Homework Assignment Six

Our instructor gave us various topics related to the future. From these topics we have to pick three choices and find websites for these topics. Once we find the websites, we must then critique the sites we found based on their pertinence.

My topcis were:


1)Green Energy Technologies

• a) http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/more-efficient-solar-cells-with-carbon- nanotubes/ (This article gave information of using carbon nano-tubes instead of silicon to extract energy more efficiently from the sun.)


• b) http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/150mpg-algae-powered-toyota-prius/ (This article gave information about possibly using algae as a replacement for gasoline in cars. This seems very possible and extremely eco-friendly because of a lack of harmful byproduct.)


• c) http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/human-powered-workout-gym-concept/ (This article had a very creative eco-friendly concept. It is literally a workout gym that is powered by the people who exercise in the gym. This concept could be possible but I do not believe is it as probable as carbon nano-tube and algae based fuel technologies.

2) Homo Homo Sapiens dominance of world population. (I looked at a new form of human evolution. This evolution would be a integration of technology with the human body. This new "species" would eventually replace the Homo Homo Sapien race.)

• a) http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/SmallBiz/story?id=6854658&page=1 (This article gives vague information on the pursuit of Homo Evolutis by Jaun Enriquez, CEO of a biomedical company)


• b) http://hplusbiopolitics.wordpress.com/2009/02/09/homo-evolutis-the-backlash/ (This article talks about backlash Enriquez has experienced because of his definition of human Evolution. This provides a rare and interesting perspective that brings about more questions of Homo Evolutis.)


• c) http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahshow/20090305-tows-oz-live-longer/2 (This article gives detailed information on ways to prolong life with state of the art technology.)

3) Future Internet Speeds

• a) http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2000/03/26/internet-speed.aspx (This article gives information about the highest speeds that researchers are able to achieve now and a new kind of laser that would be available to carry a huge amount of bandwidth for data transfer.)


• b)http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2008/04/lightning_speed_replacement_%20for_internet.php (This article provides information on new data transfer technology. This new concept is called "the grid". This grid will make internet data transfer faster then we could imagine.)


• c)http://ezinearticles.com/?Satellite-Internet-the-Speed-of-the-Future&id=2786366 (This article gives information on how rural areas will be able to get high speed internet service via satellites.)

There is a second part to our homework. We needed to apply TRIZ to our semester topic. My topic is trans-humanism. Trans-humanism is only on the verge of its emergence. We can use a hearing aid as a prime example. Hearing aids now help people who cannot hear well. One day we will be able to branch out hearing aid capability with the advancement of technology. We could eventually give people who do not need hearing aids better hearing ability. This could play an advantage when hunting (you could hear the game from further distances),etc. We could also make regenerable body parts. This could help a person who has a depletion of certain cells that are pivotal to maintaining a healthy life.

We then had to take ten TRIZ items and apply them to our topic.

Universality: make one thing do more than one thing. Our ears could implanted with a device that could not only make us hear better, but receive wireless signals that our brain could interpret.

Anti-weight: counter heaviness with flotation. We could implant artificial life vests into our body to stay afloat on water.

Preliminary action: do something to an object before it is needed. We could have a sensor that tells us if our heart rate was abnormal.

Partial or excessive action: Do a little too much or too little, then fix. We could make our hands faster for typing purposes by implanting a mechanism in the hand.

Cheap short-lived objects: throw it away afterwards. We could make cheaper prosthetics. Any amputee could have a throw away arm.

Color changes: change color or transparency of object or environment. We could modify the color of our skin to match our environment.

Phase transitions: We could make our skin warm up in cold temperatures or cool down in hot temperatures.

Pneumatics and hydraulics: use gas and liquid instead of solid parts. We could use hydraulics to make us some jump higher.

Self-service: something serves itself. We could program our body to do certain things that our mind might find strenuous. Like mowing the yard.

Continuity of useful action: elimination of break. We could wire our bodies to stay up longer then what our body and mind are used to. For example, we could have someone stay up the entire day so they can monitor a security system.