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  1. #181
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    Probably not a scientific feat per say and certainly mentioned in the thread already (I'll admit I haven't read through ten pages)but discovery of alien life. Doesn't need to be close or intelligent or even semi-advanced. Just the knowlegde that some distant planet/moon holds even the simplest bacterial life would, for me at least, be world changing.

  2. #182
    Void Lord Aeluron Lightsong's Avatar
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    Something big that is discovered or done/made without a lot of effort and or mass producing and all that.
    #TeamLegion #UnderEarthofAzerothexpansion plz #Arathor4Alliance #TeamNoBlueHorde

    Warrior-Magi

  3. #183
    Merely a Setback Adam Jensen's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by gunnmen01 View Post
    Something that will make people stop crying about flying mounts in WoW.
    That'll never happen.
    Putin khuliyo

  4. #184
    We will never have free energy as long as money is still a thing.

  5. #185
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Etoo View Post
    We will never have free energy as long as money is still a thing.
    We'll never have "free energy" period.
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  6. #186
    Simply refer to Hamiltonism to get a good smattering of the most fundamental concepts of change to human civilization that gloriously await those who simply get down to work & begin the necessary research, education, funding, and promotion/awareness.
    >>> And then.. <<<

  7. #187
    Immortal Fahrenheit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Vhoosh View Post
    The complete fulfillment of the transhumanism movement, which could lead to technological immortality.
    Probably this, If I make it another 50 years or so (early 30s now, so I like my chances) to the 2060s till actuarial escape velocity kicks in.
    Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh. You touch my mind, fumbling in ignorance, incapable of understanding.
    You exist because we allow it, and you will end because we demand it.

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    Mass Effect

  8. #188
    Quote Originally Posted by Didactic View Post
    We'll never have "free energy" period.
    Agreed.

    We might be able to reduce energy costs to the point where regular use doesn't put a dent into even the most impoverish person's budget, but energy will never be truly free because we'll still need to build things to convert solar, chemical, nuclear, wind, etc. energy into usable electricity. And those things will require raw materials and labor to build.

    As for the biggest scientific feat I think I may see in my life, I'd say a viable fusion reactor. We are working on a couple different approaches right now and if just one of them works, coupled with perfectly foreseeable battery technologies, we could see essentially all of our energy problems evaporate in just a couple decades. That doesn't mean energy will be free of course, fusion reactors aren't exactly something you can buy from the dollar store, but at least we won't have to worry about fluctuating gas prices, pollution levels, or nuclear meltdowns.
    Roleplaying, hardcore Raiding, running LFR on the occasional weekend, PvPing, rolling alts, achievement hunting, pet battling, or just enacting an endless series of whims, I don't care how you play WoW. Just as long as you have fun doing it.

  9. #189
    Herald of the Titans BarelyLegalBear's Avatar
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    More of a discovery but i would love to see Aliens. I mean truthfully we aren't on the only planet with life. There's a lot out there that we have not even discovered. I don't believe that Aliens are going to be taking over the world, i just think their going to be sort of like us, humans or maybe a different species trying to figure out if their the only ones out here also or trying to find a new home to warn us of something, I don't know. I think it would be really cool to actually meet someone from another planet though, learn about them.

  10. #190
    Void Lord Elegiac's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Falrinn View Post
    Agreed.

    We might be able to reduce energy costs to the point where regular use doesn't put a dent into even the most impoverish person's budget, but energy will never be truly free because we'll still need to build things to convert solar, chemical, nuclear, wind, etc. energy into usable electricity. And those things will require raw materials and labor to build.

    As for the biggest scientific feat I think I may see in my life, I'd say a viable fusion reactor. We are working on a couple different approaches right now and if just one of them works, coupled with perfectly foreseeable battery technologies, we could see essentially all of our energy problems evaporate in just a couple decades. That doesn't mean energy will be free of course, fusion reactors aren't exactly something you can buy from the dollar store, but at least we won't have to worry about fluctuating gas prices, pollution levels, or nuclear meltdowns.
    I was referring to conservation of energy, actually
    Quote Originally Posted by Marjane Satrapi
    The world is not divided between East and West. You are American, I am Iranian, we don't know each other, but we talk and understand each other perfectly. The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.

  11. #191
    Elemental Lord Korgoth's Avatar
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    Human cloning and brain transfers.
    "Gamer" is not a bad word. I identify as a gamer. When calling out those who persecute and harass, the word you're looking for is "asshole." @_DonAdams
    When you see someone in a thread making the same canned responses over and over, click their name, click view forum posts, and see if they are a troll. Then don't feed them.

  12. #192
    Brewmaster
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    Quote Originally Posted by belfpala View Post
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITER

    They're doing it. At least, trying to do it.

    Edit: They've had controlled fusion for quite a while. It was power negative, however (took more to run than it produced). If this one works as planned, it'll be power positive.
    Interesting link thanks.

    This and the elimination of fossil fuels would mark a turning point in human history.

    The internet is remarkable in that it took the cooperation of alot of special interests and countries to adopt the standards and practices to make this thing called the internet.
    Last edited by kunah; 2013-05-01 at 05:50 AM.
    Operation Red Wing

  13. #193
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    Fusion has been "controlled" for several decades at JET. Controlled as in lasted for non-trivial fractions of a second. At best, it's had a measured output of 70% of the input energy. ITER should be able to get well above 100% - but it's not being built to function as a power station, only as an experiment. The generation after that? I would hope that it'll be ale to generate useful electricity, and I also ope I live to see it.

    On the discussion of AI - you're misusing the word sentient, where you mean sapient. Living creatures are sentient, only humans (as far as we can tell) are sapient. An emergently conscious, sapient AI would be a remarkable thing - although I would expect the first one to suffer from the mechanical equivalent of every mental illness we've ever encountered. Whether we will have developed the moral and ethical grounds to be able to deal with another sapient species - that is rather harder to predict. The same applies to the question of immortality and the discovery of extra-terestrial intelligence: they are discontinuous events which our current civilisation would have difficulty dealing with. It'd be exciting - but also fraught with difficulties.

  14. #194
    The Lightbringer imabanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Masark View Post
    You mean fusion. Fission is what we have now.
    Oh yes, fusion, of course, quite easy to create right now, there are even about 40~50 non professionals who did this at home, usually costs between 30-50k to create a basic polywell device.

    Problem isn't to "create" fusion, but to maintain it. Right not it consumes more energy than it produces. The day someone finds how to do it, the whole world will change with it. Very cheap (almost considered "free"), very powerful, and pollution-free energy, hard to find anything better.

  15. #195
    Bloodsail Admiral Kheirn's Avatar
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    Something that we currently can't imagine.
    Quote Originally Posted by Rugz
    Holes means you have less of a food to plate ratio, you can get more net weight of pancakes into the same volume and area as you could with waffles. Therefore pancakes win.

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