropy
|
rlm@90
|
470 is easy to measure with surrogates like alignment,
|
rlm@90
|
471 etc). So use this technique to SEARCH for a more
|
rlm@90
|
472 accurate measurement! This potentially can give you
|
rlm@90
|
473 many more orders of magnitude than you could get alone
|
rlm@90
|
474 just using an instrument. Sometimes it will give you
|
rlm@90
|
475 bad results, the the odds of it doing that are
|
rlm@90
|
476 infinitesimal, and you can just measure a couple of
|
rlm@90
|
477 times.
|
rlm@90
|
478
|
rlm@90
|
479 - cryo-evolution :: perhaps there would be a way to rapidly evolve a
|
rlm@90
|
480 symbiotic bacterial organism that could protect
|
rlm@90
|
481 human tissues from freezing damage.
|
rlm@90
|
482
|
rlm@87
|
483 - suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
|
rlm@87
|
484 reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
|
rlm@87
|
485 depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
|
rlm@87
|
486 back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
|
rlm@87
|
487 it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
|
rlm@88
|
488 causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain
|
rlm@87
|
489 parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
|
rlm@87
|
490 mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
|
rlm@88
|
491 parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems:
|
rlm@87
|
492 - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
|
rlm@87
|
493 answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
|
rlm@87
|
494 cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
|
rlm@88
|
495 - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should
|
rlm@88
|
496 be more common among people who share a contagion
|
rlm@88
|
497 vector. There should be suicides that don't make any
|
rlm@87
|
498 sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
|
rlm@87
|
499 reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
|
rlm@87
|
500 should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
|
rlm@87
|
501 their brains.
|
rlm@86
|
502
|
rlm@89
|
503 - domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much
|
rlm@89
|
504 more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research
|
rlm@94
|
505 to make very appealing bugs? Beetles, in particular, seem to be
|
rlm@94
|
506 excellent targets for domestication because they have extreme
|
rlm@94
|
507 levels of genetic malleability.
|
rlm@87
|
508
|
rlm@87
|
509 - birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
|
rlm@87
|
510 into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
|
rlm@87
|
511 is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
|
rlm@87
|
512 the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
|
rlm@88
|
513 can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it
|
rlm@87
|
514 would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
|
rlm@87
|
515 have a culture where people reward people who were
|
rlm@87
|
516 especially awesome are "reborn" from their
|
rlm@88
|
517 backups. Imagine having a young Bach every
|
rlm@87
|
518 generation, etc.
|
rlm@86
|
519
|
rlm@94
|
520 - pronunciation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and
|
rlm@94
|
521 it returns a simple, English sentence describing exactly how to
|
rlm@84
|
522 pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA.
|
rlm@86
|
523
|
rlm@87
|
524 - cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
|
rlm@87
|
525 search space of possible actions.
|
rlm@87
|
526
|
rlm@83
|
527 - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person
|
rlm@83
|
528 who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about
|
rlm@83
|
529 teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a
|
rlm@83
|
530 member of that society (after all, the difference between animals
|
rlm@83
|
531 and humans is that humans are creatures of pure information while
|
rlm@83
|
532 animals are burdened with base matter, "that's how you travel the
|
rlm@83
|
533 stars, etc") Humans are born normally, grow up, and then
|
rlm@83
|
534 eventually transcend via destructive upload. Analogies to jumping
|
rlm@83
|
535 off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for
|
rlm@83
|
536 a long time), etc.
|
rlm@83
|
537
|
rlm@87
|
538 - no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
|
rlm@87
|
539 forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
|
rlm@87
|
540 the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
|
rlm@87
|
541 lips. For bars and fancy things.
|
rlm@87
|
542
|
rlm@82
|
543 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
|
rlm@82
|
544 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
|
rlm@82
|
545 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
|
rlm@82
|
546 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get
|
rlm@82
|
547 fleeced in the process with fees. Bitcoin could greatly reduce
|
rlm@82
|
548 the cost of sending money from America to Mexico, but I don't
|
rlm@82
|
549 believe that it's currently used for that among Mexican
|
rlm@82
|
550 immigrants currently due to lack of knowledge. I bet you could
|
rlm@82
|
551 set up physical locations like those obnoxious Western Union huts
|
rlm@82
|
552 in places like Texas, Arizona, etc, and greatly undercut
|
rlm@82
|
553 them. Or, perhaps some educational seminars about bitcoin might
|
rlm@82
|
554 be in order. There's some money to be made there because there is
|
rlm@82
|
555 great demand, and it's a good thing to boot!
|
rlm@82
|
556
|
rlm@81
|
557 - reverse eye-tracking :: A painting that is actually a digital screen
|
rlm@82
|
558 with a camera. It records people's eye tracks permanently. It's
|
rlm@81
|
559 "artistic" because paintings are normally these things that you
|
rlm@81
|
560 look at without changing, but this one is changed the second you
|
rlm@81
|
561 look at it, recording where /you/ looked forever for others to
|
rlm@81
|
562 see. Make it be a painting of a woman and see the trolling as the
|
rlm@81
|
563 breasts and groin area light up with interest from all the males
|
rlm@81
|
564 passing by.
|
rlm@81
|
565
|
rlm@80
|
566 - smart toilets :: Instead of using indirect measures like infrared
|
rlm@80
|
567 detectors of the presence of a person, use computer
|
rlm@80
|
568 vision to directly measure whether the toilet needs
|
rlm@80
|
569 to be flushed. I think a lot of things will end up
|
rlm@80
|
570 going this way as we get better computer vision.
|
rlm@80
|
571
|
rlm@77
|
572 - validate chemopreservation :: chemopreservation is difficult to
|
rlm@77
|
573 validate because it destroys the functionality of a brain, and
|
rlm@77
|
574 brain simulation will take a long time to mature as a
|
rlm@77
|
575 technology. However, one very powerful way to validate
|
rlm@77
|
576 chemopreservation would be to have a person/animal learn
|
rlm@77
|
577 something with high complexity such as a number or the solution
|
rlm@80
|
578 to a maze, or a flashbulb memory. Then you preserve their brain
|
rlm@80
|
579 chemically, slice it up, and read /that specific memory/ from the
|
rlm@77
|
580 detailed brain scan. Much more difficult, but much more doable.
|
rlm@77
|
581
|
rlm@75
|
582 - candy screw :: edible candy screw with candy nuts that you can screw
|
rlm@75
|
583 as well.
|
rlm@76
|
584
|
rlm@74
|
585 - better bibliography :: when writing a thesis or paper, have the
|
rlm@80
|
586 bibliography not just be an opaque list of resources, but have it
|
rlm@74
|
587 be a list of /summaries/ and /qualities/ that each paper has in
|
rlm@80
|
588 the context of the paper being written. When examining a
|
rlm@80
|
589 bibliography, I want to know if reading the papers in the
|
rlm@74
|
590 bibliography are worth my time, and I also am probably also
|
rlm@74
|
591 interested in exactly the things that are being discussed in the
|
rlm@74
|
592 paper I'm reading. The bibliography is the perfect place to
|
rlm@74
|
593 provide information about the referenced papers from the
|
rlm@80
|
594 author's perspective. I will use this biographic form in my own
|
rlm@74
|
595 thesis.
|
rlm@74
|
596
|
rlm@73
|
597 - digital inter-library loan :: libraries at universities already do
|
rlm@80
|
598 inter-library loans for books, so why not do the same for access
|
rlm@73
|
599 to stupid paywalled digital papers? All the universities could
|
rlm@73
|
600 allow access to articles for registered students to all the files
|
rlm@73
|
601 available through any participating university. This could be
|
rlm@73
|
602 achieved by sending requests through proxies at participating
|
rlm@73
|
603 universities. Each university would decide who at the university
|
rlm@73
|
604 can access the proxy network. Access to the proxy network could
|
rlm@73
|
605 be made easy using something like http://libx.org/.
|
rlm@73
|
606
|
rlm@72
|
607 - chess visual :: to show the vast size of the game trees considered
|
rlm@72
|
608 by computers, show two people playing chess in a
|
rlm@72
|
609 void. They are floating in space, and there is a
|
rlm@72
|
610 simple chess board between them. Then, as they play,
|
rlm@72
|
611 the game tree's they are considering are drawn
|
rlm@72
|
612 behind him. The root of the tree starts centered in
|
rlm@72
|
613 their heads or whatever they use to think, and the
|
rlm@72
|
614 tree grows out from behind, never crossing the
|
rlm@72
|
615 dividing plane between the two players. Each
|
rlm@72
|
616 player's tree is a different color. As they grow,
|
rlm@72
|
617 there are animations for pruning, etc. Eventually,
|
rlm@72
|
618 they look like the hemispheres of a brain, wings,
|
rlm@72
|
619 etc. A human's tree might occasionally have a long
|
rlm@72
|
620 chain, while the computer tree would be more
|
rlm@72
|
621 uniform. You could compare deep blue and a modern
|
rlm@72
|
622 laptop. Use actual data when fighting two computers!
|
rlm@72
|
623
|
rlm@71
|
624 - time verification :: some standard way to verify that some piece of
|
rlm@71
|
625 data was recorded at a specific time. Might involve a time
|
rlm@73
|
626 server, a key for each time period, something like that.
|
rlm@71
|
627
|
rlm@70
|
628 - tamper proof gold bars :: [[http://www.tungsten-alloy.com/gold-plated-tungsten-alloy-bar.html][this site]] offers gold plated tungsten bars
|
rlm@70
|
629 as "novelty" items. One reason to prefer coins is because they
|
rlm@70
|
630 are much harder to counterfeit because there is less surface area
|
rlm@70
|
631 to mass ratio. However, gold bars are still a great design
|
rlm@70
|
632 because they can hold a lot of value in a small space. A gold bar
|
rlm@70
|
633 could be given the same protections (and more) that gold coins
|
rlm@70
|
634 have to offer by changing it into a "gold book", which would have
|
rlm@70
|
635 hundreds of "pages" of gold bound together. This could be
|
rlm@70
|
636 implemented with multiple steel rods going through the book which
|
rlm@70
|
637 can be removed, or some more classier mechanism for holding the
|
rlm@70
|
638 pages. The point is that the bar can be EASILY subdivided (and
|
rlm@70
|
639 people would perform this test before buying), thus guaranteeing
|
rlm@70
|
640 it's authenticity.
|
rlm@70
|
641
|
rlm@68
|
642 - aurellem shirt :: I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt.
|
rlm@68
|
643
|
rlm@86
|
644 - touch vision :: inspired by GelSight, I want to reexamine cortex and
|
rlm@86
|
645 see if I could implement touch as a very low range
|
rlm@86
|
646 form of vision.
|
rlm@86
|
647
|
rlm@67
|
648 - high school science :: this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The
|
rlm@67
|
649 goal is to calculate /g/, the local gravitational
|
rlm@67
|
650 acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's
|
rlm@67
|
651 /exactly/ 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they
|
rlm@67
|
652 doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's
|
rlm@67
|
653 neat because for any given school, /g/ is probably *not* exactly
|
rlm@67
|
654 equal to 9.81, because that is just an average!
|
rlm@67
|
655
|
rlm@67
|
656 - opencourseware subtitles :: there are ladies who type up lectures
|
rlm@67
|
657 while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and
|
rlm@67
|
658 given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are
|
rlm@67
|
659 recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles.
|
rlm@67
|
660
|
rlm@66
|
661 - screen locking timing :: you use your computer camera to see if you
|
rlm@66
|
662 are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen
|
rlm@66
|
663 will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a
|
rlm@67
|
664 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to
|
rlm@66
|
665 initiate the countdown, just with more information.
|
rlm@66
|
666
|
rlm@66
|
667 - mirror toilet :: a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead
|
rlm@67
|
668 or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a
|
rlm@66
|
669 wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion
|
rlm@66
|
670 system works.
|
rlm@66
|
671
|
rlm@80
|
672 - test dummies :: why don't we clone anencephalic humans and use then to
|
rlm@62
|
673 test /in vivo/ human organ systems and drugs? It
|
rlm@62
|
674 would be ethical as long as there are women who are
|
rlm@62
|
675 willing to host the clones, and it would be a
|
rlm@67
|
676 tremendous resource for studying the human body. I
|
rlm@62
|
677 see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is
|
rlm@67
|
678 suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout
|
rlm@62
|
679 more advanced technology.
|
rlm@62
|
680
|
rlm@62
|
681 - X-ray telepresence :: given that a doctor is operating on a patient
|
rlm@62
|
682 via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into
|
rlm@62
|
683 the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system
|
rlm@80
|
684 was coupled with a Bayesian model of the layout of the structure,
|
rlm@67
|
685 and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the
|
rlm@62
|
686 model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage
|
rlm@62
|
687 and surgery risk could be minimized.
|
rlm@62
|
688
|
rlm@62
|
689 - superfluid vascular system :: I wonder what would happen if you
|
rlm@62
|
690 replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the
|
rlm@62
|
691 physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the
|
rlm@62
|
692 vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells,
|
rlm@62
|
693 or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to
|
rlm@62
|
694 retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during
|
rlm@62
|
695 perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses
|
rlm@62
|
696 superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by
|
rlm@67
|
697 superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to
|
rlm@62
|
698 simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid
|
rlm@62
|
699 instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human.
|
rlm@51
|
700
|
rlm@59
|
701 - projective guessing :: I think that we read and see things by
|
rlm@67
|
702 making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see,
|
rlm@59
|
703 and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really
|
rlm@59
|
704 doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the
|
rlm@59
|
705 image from first principles, but most stuff is projective
|
rlm@59
|
706 guessing.
|
rlm@59
|
707
|
rlm@67
|
708 - Intestinal flora maintenance :: why not inoculate babies at birth
|
rlm@59
|
709 with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they
|
rlm@59
|
710 naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient
|
rlm@67
|
711 extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts
|
rlm@94
|
712 not stink for life, too. MORE IMPORTANTLY, might help to
|
rlm@91
|
713 preventatively stop some forms of /colic/, which affects 1 in 5
|
rlm@94
|
714 babies and causes constant screaming and pain for about 5 weeks.
|
rlm@59
|
715
|
rlm@56
|
716 - server culture : mirrors :: make a distributed system where people
|
rlm@56
|
717 can mirror the websites of people they like -- essentially cover
|
rlm@56
|
718 the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular
|
rlm@56
|
719 websites run at no cost. The system would require that the
|
rlm@56
|
720 mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like
|
rlm@67
|
721 bit-torrent for websites.
|
rlm@56
|
722
|
rlm@56
|
723 - map programming :: one problem with functional programming is that
|
rlm@56
|
724 in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up
|
rlm@67
|
725 into each calling function to get the full range of behavior
|
rlm@56
|
726 from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a
|
rlm@67
|
727 compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic
|
rlm@67
|
728 variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the
|
rlm@56
|
729 advantages of making a programming language where every function
|
rlm@67
|
730 receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol
|
rlm@56
|
731 bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all
|
rlm@56
|
732 subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on
|
rlm@56
|
733 the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults,
|
rlm@56
|
734 etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea.
|
rlm@56
|
735
|
rlm@55
|
736 - rest nest :: a small EEG device you would attach to your head when
|
rlm@55
|
737 you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine
|
rlm@55
|
738 your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an
|
rlm@55
|
739 alarm clock that you could give a time range, say
|
rlm@55
|
740 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an
|
rlm@55
|
741 ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90
|
rlm@55
|
742 min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon
|
rlm@55
|
743 waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be
|
rlm@55
|
744 some other uses for the EEG data as well.
|
rlm@55
|
745
|
rlm@50
|
746 - image compression :: use a library like gimp or opencv to process an
|
rlm@50
|
747 image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of
|
rlm@50
|
748 those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a
|
rlm@80
|
749 super-compressed image file (possibly accepting some
|
rlm@80
|
750 losses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one
|
rlm@50
|
751 to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the
|
rlm@50
|
752 image.
|
rlm@50
|
753
|
rlm@47
|
754 - fixed cryopreservation :: why not use a fixative to buy enough time
|
rlm@42
|
755 to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room
|
rlm@42
|
756 temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and
|
rlm@42
|
757 vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the
|
rlm@47
|
758 fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures
|
rlm@42
|
759 do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage.
|
rlm@38
|
760
|
rlm@67
|
761 - dilated security camera :: a security camera that would capture
|
rlm@58
|
762 full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep
|
rlm@58
|
763 only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something
|
rlm@58
|
764 "interesting" happening.
|
rlm@58
|
765
|
rlm@40
|
766 - bitcoin wallet :: Part of "server culture", this would be something
|
rlm@40
|
767 like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as
|
rlm@40
|
768 your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins
|
rlm@40
|
769 from anywhere.
|
rlm@40
|
770
|
rlm@40
|
771 - libpay :: this would be a free library which would enable
|
rlm@40
|
772 micro-donations to software projects and other projects,
|
rlm@47
|
773 so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would
|
rlm@47
|
774 be automatically split up to every person who has ever
|
rlm@40
|
775 contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of
|
rlm@40
|
776 community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the
|
rlm@47
|
777 community decides. This might make it possible for
|
rlm@40
|
778 programmers to live entirely off of free programming.
|
rlm@40
|
779
|
rlm@45
|
780 - distributed graphics :: Browser based graphics-card accelerated
|
rlm@45
|
781 distributed computing API.
|
rlm@41
|
782
|
rlm@40
|
783 - pronouns :: use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve
|
rlm@40
|
784 pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to
|
rlm@40
|
785 say, and you can encode useful information into the
|
rlm@40
|
786 choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings
|
rlm@40
|
787 shall be presided over by the president, unless she is
|
rlm@42
|
788 absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the
|
rlm@40
|
789 president, unless P is absent." We already use this a
|
rlm@40
|
790 little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and
|
rlm@40
|
791 object respectively.
|
rlm@40
|
792
|
rlm@40
|
793 - phone DSP :: software app that inserts an audio DSP between the
|
rlm@40
|
794 input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious
|
rlm@40
|
795 and configurable, and can allow men to make their
|
rlm@40
|
796 voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear
|
rlm@40
|
797 your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how
|
rlm@40
|
798 their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to
|
rlm@47
|
799 immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good
|
rlm@40
|
800 presets.
|
rlm@40
|
801
|
rlm@47
|
802 - predestined body learning :: a good example of predestined learning
|
rlm@40
|
803 might be the mirror neurons.
|
rlm@40
|
804
|
rlm@47
|
805 - restaurant receipt :: use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid
|
rlm@40
|
806 copies.
|
rlm@40
|
807
|
rlm@41
|
808 - anti google glass :: glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision
|
rlm@41
|
809 that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them.
|
rlm@41
|
810
|
rlm@40
|
811 - wearable towel :: towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows
|
rlm@40
|
812 one to wear the towel more securely than just
|
rlm@40
|
813 wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best.
|
rlm@40
|
814
|
rlm@47
|
815 - crossdressing :: Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to
|
rlm@44
|
816 wear a burka.
|
rlm@41
|
817
|
rlm@40
|
818 - book-mode :: intelligent color highlighting for books and
|
rlm@40
|
819 articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved
|
rlm@93
|
820 references. For example, if "Rachael" was assigned the
|
rlm@93
|
821 color red, and "the blonde haired girl" refers to
|
rlm@93
|
822 "Rachael", then "the blonde haired girl" would be
|
rlm@93
|
823 colored red. Also, you could disambiguate multi part
|
rlm@93
|
824 run-on sentences by highlighting each
|
rlm@93
|
825 subcomponent. Maybe would also have applications to
|
rlm@93
|
826 scientific reading.
|
rlm@40
|
827
|
rlm@40
|
828 - Handheld light Rain measurement :: this would be a clear, teflon
|
rlm@47
|
829 coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would
|
rlm@40
|
830 be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of
|
rlm@40
|
831 accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by
|
rlm@40
|
832 using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops.
|
rlm@40
|
833
|
rlm@40
|
834 - Big Brother Farming :: This would be a vision system that would
|
rlm@40
|
835 individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure
|
rlm@40
|
836 maximum/uniform growth for each plant.
|
rlm@40
|
837
|
rlm@40
|
838 - Discrete Faucet :: A faucet with discrete ticks instead of
|
rlm@47
|
839 continuous.
|
rlm@40
|
840
|
rlm@40
|
841 - Laser Circle :: take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one
|
rlm@40
|
842 end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect,
|
rlm@40
|
843 large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam
|
rlm@47
|
844 into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of
|
rlm@40
|
845 the laser.
|
rlm@40
|
846
|
rlm@40
|
847 - Invisible Glass :: Take a container of liquid and embed a
|
rlm@40
|
848 glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index
|
rlm@40
|
849 of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be
|
rlm@40
|
850 totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed
|
rlm@40
|
851 when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy
|
rlm@40
|
852 wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass.
|
rlm@40
|
853
|
rlm@47
|
854 - Caterpillar people :: A race of caterpillar like creatures gains
|
rlm@40
|
855 intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These
|
rlm@47
|
856 caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large
|
rlm@40
|
857 butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the
|
rlm@40
|
858 caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal,
|
rlm@40
|
859 dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person
|
rlm@47
|
860 the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and
|
rlm@40
|
861 religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as
|
rlm@40
|
862 good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and
|
rlm@47
|
863 necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can
|
rlm@40
|
864 mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person
|
rlm@47
|
865 because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the
|
rlm@47
|
866 memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the
|
rlm@40
|
867 butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the
|
rlm@40
|
868 butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big
|
rlm@47
|
869 deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is
|
rlm@40
|
870 actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible
|
rlm@47
|
871 tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the
|
rlm@40
|
872 metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important
|
rlm@40
|
873 members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to
|
rlm@40
|
874 prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves.
|
rlm@40
|
875
|
rlm@40
|
876 This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being
|
rlm@40
|
877 something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds,
|
rlm@40
|
878 something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that
|
rlm@40
|
879 hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains
|
rlm@40
|
880 now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic
|
rlm@40
|
881 legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a
|
rlm@40
|
882 compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second
|
rlm@40
|
883 gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes
|
rlm@40
|
884 homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of
|
rlm@47
|
885 pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the
|
rlm@47
|
886 lens of the the caterpillar people.
|
rlm@40
|
887
|
rlm@46
|
888 - 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
|
889 about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business
|
rlm@46
|
890 by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their
|
rlm@47
|
891 "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni
|
rlm@46
|
892 network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied
|
rlm@46
|
893 ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might
|
rlm@46
|
894 consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with
|
rlm@46
|
895 new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and
|
rlm@46
|
896 how they worked out.
|
rlm@43
|
897
|
rlm@47
|
898 - coffee with tea :: /rlm-tea/ contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20%
|
rlm@43
|
899 dylan coffee. /dylan coffee/ contains 5% sugar,
|
rlm@43
|
900 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings
|
rlm@43
|
901 with recursion!
|
rlm@43
|
902
|
rlm@43
|
903 - psychic crystal :: in a science fiction story, this would be an
|
rlm@43
|
904 object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely
|
rlm@43
|
905 difficult to move with telekinesis.
|
rlm@43
|
906
|
rlm@40
|
907 - http://betsofbitco.in/ :: what a great place for an AI/person to
|
rlm@40
|
908 prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be
|
rlm@40
|
909 automated.
|
rlm@40
|
910
|
rlm@44
|
911 - true reflection :: don't forget about that mirror in the student
|
rlm@44
|
912 center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a
|
rlm@44
|
913 corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what
|
rlm@44
|
914 you actually look like, instead of your mirror image.
|
rlm@33
|
915
|
rlm@33
|
916 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote
|
rlm@32
|
917 power/logic.
|
rlm@32
|
918
|
rlm@47
|
919 - encrypted email phone book :: public (distributed?) database of
|
rlm@44
|
920 email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption.
|
rlm@32
|
921
|
rlm@44
|
922 - universal eye color :: every equivalent creature will see each
|
rlm@44
|
923 others' eyes as black -- it's universal. Even if the creatures
|
rlm@44
|
924 see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged
|
rlm@44
|
925 metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see
|
rlm@44
|
926 black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed
|
rlm@44
|
927 by the sensor array).
|
rlm@32
|
928
|
rlm@33
|
929 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields
|
rlm@83
|
930 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infrared
|
rlm@32
|
931 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,
|
rlm@32
|
932 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is
|
rlm@32
|
933 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since
|
rlm@32
|
934 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of
|
rlm@47
|
935 the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer,
|
rlm@47
|
936 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically
|
rlm@32
|
937 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much
|
rlm@47
|
938 faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with
|
rlm@32
|
939 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.
|
rlm@32
|
940
|
rlm@39
|
941 + Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would
|
rlm@39
|
942 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.
|
rlm@32
|
943
|
rlm@39
|
944 + Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods
|
rlm@39
|
945 and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been
|
rlm@54
|
946 cooked before -- it can get faster the more it's used.
|
rlm@32
|
947
|
rlm@47
|
948 - compression :: brain-aware image compression algorithm
|
rlm@32
|
949
|
rlm@44
|
950 - Credit card proxy :: would be a company which works like paypal
|
rlm@44
|
951 except for real world transactions
|
rlm@32
|
952
|
rlm@33
|
953 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete
|
rlm@33
|
954 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.
|
rlm@33
|
955
|
rlm@47
|
956 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and instead
|
rlm@47
|
957 uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank
|
rlm@33
|
958 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to
|
rlm@33
|
959 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle
|
rlm@33
|
960 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.
|
rlm@33
|
961
|
rlm@47
|
962 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically separate
|
rlm@33
|
963 fluids with different index of refraction
|
rlm@33
|
964
|
rlm@33
|
965 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy
|
rlm@33
|
966 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a
|
rlm@33
|
967 certain direction.
|
rlm@33
|
968
|
rlm@44
|
969 - silver socks :: socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial
|
rlm@44
|
970 properties.
|
rlm@32
|
971
|
rlm@53
|
972 - UROP :: magnet gear/metal teeth tape
|
rlm@53
|
973
|
rlm@82
|
974 - Rod of Moses :: device to distill urine through evaporation and
|
rlm@53
|
975 easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --
|
rlm@53
|
976 produce drinkable water.
|
rlm@32
|
977
|
rlm@47
|
978 - UROP :: Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so
|
rlm@44
|
979 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes
|
rlm@44
|
980 distance of internal magnet from windings depending on
|
rlm@44
|
981 desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency.
|
rlm@32
|
982
|
rlm@47
|
983 - lottery scraper :: web scraper which monitors various lotteries,
|
rlm@44
|
984 looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x
|
rlm@44
|
985 winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value...
|
rlm@34
|
986
|
rlm@34
|
987 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make
|
rlm@34
|
988 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.
|
rlm@34
|
989
|
rlm@44
|
990 - Conductive concrete :: concrete that has embedded metal fibers so
|
rlm@44
|
991 that it can conduct electricity.
|
rlm@34
|
992
|
rlm@44
|
993 - little bitty melting pot :: might be useful for some types of
|
rlm@44
|
994 manufacturing/3D printing -- how small can an induction melter be
|
rlm@44
|
995 made, for example.
|
rlm@34
|
996
|
rlm@44
|
997 - power strip/timer programmable combination :: meh
|
rlm@34
|
998
|
rlm@47
|
999 - algorithms :: which learn what their inputs are and in what order,
|
rlm@44
|
1000 and can adapt to changing circumstances -- they
|
rlm@44
|
1001 remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond
|
rlm@44
|
1002 to different connections.
|
rlm@34
|
1003
|
rlm@47
|
1004 - true pure tones :: hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the
|
rlm@44
|
1005 nerves of the ear
|
rlm@43
|
1006
|
rlm@43
|
1007 - mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp :: would be an object
|
rlm@43
|
1008 with two levers -- you pull on one lever and the other moves the
|
rlm@43
|
1009 same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This
|
rlm@47
|
1010 analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people.
|
rlm@34
|
1011
|
rlm@47
|
1012 - paper folding device :: make it convenient to fold lots of papers in
|
rlm@34
|
1013 various ways.
|
rlm@34
|
1014
|
rlm@34
|
1015 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.
|
rlm@34
|
1016
|
rlm@47
|
1017 - light capacitor :: suspend some ball of material with a high index
|
rlm@43
|
1018 of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would
|
rlm@43
|
1019 the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited
|
rlm@43
|
1020 quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be
|
rlm@43
|
1021 released slowly by frustrated internal reflection?
|
rlm@34
|
1022
|
rlm@40
|
1023 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. One way to
|
rlm@34
|
1024 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the
|
rlm@34
|
1025 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which
|
rlm@34
|
1026 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)
|
rlm@34
|
1027 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I
|
rlm@34
|
1028 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill
|
rlm@47
|
1029 which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their
|
rlm@34
|
1030 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their
|
rlm@34
|
1031 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!
|
rlm@34
|
1032
|
rlm@47
|
1033 - optimize an article :: capture reading of a scientific article via
|
rlm@44
|
1034 screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the
|
rlm@44
|
1035 article better. like the movie-pruning idea.
|
rlm@35
|
1036
|
rlm@44
|
1037 - super reading program :: teaches people the ideal mental mask to
|
rlm@44
|
1038 apply during reading so as to read very fast.
|
rlm@35
|
1039
|
rlm@44
|
1040 - explosive thermite epoxy putty :: one part would contain the rust,
|
rlm@47
|
1041 one part the aluminum.
|
rlm@34
|
1042
|
rlm@44
|
1043 - reading comprehension :: use the above screen capture routine to
|
rlm@44
|
1044 make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content
|
rlm@44
|
1045 you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf
|
rlm@44
|
1046 came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate
|
rlm@44
|
1047 word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help
|
rlm@44
|
1048 others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the
|
rlm@44
|
1049 interesting parts.
|
rlm@34
|
1050
|
rlm@44
|
1051 - hard sword :: make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of
|
rlm@44
|
1052 martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better
|
rlm@44
|
1053 sword.
|
rlm@32
|
1054
|
rlm@44
|
1055 - close range wireless :: use the induction technology used to
|
rlm@44
|
1056 recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data
|
rlm@44
|
1057 without any metal at all!
|
rlm@32
|
1058
|
rlm@44
|
1059 - reading :: is a form of synsethesia
|
rlm@32
|
1060
|
rlm@44
|
1061 - DNA printer :: A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into
|
rlm@44
|
1062 actual DNA
|
rlm@32
|
1063
|
rlm@44
|
1064 - black generator :: ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro
|
rlm@44
|
1065 generator to make electricity
|
rlm@32
|
1066
|
rlm@44
|
1067 - alcohol battery :: alcohol/fluid flow powered battery
|
rlm@32
|
1068
|
rlm@44
|
1069 - folding razor blade sword ::
|
rlm@32
|
1070
|
rlm@44
|
1071 - perfect pitch :: learn perfect pitch using another sense in
|
rlm@44
|
1072 combination (sight or touch)
|
rlm@32
|
1073
|
rlm@44
|
1074 - kaleidoscope projector ::
|
rlm@32
|
1075
|
rlm@44
|
1076 - razor blade de-sharpener :: for guilt free disposal
|
rlm@32
|
1077
|
rlm@44
|
1078 - bricks :: filled with luminescent plant material
|
rlm@32
|
1079
|
rlm@47
|
1080 - bio metallic structure :: metal grids with seeds inside, which grow
|
rlm@44
|
1081 together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal
|
rlm@44
|
1082 substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?)
|
rlm@44
|
1083 Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical
|
rlm@44
|
1084 interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled
|
rlm@44
|
1085 photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures.
|
rlm@32
|
1086
|
rlm@44
|
1087 - conducting extracellular matrix :: to allow better control of
|
rlm@44
|
1088 organic systems and an enhanced nervous system.
|
rlm@32
|
1089
|
rlm@44
|
1090 - cross-modal memory hashing :: a way to retrieve memories more
|
rlm@44
|
1091 robustly.
|
rlm@32
|
1092
|
rlm@47
|
1093 - flossing thimble-guards :: (these actually exist)
|
rlm@32
|
1094
|
rlm@44
|
1095 - rules + lattice learning :: integrate lattice learning with rules by
|
rlm@44
|
1096 generating hypothetical examples
|
rlm@32
|
1097
|
rlm@47
|
1098 - wooden refrigerator :: to give food a better taste Dylan: like
|
rlm@44
|
1099 barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor
|
rlm@44
|
1100 planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of
|
rlm@44
|
1101 temperature on volatility?
|
rlm@32
|
1102
|
rlm@35
|
1103 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious
|
rlm@35
|
1104 metals or something else economically advantageous.
|
rlm@32
|
1105
|
rlm@47
|
1106 - crowd preservation :: inoculate food with tons of harmless
|
rlm@44
|
1107 bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of
|
rlm@44
|
1108 preservation
|
rlm@32
|
1109
|
rlm@47
|
1110 - old school preservation :: Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon
|
rlm@47
|
1111 as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o
|
rlm@47
|
1112 refrigeration.
|
rlm@32
|
1113
|
rlm@47
|
1114 - restaurant policy :: Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter
|
rlm@44
|
1115 of course -- make ambiance much better.
|
rlm@32
|
1116
|
rlm@47
|
1117 - clean windows :: make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant
|
rlm@44
|
1118 water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it
|
rlm@44
|
1119 to clean windows of buildings.
|
rlm@32
|
1120
|
rlm@44
|
1121 - ocarina :: make an ocarina out of pure silver
|
rlm@32
|
1122
|
rlm@35
|
1123 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing
|
rlm@47
|
1124 any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the
|
rlm@35
|
1125 human's energy?
|
rlm@32
|
1126
|
rlm@44
|
1127 - website to design your own soda :: and label, and have it mailed to
|
rlm@44
|
1128 you / sell it from your own online store.
|
rlm@35
|
1129
|
rlm@44
|
1130 - solar panels :: that float on the ocean
|
rlm@43
|
1131
|
rlm@35
|
1132 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining
|
rlm@43
|
1133 people, binding them to environment, etc.
|
rlm@35
|
1134
|
rlm@35
|
1135 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify
|
rlm@35
|
1136 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe
|
rlm@35
|
1137 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech
|
rlm@43
|
1138 to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the
|
rlm@35
|
1139 wavefront encoded as a vector image.
|
rlm@32
|
1140
|
rlm@44
|
1141 - Mouse :: with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical
|
rlm@44
|
1142 scroll wheel
|
rlm@32
|
1143
|
rlm@47
|
1144 - logic maintenance system for big institutions :: to make sure the
|
rlm@44
|
1145 things they are thinking about doing are not retarded
|
rlm@32
|
1146
|
rlm@47
|
1147 - http://www.regulations.gov/ :: cool site
|
rlm@32
|
1148
|
rlm@44
|
1149 - genetically engineered glowing fruit :: sell seeds?
|
rlm@32
|
1150
|
rlm@36
|
1151 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory
|
rlm@36
|
1152 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ
|
rlm@36
|
1153 itself changes? those memories would become
|
rlm@47
|
1154 inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember
|
rlm@36
|
1155 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen
|
rlm@47
|
1156 throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from
|
rlm@36
|
1157 his childhood?
|
rlm@32
|
1158
|
rlm@47
|
1159 - make a completely indestructible phone :: no moving parts or display
|
rlm@36
|
1160 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will
|
rlm@36
|
1161 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal
|
rlm@36
|
1162 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no
|
rlm@36
|
1163 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to
|
rlm@36
|
1164 inductive charging and data transfer.
|
rlm@32
|
1165
|
rlm@44
|
1166 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program :: (online website? buy ocarinas from
|
rlm@44
|
1167 it too)
|
rlm@32
|
1168
|
rlm@44
|
1169 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) :: like the 8.03
|
rlm@44
|
1170 lecture
|
rlm@32
|
1171
|
rlm@40
|
1172 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot, throw it at something, and it
|
rlm@40
|
1173 makes sparkles!
|
rlm@32
|
1174
|
rlm@44
|
1175 - nuclear energy :: Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational
|
rlm@44
|
1176 campaign and public debate forum to enforce its
|
rlm@44
|
1177 transparent and open nature. France needn't be the
|
rlm@44
|
1178 world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan)
|
rlm@32
|
1179
|
rlm@44
|
1180 - bubbles :: Engineer a material which has both ductility and high
|
rlm@44
|
1181 surface tension to make the "third"
|
rlm@44
|
1182 minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended
|
rlm@44
|
1183 between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are
|
rlm@44
|
1184 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles,
|
rlm@44
|
1185 and a double-cone)
|
rlm@38
|
1186
|
rlm@38
|
1187 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of
|
rlm@38
|
1188 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
|
rlm@38
|
1189 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
|
rlm@38
|
1190 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
|
rlm@38
|
1191 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
|
rlm@40
|
1192 knowledge. /One./
|
rlm@40
|
1193
|
rlm@40
|
1194 ** From Jacob's idea list
|
rlm@40
|
1195
|
rlm@47
|
1196 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed
|
rlm@43
|
1197 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this
|
rlm@40
|
1198 work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from
|
rlm@40
|
1199 tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by
|
rlm@40
|
1200 receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound
|
rlm@40
|
1201 waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu
|
rlm@40
|
1202
|
rlm@40
|
1203 - ClackerAlert -- tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data
|
rlm@40
|
1204 (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e
|
rlm@40
|
1205
|
rlm@40
|
1206 - Panic Pin :: separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to
|
rlm@41
|
1207 identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards)
|