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If this was used on cars, no one would have to use a carwash ever again, and power could be saved on windshield wipers. Because of this, fifty years from now we may not need windshield wipers, and we could save time spent cleaning cars.

-Commenter

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=cicada-wings-self-cleaning

CISPA is DEAD

And good riddance.

The robots are cheaper. Another job is on the way out.

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Suppose that, at a given moment, a certain number of people are engaged in the manufacture of pins. They make as many pins as the world needs, working (say) eight hours a day. Someone makes an invention by which the same number of men can make twice as many pins: pins are already so cheap that hardly any more will be bought at a lower price. In a sensible world, everybody concerned in the manufacturing of pins would take to working four hours instead of eight, and everything else would go on as before. But in the actual world this would be thought demoralizing. The men still work eight hours, there are too many pins, some employers go bankrupt, and half the men previously concerned in making pins are thrown out of work. There is, in the end, just as much leisure as on the other plan, but half the men are totally idle while half are still overworked. In this way, it is insured that the unavoidable leisure shall cause misery all round instead of being a universal source of happiness. Can anything more insane be imagined?

Flashlight into reality from virtual reality would be incredible.

Virtual Rx: how Oculus Rift could revolutionize mental health

View high resolution

Another good way to move freely in VR

How to build a neuro-feedback machine.

This is one of the coolest open-source projects.

The Oculus-backed prototype for a Virtual Reality omni-directional treadmill.

This is how you’ll be walking around in VR.

“The breakthrough could lead to more advanced techniques in which a person can control the parts of another person’s body with their thoughts.”

4D Printing is WAY more important than I thought.

Nine Jobs that Humans May Lose to Robots

plasticman-n asked: You might have received this question quite a lot, apologies if I'm repetitive. But I was wondering what you think about google glasses? your personal opinion, and the implications for society, culture etc. I also find your blog really interesting :)

I believe that Google Glasses are a fix to many of society’s problems. It reverses the surveillance culture so that rather than it being one-way accountability, everybody, especially powerful people, need to be more careful about doing bad things.

It will also get rid of many smartphone problems that cause us to dissociate with reality. The little box in the corner of our view becomes a part of our reality as opposed to a second one. This way, we can both be a part of the Internet and our lives without a buffer.

On top of that, it will allow us to use “life apps” in a way that was impossible before. We’ll be able to use technology covertly, and therefore it will be difficult to have the same stigma (besides the initial stigma of the technology, which will go away). Imagine seeing the names to any friends that you may forget pop up as you see them. This is most definitely the next step in augmenting our minds to work in tandem with machines.

Google is conscious. This video will convince you that that ridiculous statement is true.