Elon Musk Revolutionizing 3D Design With Hand Gesture Technology

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Hand Gesture Technology

Elon Musk is trying to revolutionize large and small scale manufacturing and design through cutting edge hand gesture and 3D printing technologies.

I believe we’re on the verge of a major breakthrough in design and manufacturing… in being able to take the concept of something from your mind, and translate that into a 3D object really intuitively on the computer.

Musk and SpaceX are partnering with companies like Leap Motion for hand gesture technology that may one day even be used with Oculus Rift virtual reality systemsOculus Rift to develop realistic 3D virtual models.

 

3D printing has gained popularity recently as the cost and time saving potential is being realized by individuals and companies alike.

Musk is joining the likes of NASA in utilizing 3D printing technology and reaping the benefits. NASA who has been printing rocket engines cheaper and faster than ever is among the technology’s biggest proponents.

Let’s hope this trend continues to push the technology to new heights and the cost to new lows.

 

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Joe Rogan – The Corporate Trap

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This excerpt from the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast explores how seemingly good corporate jobs by normal standards are restricting personal growth in society. Joe explains how corporate culture, work/life imbalance, and materialism contribute to a lack of self expression.

So, get it together, and this is your life now. No natural behavior, everybody’s wearing clothes they don’t want to wear, everybody’s showing up and doing something they don’t want to do and they have no connection to… that’s the problem with our society.

Joe seems to hit on some pretty solid points in this short video. The main point that I find in this is to actively pursue your interests until your passion reveals itself, and then explore that passion until it has given you everything that it can.

It is difficult to remove money as the motivator of our lives. It is difficult to see the potential in our passions, but just remember as Joseph Campbell said, “Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls.”

 

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“Magic” Psilocybin Mushrooms May Treat Depression

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Magic Mushroom

“Magic” mushrooms and their active ingredient, psilocybin, may treat symptoms of depression, British scientists suggest. The research was posted in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal after one of the first studies done since the 1960’s.

“One of the parts of the brain that is markedly switched off [with psilocybin] is the anterior cingulate cortex, which is particularly overactive in people with depression,” said David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College, London. Some researchers “put electrodes in that part of the brain to switch it off. It would be a lot simpler and safer to use psilocybin instead of electrodes.”

This study was very basic, but I think it merits further research. Psilocybin is labeled as a Schedule I Drug in the United States meaning that it has highly addictive qualities, no accepted medical value, and no safe method of conducting scientific research.

With the medical properties of marijuana becoming apparent to the public, it may facilitate open dialogue on these other potentially helpful and healing substances.

 

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Nissan Will Offer Driverless Cars by 2020

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Autonomous Nissan Leaf

Making a huge splash in the transportation industry, Nissan has just announced they will offer multiple driverless cars by 2020. The Japanese auto-maker has jumped into the race for “autonomous vehicles” by showing off a driverless prototype of the Nissan Leaf on a military base in Irvine, CA.

“In 2007 I pledged that – by 2010 – Nissan would mass market a zero-emission vehicle. Today, the Nissan LEAF is the best-selling electric vehicle in history. Now I am committing to be ready to introduce a new ground-breaking technology, Autonomous Drive, by 2020, and we are on track to realize it.” – Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn

Oxford/Nissan Driverless Car

Google has long been the name associated with driverless car technology, but according to the press release, Nissan has been working on this innovative transportation technology for years alongside top universities MIT, Stanford, and Oxford.

The vehicles operate differently than the cars developed by Google, in that they utilize laser scanners and artificial intelligence, but do not require internet access.

Both companies however, have similar reasons for developing the technology as it aims at eliminating crashes, reducing carbon emissions, and even offering more mobility and freedom to the elderly.

“Six million crashes in the US per year cost $160 billion and rank as the top reason of death for four- to 34-year olds. And, 93% of accidents in the US are due to human error, typically due to inattention.” – Nissan press release

I love this project for the good that it can do for humanity in many different ways, and I hope that others follow suit and pursue humanity friendly business projects.

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Elevator to the Moon by 2020

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A new lunar-elevator to transport robots, people, and supplies to the Moon is currently in development by The LiftPort Group, a private company led by CEO and former NASA researcher, Michael Laine.

The idea is different from other space-elevators in that it will be built on the Moon and not on the Earth. This is beneficial as the lack of gravity and harsh atmosphere means that more readily available and cheaper materials could be used in construction.

Spacecraft would launch from Earth, dock on the elevator platform, and take the rest of the journey via the transport pod. This reduces costs tremendously by eliminating the fuel needed to land and the take off from the Moon’s surface.

“The space elevator, scientists say, will help people build manned bases on the Earth’s natural satellite and organize the extraction of helium-3 there – a raw material that will solve global problems of the shortage of energy resources…” – EnergySafe

What If It Got Stuck?

The company has a Kickstarter campaign they started in order to raise funds and awareness. The first step is to build a 2 kilometer test elevator that will be suspended by balloons. If that test is successful, and everything goes according to plan, construction will begin in 2020.

I am beginning to believe that society is becoming excited by space again. Despite the discontinuation of the space-shuttle program, NASA has persevered, and is keeping busy trying to build a warp drive.

Meanwhile, private companies such as Elon Musk’s SpaceX are making a massive impact on the future of spaceflight and inter-planetary travel that even many countries cannot compete with.

 

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New Contact Lenses With Three Times Zoom

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I See You

Unfortunately, not the actual design

New contact lenses have just been developed that can actually zoom in 2.8 times for anyone wearing them. Current designs require that the user wears a pair of glasses to activate the magnification, but I would imagine that will not be the case indefinitely.

The research was led by Eric Tremblay and Joseph Ford who believe the technology could be useful for those suffering from macular degeneration, a common cause of vision problems often leading to blindness.

“The current treatments for macular degeneration include invasive surgery or to wear glasses with very thick lenses. Although research continues, development of this new magnifying lens technology has the potential to improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world by using these ‘normal’ looking lenses.” – Ian Anglin

I Only Have Eyes For You

The actual current design

Beyond the medical application, there’s plenty of excitement around the use by those with perfectly normal vision. The ability to zoom in and magnify your vision with ease would be great, and I think at the right price, a lot of people would be interested. This would be great for jewelers or anyone working in detail like sculptors or painters, not to mention the possible military applications.

Unfortunately, it may be some time before these are commercially available. The project is still very much in the research stage, but does expect to begin new clinical trials in November 2013.

These aren’t the only hope for those suffering from visual impairment. Incredible trials with stem-cell technology have successfully restored sight to blind mice, and could has a great potential for human development.

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Personal Jetpacks Approved for Manned Testflights

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Anyone who has seen The Jetson’s has dreamed about having their own personal jetpack. New Zealand based company Martin Aircraft is looking to turn that dream into a reality as they begin test flying their personal jetpack with real-life human pilots.

Recently the Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand (CAA) granted the company a special permit allowing them to begin manned test flights, although they “may not be flown more than 20 feet above the ground or 25 feet above water.”

The video below shows a higher altitude test flight done via remote control with a dummy pilot. The test was to demonstrate the emergency ballistic parachute safety system.

“For us it’s a very important step because it moves it out of what I call a dream into something which I believe we’re now in a position to commercialize and take forward very quickly.” – Peter Coker, CEO of Martin Aircraft.

The ultimate goal for the company is to begin commercial sales as early as mid 2015 at a projected starting price of around $100,000.Martin Aircraft Jetpack You may actually begin seeing these as early as 2014 as there has been strong interest to utilize these for first-responder and military missions.

There has been a lot of work being done in the future of personal and public transportation. Elon Musk recently revealed details for his supersonic hyperloop concept as an alternative to the high-speed rail project in California, and even NASA has joined the game working with California-based company, Skytran to construct the first magnetically levitating public transport system

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The Blank Canvass of Life – Can We Engineer Divinity?

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Jason Silva’s latest Shot of awe explores the concept of engineering your own divinity. The idea is that life is a blank canvass, and the surroundings in which we choose to exist can and does affect our mental and emotional states. It’s like a feedback loop where our mind creates an atmosphere or environment which then turns around and alters our mode of thought resulting in continued evolution down manufactured emotional and mental canals.

Those spaces we built, “the architectures of happiness” as Alain de Botton writes, the spaces we create inform, shape, sculpt our subjective experience…. we script intention into our designs and those designs in turn script our subjective experience.

This is a great concept to take to heart. Our ability to create the world we want to live in is very real. I follow this philosophy as a general guideline to help manufacture serendipity and inspiration into my own life.

As Terrence McKenna so poignantly states, “We are living in the condensation of our imaginations”

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