The James Webb Space Telescope is the successor to the Hubble Telescope and is one of the most expensive single devices built in human history. So far, the cost of the telescope has been more than $10 billion and operational costs will continue to add up over the years. The question is, is it worth it? What will be the return on the incredible investment in time, money, and resources? Some people argue that we should be investing in other more urgent issues, like healthcare, education, or environmental issues. But others believe that the search for new knowledge is essential for humanity's future and that every bit of new knowledge is invaluable.
From its beginning as a relatively simple machine to help people transport heavy equipment to the current iterations that include artificial intelligence and the capability of performing tasks without human assistance, applications for this technology continue to evolve at a robust pace. In this article, we take a look at the current and anticipated future state of the industry and the many uses for robots that have evolved.
Society directs technology, and new technology then shapes society. It is a relationship that has existed since humans first started inventing new technology. Inventions such as the printing press, iPhone, and the internet have had profound impacts on society, but an emerging technology that investors are pouring billions of dollars toward developing, will more likely than not cause the greatest societal change in history--the cure for aging.
In a world where technology is more powerful than ever, we need frameworks through which to view the research and development we conduct. Technology carries both bright hope and dark possibilities for the future, and it is up to us as individuals and as a society to decide which path we want to take. In this blog post, we will explore the bright and dark possibilities of technology and why philosophy is needed now more than ever to make informed decisions about our future.
The pace of technological change is speeding up, which has profound implications for individuals, businesses, and societies. In a little more than 100 years, technological development has taken us from the first telephone call (1876) to the first website (1991). A mere 16 years elapsed between the appearance of the Internet and the first iPhone (2007). Since then, significant technological breakthroughs have included autonomous vehicles, electric cars, tablets, augmented reality, the bionic eye, social media, artificial intelligence, and genetic engineering, to list a few. Each new development builds on earlier ones to create ever more powerful technologies. As these technologies proliferate and become more sophisticated, they change how we live, work, learn, and play.
We are living in the Cyborg Epoch. What does that mean for humanity? We are already beginning to augment our bodies with technology. As computer connections to the brain and machines become more sophisticated, the line between human and machine becomes blurred. The ability to directly control machines with thought has made creating a fully functioning cyborg a real possibility. At what point does a human stop being human? Is it by percentage? Or maybe it is by conscious awareness? How will we define humanity in the future?
What if we could bring extinct species back to life? It may sound like science fiction, but it is actually becoming a reality. De-extinction is the process of bringing an extinct species back to life using modern technology. De-extinction is a new word thrust into the lexicon of the 21st century as no longer a science fiction term but a potential scientific fact.
Engineers have always been at the forefront of medical advancement and have often invented technologies that improve quality of life. This is particularly true in regenerative medicine, where new therapies are developed to help restore function to tissues and organs. In this blog post, we will explore some of the current regenerative medicine therapies and discuss how they are improving patient care. We will also discuss some of the challenges associated with regenerative medicine and look at ways these can be overcome. Finally, we will provide an overview of some of the upcoming advances in this field that promise to improve patient outcomes even further.
We've long been fixated on using our bodies to control devices and software, from video game joysticks to iris-scanning security tools. You may only recently have gotten the hang of your voice-activated speaker, but now it's time for the next frontier: controlling devices with your mind.