Mercurial > thoughts
diff newideas.html @ 141:94e03d638078
new ideas.
| author | Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu> |
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| date | Thu, 26 Feb 2015 17:56:46 -0800 |
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1.1 --- /dev/null Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000 1.2 +++ b/newideas.html Thu Feb 26 17:56:46 2015 -0800 1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,1409 @@ 1.4 +<html> 1.5 + 1.6 +<head> 1.7 +<style type="text/css"> 1.8 +body { 1.9 +font-size:18px; 1.10 +line-height:1.5em; 1.11 +margin:0; 1.12 +padding:3em; 1.13 +} 1.14 + 1.15 + 1.16 +.ideas { 1.17 +margin-top:4em; 1.18 +} 1.19 + 1.20 +blockquote { 1.21 +text-align:center; 1.22 +font-style:italic; 1.23 +} 1.24 +.project { 1.25 +position:relative; 1.26 +padding:0.15em; 1.27 +min-height:4em; 1.28 +} 1.29 + 1.30 +.project:nth-child(even) { 1.31 +/*background:#eee;*/ 1.32 +} 1.33 + 1.34 +.project h2 { 1.35 +position:absolute; 1.36 +top:0.15em; bottom:0; 1.37 +width:12em; 1.38 +margin:0; 1.39 +padding:0; 1.40 +text-align:right; 1.41 +text-transform:capitalize; 1.42 +font-size:1.2em; 1.43 +line-height:1.25; 1.44 +} 1.45 + 1.46 +.project .description { 1.47 +padding-left:16em; 1.48 + 1.49 +} 1.50 + 1.51 +h1 { 1.52 +font-size:3em; 1.53 +line-height:1em; 1.54 +text-align:center; 1.55 +text-transform:uppercase; 1.56 +} 1.57 + 1.58 +.header h1 { 1.59 +display:inline; 1.60 +font-size:2em; 1.61 +text-transform:none; 1.62 +} 1.63 + 1.64 + 1.65 + 1.66 +div.header { 1.67 + 1.68 +background:#0F4D92; 1.69 +color:#fff; 1.70 +position:absolute; 1.71 +top:0; 1.72 +left:0; 1.73 +right:0; 1.74 +padding:1em 3em; 1.75 +} 1.76 +body { 1.77 +padding-top:8em; 1.78 +} 1.79 + 1.80 +h1.title:before { 1.81 +content:"\2022"; 1.82 +color:#d90; 1.83 +border:0.1em double #d90; 1.84 +border:0.1em solid #d90; 1.85 + 1.86 +display:block; 1.87 +width:1em; 1.88 +height:1em; 1.89 +border-radius:100%; 1.90 +margin:0 auto; 1.91 +margin-bottom:0.5em; 1.92 + 1.93 +} 1.94 +</style> 1.95 +</head> 1.96 + 1.97 +<body> 1.98 +<div class="header"> 1.99 +<h1><em>aurellem</em>.org</h1> 1.100 +</div> 1.101 + 1.102 + 1.103 +<h1 class="title">Ideas</h1> 1.104 +<p> 1.105 +This is a list of all the ideas I've had that I felt like writing down 1.106 +for the past ~ 8 years. Some of them could be practical inventions and 1.107 +are "just" waiting the that 95% perspiration to bring them to 1.108 +fruition, some are ideas for science fiction, and some are simple 1.109 +observations. Some are really only for my own personal notes and are 1.110 +not meant to be comprehensible. They are arranged roughly in reverse 1.111 +chronological order, with the most recent ideas at the top of the 1.112 +list. The ones at the bottom of the list are heavily influenced by my 1.113 +time at MIT. 1.114 +</p> 1.115 +<p> 1.116 +If you find some of these interesting and would like to collaborate on 1.117 +them with me or discuss them in more detail, I'd love to hear from 1.118 +you. You can email me at <a href="mailto:ideas@aurellem.org">ideas@aurellem.org</a>. 1.119 +</p> 1.120 +<p> 1.121 +If you want to use one of these ideas as your own and run with it, 1.122 +please feel free. I'd love 1.123 +to <a href="mailto:ideas@aurellem.org">hear about it</a> if you do. 1.124 +</p> 1.125 +<blockquote> 1.126 + 1.127 +<p>There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about 1.128 +getting credit. 1.129 +</p> 1.130 +</blockquote> 1.131 + 1.132 +<hr/> 1.133 + 1.134 +<div class="ideas"> 1.135 +<div class="project"><h2>the great computing slow-down</h2><div class="description">In general, our computers are 1.136 + getting faster and faster. However, eventually our brains will be 1.137 + made of the same stuff our computers are made of! This has very 1.138 + interesting consequences – I can add 2+2 and get four in about a 1.139 + second. Since my neurons actually work at around 10-60 hertz in 1.140 + parallel, this means that it takes me around 10-30 operations to 1.141 + do this addition. That's actually not bad in terms of computing 1.142 + time. If my neurons were as fast as the latest transitors, then 1.143 + most calculators would be SLOWER than me at adding numbers. Only 1.144 + the newest, most optimized calculators would be faster, and then 1.145 + only about 10 times faster! This means that once we begin to 1.146 + think at the speed of our technology, that technology will 1.147 + suddenly seem pitifully slow in comparison to how it seems 1.148 + now. And no amount of technical progress will remedy it, because 1.149 + that same progress will also make us all think faster. We'll 1.150 + either have to settle with living in "slow time" to do some 1.151 + computations, or learn to make smarter hardware with special 1.152 + optimizations. But this is actually really hard, because we'll be 1.153 + working with machines that will appear to us about as fast as 1.154 + MECHANICAL computers. So, in the future, all the cool parties 1.155 + will be in cyperspace at vastly accelerated speeds compared to 1.156 + how we exist now. But at these parties, the computers will SUCK! 1.157 + Of course, this is one of the few things that can save us from AI 1.158 + risk, because those AI's won't seem so scary when the're build 1.159 + out of rickety mechanical parts form our perspective. 1.160 + 1.161 +</div></div> 1.162 +<div class="project"><h2>unitary reverse evolution of chaos+minds</h2><div class="description">Chaotic systems diverge 1.163 + exponentially in state space. Do you get anything interesting 1.164 + when part of the physical system associated with the chaotic 1.165 + system is a object that performs some sort of computation? Is it 1.166 + possible for the computational system to play a 1.167 + percision-enabling role in determining the final/initial 1.168 + conditions of the chaotic system, just by tracing out thoughts in 1.169 + its decision paths? This is probably too vague of an idea right 1.170 + now, I just wanted to write it down. 1.171 + 1.172 +</div></div> 1.173 +<div class="project"><h2>microwave time</h2><div class="description">the cooking time you enter on most microwaves is 1.174 + insane. It's expressed in what I call a "hybrid base", a 1.175 + combination of base 10 and base 60. You can get absurd things 1.176 + like 100 < 61, and 120 == 80! I wonder if these hybrid base 1.177 + systems could be very useful for some purposes! 1.178 + 1.179 +</div></div> 1.180 +<div class="project"><h2>three-eyes</h2><div class="description">if you had three eyes, would you still draw cubes like 1.181 + we currently draw them? Or would all 2D-representations of 3D 1.182 + space always look hopelessly fake? 1.183 + 1.184 +</div></div> 1.185 +<div class="project"><h2>visual taste/smell assay</h2><div class="description">get a grid of bacteria, each expressing 1.186 + a human taste/smell receptor linked to some sort of fluorscent 1.187 + activity or ion pump. Use a camera / electrical grid to transduce 1.188 + the smell / taste signal into bits! 1.189 + 1.190 +</div></div> 1.191 +<div class="project"><h2>carabiner mushroom lock</h2><div class="description">you can take a trapazodial carabiner and 1.192 + make it so that a chain link is caught between the wide end of 1.193 + the carabiner and another chain attached to the carabiner. 1.194 + 1.195 +</div></div> 1.196 +<div class="project"><h2>children's tool shop</h2><div class="description">I think that kids should be provided with 1.197 + tool shops – these would be nice sheds with a good collection of 1.198 + tools to do various things – circuit components and soldering 1.199 + irons, wires, a small lathe, drill press, belt sander, a 1.200 + centrifuge, microscope, and telescope, etc. The idea is that the 1.201 + kid can now think, "I could use X to do this thing that I'm 1.202 + thinking about" – the building becomes an extension of the kid's 1.203 + body & mind. 1.204 + 1.205 +</div></div> 1.206 +<div class="project"><h2>fluid display</h2><div class="description">like the previous idea about matching refractances 1.207 + between glass and liquid, except you make a lot of 1.208 + switchable glass tubes in various patterns in the 1.209 + glass, and actively pump colored liquid through the 1.210 + tubes (the tubes have glass-like fluid in them by 1.211 + default.) The result is that you can cause the 1.212 + tubes to appear and dissappear, and vary their 1.213 + colors as well! 1.214 + 1.215 +</div></div> 1.216 +<div class="project"><h2>immunoincompatibility</h2><div class="description">take the human genome, and refactor it so 1.217 + that it doesn't use a particular codon at all. Then remove the 1.218 + support from our ribosomes for that codon. What does this do for 1.219 + us? It makes us immune to almost all viruses! 1.220 + 1.221 +</div></div> 1.222 +<div class="project"><h2>life cycle</h2><div class="description">it's called a cycle, right? So, the thing that repeats 1.223 + itself over and over, right? Not much of a cycle if 1.224 + you don't come back after you die, if you ask me! 1.225 + 1.226 +</div></div> 1.227 +<div class="project"><h2>car with no blind spots</h2><div class="description">use some cameras in the back of the car 1.228 + to augment the rear-view mirror so that you never have to turn 1.229 + around in order to lane change. 1.230 + 1.231 +</div></div> 1.232 +<div class="project"><h2>partial cell death</h2><div class="description">you freeze a set of cells using some cryo 1.233 + protocol and 60% survive. How can this be explained? It seems to 1.234 + me that if the cells are the same, and the conditions 1.235 + homogoneous, then all the cells should either die or 1.236 + live. However, suppose that there is a metabolic cycle that needs 1.237 + to be in a certain phase for the cell to survive. If the cells 1.238 + are asynchronous, then you might end up with some cells dying 1.239 + because there were in the wrong part of their cycle. This implies 1.240 + that you might be able to cryoprotect cells by causing them to 1.241 + enter a certain metabolic mode before freezing. 1.242 + 1.243 +</div></div> 1.244 +<div class="project"><h2>cryonics color appeal</h2><div class="description">perfusate used by cryonics companies should 1.245 + have red food coloring in it. It's just a nice touch so that the 1.246 + cryonics patient looks more life-like than with clear CPAs, and 1.247 + hopefully might get treated with more respect. 1.248 + 1.249 +</div></div> 1.250 +<div class="project"><h2>paramagnetic CPA</h2><div class="description">you take a CPA that can be influenced by 1.251 + magnetic fields so that its degrees of freedom are limited. Then, 1.252 + you release the field, instantaly increasing the size of the 1.253 + state space of the system and dramatically decreasing the 1.254 + temperature enough to plunge the system past homogenous 1.255 + nucleation temperature and directly to the glass transition 1.256 + temperature, creating a doubly unstable glass at much lower CPA 1.257 + concentrations than possible at conventional CPA concentrations. 1.258 + 1.259 +</div></div> 1.260 +<div class="project"><h2>room temp noodles</h2><div class="description">how does the physics of cooking noodles work? 1.261 + Could you use a vacuum instead of heat to force water into the 1.262 + noodle? 1.263 + 1.264 +</div></div> 1.265 +<div class="project"><h2>personal carbon offset</h2><div class="description">feel bad about contribuiting to global 1.266 + warming by using electricity / driving a car? Forget trying to 1.267 + "conserve" or "minimize your carbon footprint". Follow the 1.268 + Platinum rule – make the world BETTER off than you found it! 1.269 + This would be a small, self contained system that sucks C02 out 1.270 + of the air. It uses electricity, but it's so efficient at 1.271 + removing CO2 that it more than offsets the CO2 produced by even a 1.272 + coal plant to produce that electricity. This way, you can still 1.273 + drive even a gas guzzler, but have a net negative carbon 1.274 + footprint! Maybe something cool could be done with the carbon as 1.275 + well. Use as much electricity as you want, but negate the damage 1.276 + to the enviroment with more technology. 1.277 + 1.278 +</div></div> 1.279 +<div class="project"><h2>undoing spermogenesis</h2><div class="description">with enough sperm, you can derive the 1.280 + donor's entire genome. You gain more confidence in the alleles 1.281 + for a particular gene the more sperm you have. Each additional 1.282 + sperm gives you the same sort of information you'd get flipping a 1.283 + coin and trying to decide whether the coin is H/T of H/H. Is 1.284 + there enough sperm in the the average load for you to be as 1.285 + confident as mitosis? 1.286 + 1.287 +</div></div> 1.288 +<div class="project"><h2>mars life</h2><div class="description">we could engineer life that could survive on mars 1.289 + (probably some non-vascular photosynthetic 1.290 + poikilohydric creature like a lichen) by taking an 1.291 + extremophile from Antarctica and evolving it in 1.292 + increasingly Martian conditions. This could be an easy 1.293 + start to a terraforming process. 1.294 + 1.295 +</div></div> 1.296 +<div class="project"><h2>problem with Aubrey de Grey's ideas</h2><div class="description">Aubrey de Grey says that we 1.297 + might be able to live forever by continually repairing our bodies 1.298 + at the cellular level – he details 7 different mechanisms of 1.299 + damage and says that if all of them are dealt with <i>together</i> 1.300 + that it would stop aging. (You can't miss even one because 1.301 + they're all fatal.) However, it doesn't take into account that 1.302 + we are also beings of information and that there is a very real 1.303 + software component to our existence. Even if our biological 1.304 + chassies can be maintained forever, I think it is unlikely that 1.305 + our minds will operate well far outside of the design constraints 1.306 + that we've evolved to handle. Say I programmed a webserver with 1.307 + the express goal of it being able to serve webpages for month on 1.308 + some stock server. I'll do fairly rigorous testing to make sure 1.309 + that it can handle the expected load then then some. Now say that 1.310 + you want to keep a particular instance of this webserver running 1.311 + indefinitely. (The program instance is like your mind and the 1.312 + computer it's running on is like your body). You might very well 1.313 + be able to keep the physical computer infrastructure running for 1.314 + forever by replacing hard drives / ram / CPUs, etc. However, 1.315 + since I designed the webserver to work for a month, it probably 1.316 + has memory leaks, rare stochastic bugs, or other built in limits 1.317 + / constraints (think log files or some date rollover shenanigans) 1.318 + that will ultimately kill the webserver even with eternally 1.319 + perfect hardware. Do you really expect that a webserver 1.320 + engineered to work for 1 month will run for 10 years without 1.321 + catastrophically crashing? Not even Apache can do this! In fact, 1.322 + if I put in the extreme effort to make it that robust, I've 1.323 + wasted time that I could have spent on other projects by pursuing 1.324 + an unnecessary engineering goal. Likewise, human minds have only 1.325 + ever run for at most 122 years before they are destroyed due to 1.326 + hardware degradation. Fixing the hardware doesn't change any 1.327 + software bugs that are almost certainly present in the human 1.328 + mind. Think of all the pathological things that can go wrong with 1.329 + a webserver, multiply it by a million, and that likely how 1.330 + evolution has designed our minds. For example, consider memory : 1.331 + why should you expect that we have evolved the ability to 1.332 + coherently organize memories past say 150 years? There's been 1.333 + absolutely no selective pressure for this ability, so you can bet 1.334 + that if there's any fitness to be gained from not having 1.335 + unlimited memory potential (such as better metabolic efficiency), 1.336 + we have it! You might think that maybe we would just forget 1.337 + things the same way that we sort of forget things that happen 1.338 + earlier in our lives, but complicated information processing 1.339 + systems don't have to fail gracefully when they're pushed far 1.340 + past their design constraints. A 150 year old person is just as 1.341 + likely to suffer a catastrophic psychosis due to software 1.342 + limitations associated with memory as he is to do something with 1.343 + all those memories we might consider reasonable. More likely, in 1.344 + fact, since there are so very many ways for a complicated 1.345 + software system to break and so few ways for it to run 1.346 + successfully. Therefore, I think Aubrey de Grey's "hardware-only" 1.347 + approach is missing a very important component of longevity 1.348 + science, and any successful effort to make people live orders of 1.349 + magnitude longer than they do naturally will need to deal with 1.350 + people's software as well as their hardware. 1.351 + 1.352 +</div></div> 1.353 +<div class="project"><h2>validating neurocryopreservation</h2><div class="description">Problem : you want to test 1.354 + whether a brain is functionally preserved through vitrification, 1.355 + but you don't want to figure out how to preserve all the other 1.356 + organs in the animal. It might be possible to keep the rest of 1.357 + the body at almost 0C and vitrify just the head for only a few 1.358 + minutes. Induce hypothermia, then separate out the head's blood 1.359 + supply from the rest of the body, then just cryoptotect and 1.360 + vitrify the head. Might need some sort of thermal guard to keep 1.361 + the outer head / neck from becoming too cold. You leave the 1.362 + spinal cord intact! Then you devitrify to 0C, remove 1.363 + cryoprotectant, and then reattach the blood supply. You can 1.364 + determine brain preservation using behavioral assays! 1.365 + 1.366 +</div></div> 1.367 +<div class="project"><h2>freezing water purifier</h2><div class="description">you slowly freeze water, but also run 1.368 + liquid water over the frozen mass. This takes away basically all 1.369 + impurities and creates "washed ice" then you melt the ice. Maybe 1.370 + you could re-use the heat from creating the ice to melt the ice? 1.371 + 1.372 +</div></div> 1.373 +<div class="project"><h2>ultra strength</h2><div class="description">allow a person to visualize their muscle 1.374 + recruitment patterns. Give them adrenaline and let 1.375 + them feel what it's like to have the normal limits 1.376 + removed. See if they can replicate the effects. 1.377 + 1.378 +</div></div> 1.379 +<div class="project"><h2>phone names</h2><div class="description">make a PX record for domain names that's like the MX 1.380 + record, except that it is a phone number instead of 1.381 + an IP address. That way, you can use the domain name 1.382 + registration system to provide names for phone 1.383 + numbers. Then, as long as you control the domain, you 1.384 + can point people to your current phone number by 1.385 + updating that record. 1.386 + 1.387 +</div></div> 1.388 +<div class="project"><h2>edible flowers</h2><div class="description">Edible white flowers that you put in a colored 1.389 + solution with flavor. When the flower turns the 1.390 + right color, it is also flavored and ready to eat! 1.391 + 1.392 +</div></div> 1.393 +<div class="project"><h2>suicide cryonics</h2><div class="description">according to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html">this</a>, people who commit impulsive 1.394 + suicides have a newfound sense of the importance of life. Perhaps 1.395 + they are good cryonics targets. 1.396 + 1.397 +</div></div> 1.398 +<div class="project"><h2>lead bone</h2><div class="description">Could you fill in all the empty spaces in a bone with 1.399 + lead? Might be cool. 1.400 + 1.401 +</div></div> 1.402 +<div class="project"><h2>the quest for life </h2><div class="description">Every stupid story has the "immortal who 1.403 + wants to become mortal" or some other such idea. I want to story 1.404 + where the protagonist loses their immortality and feels <i>angry</i> 1.405 + and ashamed about losing something that's so absolutely crucial 1.406 + to their identity. A reverse of "death makes life worth living", 1.407 + they feel that living forever is what makes life worth 1.408 + living. Now they've "lost their sunrise" or their "connection to 1.409 + the timeless universe" or something. So they go on a quest to get 1.410 + it back, learning about themselves along the way, and regaining 1.411 + the precious thing they lost in the beginning. 1.412 + 1.413 +</div></div> 1.414 +<div class="project"><h2>world-map</h2><div class="description">take a small table and paint the continents in 1.415 + toothpaste on the table. Make a slightly raised barrier 1.416 + around the table. Slowly pour water onto the table, and 1.417 + it will form the oceans! 1.418 + 1.419 +</div></div> 1.420 +<div class="project"><h2>stage magic rituals</h2><div class="description">rituals should incorporate elements of stage 1.421 + magic. Foe example in Teller's tempest, they have a scene where 1.422 + they levitate a crown in front of someone, then put it on his 1.423 + head. They also have a wedding ceremony where they levitated the 1.424 + bride as well. Actual weddings and other ceremonies should 1.425 + incorporate stage magic as an enhancement. 1.426 + 1.427 +</div></div> 1.428 +<div class="project"><h2>isotope time dilation</h2><div class="description">use a cyclotron to speed up rare isotopes 1.429 + developed in nuclear fusion experiments. The relativistic time 1.430 + dilation will stop the isotopes from decaying, and allow time to 1.431 + study them. This is based on radioactive isotopes that fall 1.432 + through the earth's atmosphere that take hundreds of times 1.433 + longer to decay than normal. 1.434 + 1.435 +</div></div> 1.436 +<div class="project"><h2>marsupial stimulation</h2><div class="description">You take a freshly pouched marsupial baby, 1.437 + and show it videos and other interactive things while it matures 1.438 + in the pouch. What mental effects would this have? 1.439 + 1.440 +</div></div> 1.441 +<div class="project"><h2>dynamic re-keying</h2><div class="description">Some older ways of tuning instruments sound 1.442 + better, but we use the even-tempered scale today because it makes 1.443 + it easier to switch keys. With electronic music, why not make 1.444 + key-annotations and dynamically re-tune the piece to sound good 1.445 + in the current key? Could be done as a midi+annotation -> midi 1.446 + compiler for experimentation. 1.447 + 1.448 +</div></div> 1.449 +<div class="project"><h2>death always implies damage</h2><div class="description">is is possible for a corpse to differ 1.450 + from a living person only in the fact that one is dead and the 1.451 + other is alive? NO! A corpse must always have some sort of 1.452 + molecular damage which causes the loss of function! 1.453 + 1.454 +</div></div> 1.455 +<div class="project"><h2>inner eye</h2><div class="description">Surgically install a bunch of tiny cameras inside a 1.456 + person. Then, you can activate them all and get a 1.457 + picture of your internal organs for diagnostic 1.458 + purposes. 1.459 + 1.460 +</div></div> 1.461 +<div class="project"><h2>chaos rails</h2><div class="description">should make a visualization of the homoclinic tangle, 1.462 + it's truly beautiful. 1.463 + 1.464 +</div></div> 1.465 +<div class="project"><h2>context gobbler</h2><div class="description">this would be in "inside-out macro" that takes 1.466 + the context (like you use for things like error, continuations, 1.467 + and friends) and transforms it to something else. Maybe useful? 1.468 + 1.469 +</div></div> 1.470 +<div class="project"><h2>cryonics middle ages</h2><div class="description">some people say that cryonics is an 1.471 + experiment and that it is foolish to wait until we have revived a 1.472 + human. There is a middle ground where the procedure has a dismal 1.473 + success rate on humans, say 1 in 20, so that you'd be a fool to 1.474 + try revival. Nonetheless, this very risky procedure could be the 1.475 + legal proof of concept needed to create a new class of life 1.476 + between "living" and "dead": "stasis". 1.477 + 1.478 +</div></div> 1.479 +<div class="project"><h2>philosophy of the mirror</h2><div class="description">neat thought experiment – if you take a 1.480 + mirror of someone by actually reversing a person's chirality 1.481 + molecule by molecule, then will the only be able to read mirror 1.482 + writing? The answer is yes, by analogy to a purely mechanical 1.483 + scan-tron device. This is one of the only interesting transforms I 1.484 + know that can take a human brain and change it in subtle, 1.485 + non-destructive ways. It's also an argument against dualism. 1.486 + 1.487 +</div></div> 1.488 +<div class="project"><h2>biosphere in a bottle</h2><div class="description">There are around 15 million species. 15 1.489 + million stem cells will fill only a tiny size, far less than a cubic 1.490 + inch. Preserve a single cell from every species on earth in this 1.491 + small space, and you will have a record of our current biosphere 1.492 + that can be protected. "Hold the genetic data of all species in 1.493 + your hand!" 1.494 + 1.495 +</div></div> 1.496 +<div class="project"><h2>chaos lock</h2><div class="description">The "arrow of time" points in the direction of 1.497 + increasing entropy. The time evolution of chaotic 1.498 + systems depend exquisitely on their initial state. If 1.499 + you take a measurement of a chaotic system at any 1.500 + given point of time, you can evolve that system 1.501 + backwards or forwards based on your measurement. So 1.502 + let's say you start the chaotic system in a VERY low 1.503 + entropy state, then let it run for a while, then take 1.504 + a measurement with some uncertainty. Your 1.505 + measurement is pretty good, but obviously not 1.506 + PERFECT. If you evolve the chaotic system back in 1.507 + time, then you will see that you don't really reach 1.508 + a state with low entropy an hour before (the entropy 1.509 + is easy to measure with surrogates like alignment, 1.510 + etc). So use this technique to SEARCH for a more 1.511 + accurate measurement! This potentially can give you 1.512 + many more orders of magnitude than you could get alone 1.513 + just using an instrument. Sometimes it will give you 1.514 + bad results, the the odds of it doing that are 1.515 + infinitesimal, and you can just measure a couple of 1.516 + times. 1.517 + 1.518 +</div></div> 1.519 +<div class="project"><h2>cryo-evolution</h2><div class="description">perhaps there would be a way to rapidly evolve a 1.520 + symbiotic bacterial organism that could protect 1.521 + human tissues from freezing damage. 1.522 + 1.523 +</div></div> 1.524 +<div class="project"><h2>suicide parasite</h2><div class="description">sometimes, people kill themselves for no good 1.525 + reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden 1.526 + depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or 1.527 + back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy 1.528 + it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that 1.529 + causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain 1.530 + parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even 1.531 + mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a 1.532 + parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems: 1.533 + 1.534 +<dl><dt>What does the suicide parasite get out of it?</dt> 1.535 +<dd>This might be answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way. 1.536 +</dd> 1.537 +<dt>What predictions does a disease model make</dt><dd>suicide should 1.538 + be more common among people who share a contagion 1.539 + vector. There should be suicides that don't make any 1.540 + sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no 1.541 + reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves 1.542 + should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in 1.543 + their brains. 1.544 + 1.545 +</dd> 1.546 +</dl> 1.547 +</div> 1.548 + 1.549 +</div></div> 1.550 +<div class="project"><h2>domestic insects</h2><div class="description">People should eat more bugs because they're much 1.551 + more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research 1.552 + to make very appealing bugs? Beetles, in particular, seem to be 1.553 + excellent targets for domestication because they have extreme 1.554 + levels of genetic malleability. 1.555 + 1.556 +</div></div> 1.557 +<div class="project"><h2>birth-clones</h2><div class="description">What if each person was intentionally split at birth 1.558 + into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which 1.559 + is then frozen. The backup cells are created just 1.560 + the same way as natural identical twins. The backups 1.561 + can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it 1.562 + would be a good sci fi concept, because you could 1.563 + have a culture where people reward people who were 1.564 + especially awesome are "reborn" from their 1.565 + backups. Imagine having a young Bach every 1.566 + generation, etc. 1.567 + 1.568 +</div></div> 1.569 +<div class="project"><h2>pronunciation guide</h2><div class="description">a simple webpage where you type in a word and 1.570 + it returns a simple, English sentence describing exactly how to 1.571 + pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA. 1.572 + 1.573 +</div></div> 1.574 +<div class="project"><h2>cortex-search</h2><div class="description">use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the 1.575 + search space of possible actions. 1.576 + 1.577 +</div></div> 1.578 +<div class="project"><h2>learning to teleport</h2><div class="description">scifi idea, this is a story about a person 1.579 + who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about 1.580 + teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a 1.581 + member of that society (after all, the difference between animals 1.582 + and humans is that humans are creatures of pure information while 1.583 + animals are burdened with base matter, "that's how you travel the 1.584 + stars, etc") Humans are born normally, grow up, and then 1.585 + eventually transcend via destructive upload. Analogies to jumping 1.586 + off a diving board into a pool (which I simply <i>could not do</i> for 1.587 + a long time), etc. 1.588 + 1.589 +</div></div> 1.590 +<div class="project"><h2>no-float-ice</h2><div class="description">cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice 1.591 + forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass, 1.592 + the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your 1.593 + lips. For bars and fancy things. 1.594 + 1.595 +</div></div> 1.596 +<div class="project"><h2>bitcoins for immigrants</h2><div class="description">A common case with Mexican immigrants 1.597 + (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned 1.598 + in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this 1.599 + through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get 1.600 + fleeced in the process with fees. Bitcoin could greatly reduce 1.601 + the cost of sending money from America to Mexico, but I don't 1.602 + believe that it's currently used for that among Mexican 1.603 + immigrants currently due to lack of knowledge. I bet you could 1.604 + set up physical locations like those obnoxious Western Union huts 1.605 + in places like Texas, Arizona, etc, and greatly undercut 1.606 + them. Or, perhaps some educational seminars about bitcoin might 1.607 + be in order. There's some money to be made there because there is 1.608 + great demand, and it's a good thing to boot! 1.609 + 1.610 +</div></div> 1.611 +<div class="project"><h2>reverse eye-tracking</h2><div class="description">A painting that is actually a digital screen 1.612 + with a camera. It records people's eye tracks permanently. It's 1.613 + "artistic" because paintings are normally these things that you 1.614 + look at without changing, but this one is changed the second you 1.615 + look at it, recording where <i>you</i> looked forever for others to 1.616 + see. Make it be a painting of a woman and see the trolling as the 1.617 + breasts and groin area light up with interest from all the males 1.618 + passing by. 1.619 + 1.620 +</div></div> 1.621 +<div class="project"><h2>smart toilets</h2><div class="description">Instead of using indirect measures like infrared 1.622 + detectors of the presence of a person, use computer 1.623 + vision to directly measure whether the toilet needs 1.624 + to be flushed. I think a lot of things will end up 1.625 + going this way as we get better computer vision. 1.626 + 1.627 +</div></div> 1.628 +<div class="project"><h2>validate chemopreservation</h2><div class="description">chemopreservation is difficult to 1.629 + validate because it destroys the functionality of a brain, and 1.630 + brain simulation will take a long time to mature as a 1.631 + technology. However, one very powerful way to validate 1.632 + chemopreservation would be to have a person/animal learn 1.633 + something with high complexity such as a number or the solution 1.634 + to a maze, or a flashbulb memory. Then you preserve their brain 1.635 + chemically, slice it up, and read <i>that specific memory</i> from the 1.636 + detailed brain scan. Much more difficult, but much more doable. 1.637 + 1.638 +</div></div> 1.639 +<div class="project"><h2>candy screw</h2><div class="description">edible candy screw with candy nuts that you can screw 1.640 + as well. 1.641 + 1.642 +</div></div> 1.643 +<div class="project"><h2>better bibliography</h2><div class="description">when writing a thesis or paper, have the 1.644 + bibliography not just be an opaque list of resources, but have it 1.645 + be a list of <i>summaries</i> and <i>qualities</i> that each paper has in 1.646 + the context of the paper being written. When examining a 1.647 + bibliography, I want to know if reading the papers in the 1.648 + bibliography are worth my time, and I also am probably also 1.649 + interested in exactly the things that are being discussed in the 1.650 + paper I'm reading. The bibliography is the perfect place to 1.651 + provide information about the referenced papers from the 1.652 + author's perspective. I will use this biographic form in my own 1.653 + thesis. 1.654 + 1.655 +</div></div> 1.656 +<div class="project"><h2>digital inter-library loan</h2><div class="description">libraries at universities already do 1.657 + inter-library loans for books, so why not do the same for access 1.658 + to stupid paywalled digital papers? All the universities could 1.659 + allow access to articles for registered students to all the files 1.660 + available through any participating university. This could be 1.661 + achieved by sending requests through proxies at participating 1.662 + universities. Each university would decide who at the university 1.663 + can access the proxy network. Access to the proxy network could 1.664 + be made easy using something like <a href="http://libx.org/">http://libx.org/</a>. 1.665 + 1.666 +</div></div> 1.667 +<div class="project"><h2>chess visual</h2><div class="description">to show the vast size of the game trees considered 1.668 + by computers, show two people playing chess in a 1.669 + void. They are floating in space, and there is a 1.670 + simple chess board between them. Then, as they play, 1.671 + the game tree's they are considering are drawn 1.672 + behind him. The root of the tree starts centered in 1.673 + their heads or whatever they use to think, and the 1.674 + tree grows out from behind, never crossing the 1.675 + dividing plane between the two players. Each 1.676 + player's tree is a different color. As they grow, 1.677 + there are animations for pruning, etc. Eventually, 1.678 + they look like the hemispheres of a brain, wings, 1.679 + etc. A human's tree might occasionally have a long 1.680 + chain, while the computer tree would be more 1.681 + uniform. You could compare deep blue and a modern 1.682 + laptop. Use actual data when fighting two computers! 1.683 + 1.684 +</div></div> 1.685 +<div class="project"><h2>time verification</h2><div class="description">some standard way to verify that some piece of 1.686 + data was recorded at a specific time. Might involve a time 1.687 + server, a key for each time period, something like that. 1.688 + 1.689 +</div></div> 1.690 +<div class="project"><h2>tamper proof gold bars</h2><div class="description"><a href="http://www.tungsten-alloy.com/gold-plated-tungsten-alloy-bar.html">this site</a> offers gold plated tungsten bars 1.691 + as "novelty" items. One reason to prefer coins is because they 1.692 + are much harder to counterfeit because there is less surface area 1.693 + to mass ratio. However, gold bars are still a great design 1.694 + because they can hold a lot of value in a small space. A gold bar 1.695 + could be given the same protections (and more) that gold coins 1.696 + have to offer by changing it into a "gold book", which would have 1.697 + hundreds of "pages" of gold bound together. This could be 1.698 + implemented with multiple steel rods going through the book which 1.699 + can be removed, or some more classier mechanism for holding the 1.700 + pages. The point is that the bar can be EASILY subdivided (and 1.701 + people would perform this test before buying), thus guaranteeing 1.702 + it's authenticity. 1.703 + 1.704 +</div></div> 1.705 +<div class="project"><h2>aurellem shirt</h2><div class="description">I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt. 1.706 + 1.707 +</div></div> 1.708 +<div class="project"><h2>touch vision</h2><div class="description">inspired by GelSight, I want to reexamine cortex and 1.709 + see if I could implement touch as a very low range 1.710 + form of vision. 1.711 + 1.712 +</div></div> 1.713 +<div class="project"><h2>high school science</h2><div class="description">this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The 1.714 + goal is to calculate <i>g</i>, the local gravitational 1.715 + acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's 1.716 + <i>exactly</i> 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they 1.717 + doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's 1.718 + neat because for any given school, <i>g</i> is probably <b>not</b> exactly 1.719 + equal to 9.81, because that is just an average! 1.720 + 1.721 +</div></div> 1.722 +<div class="project"><h2>opencourseware subtitles</h2><div class="description">there are ladies who type up lectures 1.723 + while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and 1.724 + given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are 1.725 + recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles. 1.726 + 1.727 +</div></div> 1.728 +<div class="project"><h2>screen locking timing</h2><div class="description">you use your computer camera to see if you 1.729 + are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen 1.730 + will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a 1.731 + 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to 1.732 + initiate the countdown, just with more information. 1.733 + 1.734 +</div></div> 1.735 +<div class="project"><h2>mirror toilet</h2><div class="description">a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead 1.736 + or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a 1.737 + wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion 1.738 + system works. 1.739 + 1.740 +</div></div> 1.741 +<div class="project"><h2>test dummies</h2><div class="description">why don't we clone anencephalic humans and use then to 1.742 + test <i>in vivo</i> human organ systems and drugs? It 1.743 + would be ethical as long as there are women who are 1.744 + willing to host the clones, and it would be a 1.745 + tremendous resource for studying the human body. I 1.746 + see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is 1.747 + suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout 1.748 + more advanced technology. 1.749 + 1.750 +</div></div> 1.751 +<div class="project"><h2>X-ray telepresence</h2><div class="description">given that a doctor is operating on a patient 1.752 + via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into 1.753 + the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system 1.754 + was coupled with a Bayesian model of the layout of the structure, 1.755 + and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the 1.756 + model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage 1.757 + and surgery risk could be minimized. 1.758 + 1.759 +</div></div> 1.760 +<div class="project"><h2>superfluid vascular system</h2><div class="description">I wonder what would happen if you 1.761 + replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the 1.762 + physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the 1.763 + vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells, 1.764 + or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to 1.765 + retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during 1.766 + perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses 1.767 + superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by 1.768 + superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to 1.769 + simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid 1.770 + instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human. 1.771 + 1.772 +</div></div> 1.773 +<div class="project"><h2>projective guessing</h2><div class="description">I think that we read and see things by 1.774 + making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see, 1.775 + and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really 1.776 + doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the 1.777 + image from first principles, but most stuff is projective 1.778 + guessing. 1.779 + 1.780 +</div></div> 1.781 +<div class="project"><h2>Intestinal flora maintenance</h2><div class="description">why not inoculate babies at birth 1.782 + with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they 1.783 + naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient 1.784 + extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts 1.785 + not stink for life, too. MORE IMPORTANTLY, might help to 1.786 + preventatively stop some forms of <i>colic</i>, which affects 1 in 5 1.787 + babies and causes constant screaming and pain for about 5 weeks. 1.788 + 1.789 +</div></div> 1.790 +<div class="project"><h2>server culture : mirrors</h2><div class="description">make a distributed system where people 1.791 + can mirror the websites of people they like – essentially cover 1.792 + the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular 1.793 + websites run at no cost. The system would require that the 1.794 + mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like 1.795 + bit-torrent for websites. 1.796 + 1.797 +</div></div> 1.798 +<div class="project"><h2>map programming</h2><div class="description">one problem with functional programming is that 1.799 + in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up 1.800 + into each calling function to get the full range of behavior 1.801 + from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a 1.802 + compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic 1.803 + variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the 1.804 + advantages of making a programming language where every function 1.805 + receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol 1.806 + bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all 1.807 + subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on 1.808 + the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults, 1.809 + etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea. 1.810 + 1.811 +</div></div> 1.812 +<div class="project"><h2>rest nest</h2><div class="description">a small EEG device you would attach to your head when 1.813 + you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine 1.814 + your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an 1.815 + alarm clock that you could give a time range, say 1.816 + 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an 1.817 + ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90 1.818 + min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon 1.819 + waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be 1.820 + some other uses for the EEG data as well. 1.821 + 1.822 +</div></div> 1.823 +<div class="project"><h2>image compression</h2><div class="description">use a library like gimp or opencv to process an 1.824 + image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of 1.825 + those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a 1.826 + super-compressed image file (possibly accepting some 1.827 + losses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one 1.828 + to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the 1.829 + image. 1.830 + 1.831 +</div></div> 1.832 +<div class="project"><h2>fixed cryopreservation</h2><div class="description">why not use a fixative to buy enough time 1.833 + to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room 1.834 + temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and 1.835 + vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the 1.836 + fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures 1.837 + do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage. 1.838 + 1.839 +</div></div> 1.840 +<div class="project"><h2>dilated security camera</h2><div class="description">a security camera that would capture 1.841 + full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep 1.842 + only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something 1.843 + "interesting" happening. 1.844 + 1.845 +</div></div> 1.846 +<div class="project"><h2>bitcoin wallet</h2><div class="description">Part of "server culture", this would be something 1.847 + like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as 1.848 + your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins 1.849 + from anywhere. 1.850 + 1.851 +</div></div> 1.852 +<div class="project"><h2>libpay</h2><div class="description">this would be a free library which would enable 1.853 + micro-donations to software projects and other projects, 1.854 + so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would 1.855 + be automatically split up to every person who has ever 1.856 + contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of 1.857 + community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the 1.858 + community decides. This might make it possible for 1.859 + programmers to live entirely off of free programming. 1.860 + 1.861 +</div></div> 1.862 +<div class="project"><h2>distributed graphics</h2><div class="description">Browser based graphics-card accelerated 1.863 + distributed computing API. 1.864 + 1.865 +</div></div> 1.866 +<div class="project"><h2>pronouns</h2><div class="description">use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve 1.867 + pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to 1.868 + say, and you can encode useful information into the 1.869 + choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings 1.870 + shall be presided over by the president, unless she is 1.871 + absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the 1.872 + president, unless P is absent." We already use this a 1.873 + little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and 1.874 + object respectively. 1.875 + 1.876 +</div></div> 1.877 +<div class="project"><h2>phone DSP</h2><div class="description">software app that inserts an audio DSP between the 1.878 + input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious 1.879 + and configurable, and can allow men to make their 1.880 + voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear 1.881 + your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how 1.882 + their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to 1.883 + immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good 1.884 + presets. 1.885 + 1.886 +</div></div> 1.887 +<div class="project"><h2>predestined body learning</h2><div class="description">a good example of predestined learning 1.888 + might be the mirror neurons. 1.889 + 1.890 +</div></div> 1.891 +<div class="project"><h2>restaurant receipt</h2><div class="description">use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid 1.892 + copies. 1.893 + 1.894 +</div></div> 1.895 +<div class="project"><h2>anti google glass</h2><div class="description">glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision 1.896 + that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them. 1.897 + 1.898 +</div></div> 1.899 +<div class="project"><h2>wearable towel</h2><div class="description">towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows 1.900 + one to wear the towel more securely than just 1.901 + wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best. 1.902 + 1.903 +</div></div> 1.904 +<div class="project"><h2>crossdressing</h2><div class="description">Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to 1.905 + wear a burka. 1.906 + 1.907 +</div></div> 1.908 +<div class="project"><h2>book-mode</h2><div class="description">intelligent color highlighting for books and 1.909 + articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved 1.910 + references. For example, if "Rachael" was assigned the 1.911 + color red, and "the blonde haired girl" refers to 1.912 + "Rachael", then "the blonde haired girl" would be 1.913 + colored red. Also, you could disambiguate multi part 1.914 + run-on sentences by highlighting each 1.915 + subcomponent. Maybe would also have applications to 1.916 + scientific reading. 1.917 + 1.918 +</div></div> 1.919 +<div class="project"><h2>Handheld light Rain measurement</h2><div class="description">this would be a clear, teflon 1.920 + coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would 1.921 + be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of 1.922 + accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by 1.923 + using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops. 1.924 + 1.925 +</div></div> 1.926 +<div class="project"><h2>Big Brother Farming</h2><div class="description">This would be a vision system that would 1.927 + individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure 1.928 + maximum/uniform growth for each plant. 1.929 + 1.930 +</div></div> 1.931 +<div class="project"><h2>Discrete Faucet</h2><div class="description">A faucet with discrete ticks instead of 1.932 + continuous. 1.933 + 1.934 +</div></div> 1.935 +<div class="project"><h2>Laser Circle</h2><div class="description">take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one 1.936 + end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect, 1.937 + large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam 1.938 + into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of 1.939 + the laser. 1.940 + 1.941 +</div></div> 1.942 +<div class="project"><h2>Invisible Glass</h2><div class="description">Take a container of liquid and embed a 1.943 + glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index 1.944 + of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be 1.945 + totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed 1.946 + when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy 1.947 + wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass. 1.948 + 1.949 +</div></div> 1.950 +<div class="project"><h2>Caterpillar people</h2><div class="description">A race of caterpillar like creatures gains 1.951 + intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These 1.952 + caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large 1.953 + butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the 1.954 + caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal, 1.955 + dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person 1.956 + the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and 1.957 + religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as 1.958 + good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and 1.959 + necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can 1.960 + mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person 1.961 + because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the 1.962 + memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the 1.963 + butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the 1.964 + butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big 1.965 + deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is 1.966 + actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible 1.967 + tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the 1.968 + metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important 1.969 + members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to 1.970 + prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves. 1.971 + 1.972 +<p> 1.973 + This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being 1.974 + something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds, 1.975 + something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that 1.976 + hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains 1.977 + now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic 1.978 + legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a 1.979 + compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second 1.980 + gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes 1.981 + homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of 1.982 + pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the 1.983 + lens of the the caterpillar people. 1.984 +</p> 1.985 +</div></div> 1.986 +<div class="project"><h2>relationships as a business</h2><div class="description"><a href="http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx">Turnover-Crisis</a> is an excellent talk 1.987 + about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business 1.988 + by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their 1.989 + "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni 1.990 + network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied 1.991 + ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might 1.992 + consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with 1.993 + new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and 1.994 + how they worked out. 1.995 + 1.996 +</div></div> 1.997 +<div class="project"><h2>coffee with tea</h2><div class="description"><i>rlm-tea</i> contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20% 1.998 + dylan coffee. <i>dylan coffee</i> contains 5% sugar, 1.999 + 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings 1.1000 + with recursion! 1.1001 + 1.1002 +</div></div> 1.1003 +<div class="project"><h2>psychic crystal</h2><div class="description">in a science fiction story, this would be an 1.1004 + object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely 1.1005 + difficult to move with telekinesis. 1.1006 + 1.1007 +</div></div> 1.1008 +<div class="project"><h2><a href="http://betsofbitco.in/">http://betsofbitco.in/</a></h2><div class="description">what a great place for an AI/person to 1.1009 + prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be 1.1010 + automated. 1.1011 + 1.1012 +</div></div> 1.1013 +<div class="project"><h2>true reflection</h2><div class="description">don't forget about that mirror in the student 1.1014 + center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a 1.1015 + corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what 1.1016 + you actually look like, instead of your mirror image. 1.1017 + 1.1018 +</div></div> 1.1019 +<div class="project"><h2>remote control wasp</h2><div class="description">use computer to drive wings with remote 1.1020 + power/logic. 1.1021 + 1.1022 +</div></div> 1.1023 +<div class="project"><h2>encrypted email phone book</h2><div class="description">public (distributed?) database of 1.1024 + email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption. 1.1025 + 1.1026 +</div></div> 1.1027 +<div class="project"><h2>universal eye color</h2><div class="description">every equivalent creature will see each 1.1028 + others' eyes as black – it's universal. Even if the creatures 1.1029 + see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged 1.1030 + metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see 1.1031 + black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed 1.1032 + by the sensor array). 1.1033 + 1.1034 +</div></div> 1.1035 +<div class="project"><h2>intelligent microwave</h2><div class="description">it learns where the hot nodes of its fields 1.1036 + are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infrared 1.1037 + camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way, 1.1038 + you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is 1.1039 + still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since 1.1040 + the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of 1.1041 + the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer, 1.1042 + just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically 1.1043 + defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much 1.1044 + faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with 1.1045 + heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too. 1.1046 + 1.1047 +<ul> 1.1048 +<li>Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would 1.1049 + "sputter" and splash liquid much less. 1.1050 + 1.1051 +</li> 1.1052 +<li>Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods 1.1053 + and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been 1.1054 + cooked before – it can get faster the more it's used. 1.1055 + 1.1056 +</li> 1.1057 +</ul> 1.1058 + 1.1059 +</div></div> 1.1060 +<div class="project"><h2>compression</h2><div class="description">brain-aware image compression algorithm 1.1061 + 1.1062 +</div></div> 1.1063 +<div class="project"><h2>Credit card proxy</h2><div class="description">would be a company which works like paypal 1.1064 + except for real world transactions 1.1065 + 1.1066 +</div></div> 1.1067 +<div class="project"><h2>Flesh pillow</h2><div class="description">a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete 1.1068 + with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat. 1.1069 + 1.1070 +</div></div> 1.1071 +<div class="project"><h2>super screw</h2><div class="description">a screw which has only one or two threads and instead 1.1072 + uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank 1.1073 + of the screw is split into multiple pieces to 1.1074 + accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle 1.1075 + bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in. 1.1076 + 1.1077 +</div></div> 1.1078 +<div class="project"><h2>light filter</h2><div class="description">(like light tweezers) to mechanically separate 1.1079 + fluids with different index of refraction 1.1080 + 1.1081 +</div></div> 1.1082 +<div class="project"><h2>chalk eraser project</h2><div class="description">maybe make a directional eraser, for easy 1.1083 + release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a 1.1084 + certain direction. 1.1085 + 1.1086 +</div></div> 1.1087 +<div class="project"><h2>silver socks</h2><div class="description">socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial 1.1088 + properties. 1.1089 + 1.1090 +</div></div> 1.1091 +<div class="project"><h2>UROP</h2><div class="description">magnet gear/metal teeth tape 1.1092 + 1.1093 +</div></div> 1.1094 +<div class="project"><h2>Rod of Moses</h2><div class="description">device to distill urine through evaporation and 1.1095 + easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert -- 1.1096 + produce drinkable water. 1.1097 + 1.1098 +</div></div> 1.1099 +<div class="project"><h2>UROP</h2><div class="description">Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so 1.1100 + that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes 1.1101 + distance of internal magnet from windings depending on 1.1102 + desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency. 1.1103 + 1.1104 +</div></div> 1.1105 +<div class="project"><h2>lottery scraper</h2><div class="description">web scraper which monitors various lotteries, 1.1106 + looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x 1.1107 + winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value… 1.1108 + 1.1109 +</div></div> 1.1110 +<div class="project"><h2>Memristiors novel design</h2><div class="description">make an evolutionary algorithm to make 1.1111 + old stuff using all four basic circuit elements. 1.1112 + 1.1113 +</div></div> 1.1114 +<div class="project"><h2>Conductive concrete</h2><div class="description">concrete that has embedded metal fibers so 1.1115 + that it can conduct electricity. 1.1116 + 1.1117 +</div></div> 1.1118 +<div class="project"><h2>little bitty melting pot</h2><div class="description">might be useful for some types of 1.1119 + manufacturing/3D printing – how small can an induction melter be 1.1120 + made, for example. 1.1121 + 1.1122 +</div></div> 1.1123 +<div class="project"><h2>power strip/timer programmable combination</h2><div class="description">meh 1.1124 +</div></div> 1.1125 + 1.1126 +<div class="project"><h2>algorithms...</h2><div class="description">which learn what their inputs are and in what order, 1.1127 + and can adapt to changing circumstances – they 1.1128 + remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond 1.1129 + to different connections. 1.1130 + 1.1131 +</div></div> 1.1132 +<div class="project"><h2>true pure tones</h2><div class="description">hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the 1.1133 + nerves of the ear 1.1134 + 1.1135 +</div></div> 1.1136 +<div class="project"><h2>mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp</h2><div class="description">would be an object 1.1137 + with two levers – you pull on one lever and the other moves the 1.1138 + same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This 1.1139 + analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people. 1.1140 + 1.1141 +</div></div> 1.1142 +<div class="project"><h2>paper folding device</h2><div class="description">make it convenient to fold lots of papers in 1.1143 + various ways. 1.1144 + 1.1145 +</div></div> 1.1146 +<div class="project"><h2>concrete epoxy</h2><div class="description">epoxy with sand/ some other solid material. 1.1147 + 1.1148 +</div></div> 1.1149 +<div class="project"><h2>light capacitor</h2><div class="description">suspend some ball of material with a high index 1.1150 + of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck – would 1.1151 + the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited 1.1152 + quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be 1.1153 + released slowly by frustrated internal reflection? 1.1154 + 1.1155 +</div></div> 1.1156 +<div class="project"><h2>movie screening</h2><div class="description">Movies always are too long at first. One way to 1.1157 + shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the 1.1158 + move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which 1.1159 + there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people) 1.1160 + better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I 1.1161 + got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill 1.1162 + which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their 1.1163 + eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their 1.1164 + eyes off of? Just take those parts out! 1.1165 + 1.1166 +</div></div> 1.1167 +<div class="project"><h2>optimize an article</h2><div class="description">capture reading of a scientific article via 1.1168 + screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the 1.1169 + article better. like the movie-pruning idea. 1.1170 + 1.1171 +</div></div> 1.1172 +<div class="project"><h2>super reading program</h2><div class="description">teaches people the ideal mental mask to 1.1173 + apply during reading so as to read very fast. 1.1174 + 1.1175 +</div></div> 1.1176 +<div class="project"><h2>explosive thermite epoxy putty</h2><div class="description">one part would contain the rust, 1.1177 + one part the aluminum. 1.1178 + 1.1179 +</div></div> 1.1180 +<div class="project"><h2>reading comprehension</h2><div class="description">use the above screen capture routine to 1.1181 + make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content 1.1182 + you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf 1.1183 + came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate 1.1184 + word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help 1.1185 + others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the 1.1186 + interesting parts. 1.1187 + 1.1188 +</div></div> 1.1189 +<div class="project"><h2>hard sword</h2><div class="description">make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of 1.1190 + martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better 1.1191 + sword. 1.1192 + 1.1193 +</div></div> 1.1194 +<div class="project"><h2>close range wireless</h2><div class="description">use the induction technology used to 1.1195 + recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data 1.1196 + without any metal at all! 1.1197 + 1.1198 +</div></div> 1.1199 +<div class="project"><h2>reading</h2><div class="description">is a form of synsethesia 1.1200 + 1.1201 +</div></div> 1.1202 +<div class="project"><h2>DNA printer</h2><div class="description">A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into 1.1203 + actual DNA 1.1204 + 1.1205 +</div></div> 1.1206 +<div class="project"><h2>black generator</h2><div class="description">ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro 1.1207 + generator to make electricity 1.1208 + 1.1209 +</div></div> 1.1210 +<div class="project"><h2>alcohol battery</h2><div class="description">alcohol/fluid flow powered battery 1.1211 + 1.1212 +</div></div> 1.1213 +<div class="project"><h2>folding razor blade sword</h2><div class="description"> 1.1214 + 1.1215 +</div></div> 1.1216 +<div class="project"><h2>perfect pitch</h2><div class="description">learn perfect pitch using another sense in 1.1217 + combination (sight or touch) 1.1218 + 1.1219 +</div></div> 1.1220 +<div class="project"><h2>kaleidoscope projector</h2><div class="description"> 1.1221 + 1.1222 +</div></div> 1.1223 +<div class="project"><h2>razor blade de-sharpener</h2><div class="description">for guilt free disposal 1.1224 + 1.1225 +</div></div> 1.1226 +<div class="project"><h2>bricks</h2><div class="description">filled with luminescent plant material 1.1227 + 1.1228 +</div></div> 1.1229 +<div class="project"><h2>bio metallic structure</h2><div class="description">metal grids with seeds inside, which grow 1.1230 + together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal 1.1231 + substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?) 1.1232 + Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical 1.1233 + interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled 1.1234 + photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures. 1.1235 + 1.1236 +</div></div> 1.1237 +<div class="project"><h2>conducting extracellular matrix</h2><div class="description">to allow better control of 1.1238 + organic systems and an enhanced nervous system. 1.1239 + 1.1240 +</div></div> 1.1241 +<div class="project"><h2>cross-modal memory hashing</h2><div class="description">a way to retrieve memories more 1.1242 + robustly. 1.1243 + 1.1244 +</div></div> 1.1245 +<div class="project"><h2>flossing thimble-guards</h2><div class="description">(these actually exist) 1.1246 + 1.1247 +</div></div> 1.1248 +<div class="project"><h2>rules + lattice learning</h2><div class="description">integrate lattice learning with rules by 1.1249 + generating hypothetical examples 1.1250 + 1.1251 +</div></div> 1.1252 +<div class="project"><h2>wooden refrigerator</h2><div class="description">to give food a better taste Dylan: like 1.1253 + barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor 1.1254 + planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of 1.1255 + temperature on volatility? 1.1256 + 1.1257 +</div></div> 1.1258 +<div class="project"><h2>radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule</h2><div class="description">create precious 1.1259 + metals or something else economically advantageous. 1.1260 + 1.1261 +</div></div> 1.1262 +<div class="project"><h2>crowd preservation</h2><div class="description">inoculate food with tons of harmless 1.1263 + bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of 1.1264 + preservation 1.1265 + 1.1266 +</div></div> 1.1267 +<div class="project"><h2>old school preservation</h2><div class="description">Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon 1.1268 + as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o 1.1269 + refrigeration. 1.1270 + 1.1271 +</div></div> 1.1272 +<div class="project"><h2>restaurant policy</h2><div class="description">Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter 1.1273 + of course – make ambiance much better. 1.1274 + 1.1275 +</div></div> 1.1276 +<div class="project"><h2>clean windows</h2><div class="description">make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant 1.1277 + water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it 1.1278 + to clean windows of buildings. 1.1279 + 1.1280 +</div></div> 1.1281 +<div class="project"><h2>ocarina</h2><div class="description">make an ocarina out of pure silver 1.1282 + 1.1283 +</div></div> 1.1284 +<div class="project"><h2>fire pen</h2><div class="description">pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing 1.1285 + any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the 1.1286 + human's energy? 1.1287 + 1.1288 +</div></div> 1.1289 +<div class="project"><h2>website to design your own soda</h2><div class="description">and label, and have it mailed to 1.1290 + you / sell it from your own online store. 1.1291 + 1.1292 +</div></div> 1.1293 +<div class="project"><h2>solar panels</h2><div class="description">that float on the ocean 1.1294 + 1.1295 +</div></div> 1.1296 +<div class="project"><h2>handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?)</h2><div class="description">great for daisy chaining 1.1297 + people, binding them to environment, etc. 1.1298 + 1.1299 +</div></div> 1.1300 +<div class="project"><h2>vector based SOUND files</h2><div class="description">like the pictures but with SOUND. codify 1.1301 + sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe 1.1302 + everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech 1.1303 + to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the 1.1304 + wavefront encoded as a vector image. 1.1305 + 1.1306 +</div></div> 1.1307 +<div class="project"><h2>Mouse</h2><div class="description">with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical 1.1308 + scroll wheel 1.1309 + 1.1310 +</div></div> 1.1311 +<div class="project"><h2>logic maintenance system for big institutions</h2><div class="description">to make sure the 1.1312 + things they are thinking about doing are not retarded 1.1313 + 1.1314 +</div></div> 1.1315 +<div class="project"><h2><a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a></h2><div class="description">cool site 1.1316 + 1.1317 +</div></div> 1.1318 +<div class="project"><h2>genetically engineered glowing fruit</h2><div class="description">sell seeds? 1.1319 + 1.1320 +</div></div> 1.1321 +<div class="project"><h2>memory slide</h2><div class="description">IF memories are encoded using particular sensory 1.1322 + impressions, what happens if the sensory organ 1.1323 + itself changes? those memories would become 1.1324 + inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember 1.1325 + much from our childhoods. also, could this happen 1.1326 + throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from 1.1327 + his childhood? 1.1328 + 1.1329 +</div></div> 1.1330 +<div class="project"><h2>make a completely indestructible phone</h2><div class="description">no moving parts or display 1.1331 + you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will 1.1332 + just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal 1.1333 + interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no 1.1334 + holes – uses field effects for everything from the buttons to 1.1335 + inductive charging and data transfer. 1.1336 + 1.1337 +</div></div> 1.1338 +<div class="project"><h2>midi to ocarina "tabs" program</h2><div class="description">(online website? buy ocarinas from 1.1339 + it too) 1.1340 + 1.1341 +</div></div> 1.1342 +<div class="project"><h2>3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns)</h2><div class="description">like the 8.03 1.1343 + lecture 1.1344 + 1.1345 +</div></div> 1.1346 +<div class="project"><h2>lighter flint on spring</h2><div class="description">make hot, throw it at something, and it 1.1347 + makes sparkles! 1.1348 + 1.1349 +</div></div> 1.1350 +<div class="project"><h2>nuclear energy</h2><div class="description">Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational 1.1351 + campaign and public debate forum to enforce its 1.1352 + transparent and open nature. France needn't be the 1.1353 + world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan) 1.1354 + 1.1355 +</div></div> 1.1356 +<div class="project"><h2>bubbles</h2><div class="description">Engineer a material which has both ductility and high 1.1357 + surface tension to make the "third" 1.1358 + minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended 1.1359 + between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are 1.1360 + cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles, 1.1361 + and a double-cone) 1.1362 + 1.1363 +</div></div> 1.1364 +<div class="project"><h2>Textbook whose content can be varied continuously</h2><div class="description">alter level of 1.1365 + difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain 1.1366 + other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from 1.1367 + knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to 1.1368 + guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of 1.1369 + knowledge. <i>One.</i> 1.1370 +</div></div> 1.1371 +</div> 1.1372 + 1.1373 + 1.1374 + 1.1375 +</div> 1.1376 + 1.1377 +<div id="outline-container-1-1" class="outline-3"> 1.1378 +<h3 id="sec-1-1"><span class="section-number-3">1.1</span> From Jacob's idea list</h3> 1.1379 +<div class="outline-text-3" id="text-1-1"> 1.1380 + 1.1381 + 1.1382 +<ul> 1.1383 +<li>Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed 1.1384 + noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this 1.1385 + work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from 1.1386 + tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by 1.1387 + receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound 1.1388 + waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu 1.1389 + 1.1390 +</li> 1.1391 +<li>ClackerAlert – tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data 1.1392 + (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e 1.1393 + 1.1394 +</li> 1.1395 +<li>separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to 1.1396 + identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards) 1.1397 +</li> 1.1398 +</ul> 1.1399 + 1.1400 +</div> 1.1401 +</div> 1.1402 +</div> 1.1403 +</div> 1.1404 + 1.1405 +<div id="postamble"> 1.1406 +<p class="date">Date: 2015-02-04 23:52:02 EST</p> 1.1407 +<p class="author">Author: Robert McIntyre</p> 1.1408 +<p class="creator">Org version 7.7 with Emacs version 23</p> 1.1409 +<a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer">Validate XHTML 1.0</a> 1.1410 + 1.1411 +</body> 1.1412 +</html> 1.1413 \ No newline at end of file