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What do you want to see happen in your life time?

Simply put, which sort of technological or engineering achivement would you like to see done with in your life time?

Preferably something we can reasonably assume can happen. FTL travel as far as we know is impossible thus not really a good bet. Quantum computers... a possibility. Bridging the straights of Gabaltor... possible, but really effing hard.

Personally, the thing I want to see, and something that I think can definatly happen in my life time - Space elevator.

It would profoundly effect the whole human race, turn us into a true space born society in a matter of a few decades and be really really cool. And it seems really possible, even with in a few decades even.

I was thinking about this the other day. I'd love to see man on Mars before I shuffle off this mortal coil. And I'd love to see our Jason Cory without a beard.

I'd like to be the man on Mars, but since that's highly unlikely, I'd like to see a number of Moon stations; maybe I could go to one of those.

Man on mars, and commercial shuttle flights. And something like Sealab, only without the insanity of course. Oh and a fully automatic robot surgeon. Oh, and cell phone implants. And maybe a real cyborg leg/arm/eye.

thelordharry wrote:And I'd love to see our Jason Cory without a beard.

I think you'll see a commuter train to Betelgeuse first.

Mikey wrote:

thelordharry wrote:And I'd love to see our Jason Cory without a beard.

I think you'll see a commuter train to Betelgeuse first.

Don't say it three times, Mikey!

A man on Mars should be achieved easily. Back here I (and Mikey somewhat moreso I expect) would like to see large-scale organ cloning.

Captain Seafort wrote:A man on Mars should be achieved easily. Back here I (and Mikey somewhat moreso I expect) would like to see large-scale organ cloning.

Interestingly, I hadn't thought of that at all when I read the OP. If I'm to consider my own condition, I'd say more large-scale availability of gene therapy - pancreases (pancrei?) a/o beta cells seem to be very resistant to long-term succesful implantation, even when all the donor factors match exactly.

Mikey wrote:pancreases (pancrei?) a/o beta cells seem to be very resistant to long-term succesful implantation, even when all the donor factors match exactly.

That might change with cloning - after all, only identical twins would come close, and even then I think there are still minor differences.

Perhaps. I'm reminded of Gibson's Neuromancer. Instead of getting corrective lenses for my astigmatism, I'd just get a pair of vat-grown eyes; I still have a problem with sciatica, so maybe I'll just run out and pick up a new spinal disc without that hernia in it.

Manned mission to Mars seems popular.........but that's what I'd like to see. That or confirmation that aliens really DO exist. You know, as in a public visit.

In a similar vein to what we've been discussing regarding Mikey and diabetes, advanced neuroscience that could treat conditions like mine (schizophrenia) and Tsuki (borderline personality disorder); an example from sci-fi being the "neural lace" of the Culture universe. I brought this sort of tech up in a thread in the Politics forum last night in regards to enhancements but its most important application could be the treatment of these and other disorders; in other areas you might have to be careful with how you apply this tech to otherwise "normal" people. Unfortunately for this and the other medical technologies discussed, they may come out too late to really help Mikey or myself even if it is within our lifetimes (I'd hope that this sort of neurological tech would be applied in youth - when applicable, as it may perhaps have been in my case - so that one would not be deprived of missed chances in the irreplaceable years of youth).

Mark wrote:Manned mission to Mars seems popular.........but that's what I'd like to see. That or confirmation that aliens really DO exist. You know, as in a public visit.

I'd settle just for picking up radio signals. I'm not sure I want to be here when the first aliens arrive.

Man on Mars, a permanent space station, colonies on the Moon...

And for a lighter bit, Del Rey to apologize for the post-YJK Star Wars EU.

Striker wrote:
And for a lighter bit, Del Rey to apologize for the post-YJK Star Wars EU.

Doesn't that rate up there with FTL?