How sleep washes the brain of toxins:
http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/october2013/10282013clear...
This mechanism could also be the cause of the refreshment we feel after a short nap or meditation. Much harder to study though!
Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
51–60 of 241 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#52Mermistor (discovery in 1971 but actual implementation in 2008)
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/06/hp-pla...
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#53* Hackerspaces
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#54Preserved soft tissue was found in dinosaur bones, allowing us to see the actual structures, and apparently this is not a rare phenomenon. Maybe DNA can be extracted?
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#55This sounds more like an AskReddit post than AskHN... but I'd say printable organs, smaller and smaller computer chips, commercialization of space flight, possible warp drive tech(may get us there in 100+ years, lol not expecting anything soon).. anti-aging (expected to double or triple life expectancy by 2050.) etc...
I'd consider most of the things you listed to be inventions/innovations. Discovery, for me, is closely connected to uncovering of a new phenomena or an effect. And invention/innovation would be the use of it for some specific purpose.
The warp drive is definitely a brand new effect.
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#56Is reality invented or discovered? Is math invented or discovered? Was automata theory invented or discovered? OK well then is the quicksort algorithm invented or discovered? Is LISP invented or discovered? Is my code invented or discovered?
Are invented and discovered just a matter of perspective?
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
For some reason I believe that cosmetic gene modifications will be more readily accepted than GMOs.
^ This is it. I can be GMO as a human and have acme free skin? Thank you and here is your $25,000. This will be seen as medical benefit since it cures disease and I can have Green/Hazel eyes. Seriously I refuse to eat Chipotle with their fear mongering Anti-GMO stance on the front window.
Yeah, Chipotle's anti-gmo stance has really killed my desire to eat there. It's is a shame because they had previously been relatively good on the environmental front. Then they fell into the pseudo-science deep-end and here we are.
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#58Earlier quoted context omitted.
This means curing: Color Blindness, Liver Disease, Hopefully Cancers, Genetic Defects, MAYBE one day Aging?
I would first want to see people accept GMO crops. Then I'll be willing to think of people going to the doctor to change their eye color.
While this is a hot button topic, I've seen some pretty horrible things Monsanto has done to farmers. Accepting GMO crops would mean accepting Monsanto who has a monopoly on the industry and are well know for using sketchy tactics when dealing with farmers resistant to using their seeds.
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
This means curing: Color Blindness, Liver Disease, Hopefully Cancers, Genetic Defects, MAYBE one day Aging?
I would first want to see people accept GMO crops. Then I'll be willing to think of people going to the doctor to change their eye color.
The problem with GMO is that it's basically a vendor lock-in scheme for agribusiness giants. It's not a good engineering solution to the real food problems we face.
Of course, the DONT EAT THE SCIENCE OR IT WILL GIVE YOU THE CANCER political nonsense is wrong. That doesn't let GMO off the hook, though. The problem it attempts to solve, on the surface, is increasing the productivity of monocropping. But productivity isn't the problem of our food chain. We can grow plenty of food, and cheaply.
So what are problems? Loss of biodiversity. Modern nutrition-related health problems like obesity and diabetes that are related to factory-manufactured junk food. Et cetera.
We should be focusing on making food fresher, better tasting, more nutritious, more interesting, and more ethical. Racing to the bottom on price isn't good for anyone but the companies that provide vendor lock-in.
Re: Ask HN: What are the greatest discoveries in the last few years?
#60I'd say that in terms of what we are able to do next, Graphene wins by a long way. Graphene is remarkable stuff, literally. I'd say in terms of impact on philosophy, religion and way of life, the large number of planets we're discovering.
I fear the graphene will fall by the wayside due to legal and social pressure. News sources have already pointed out that it is significantly more dangerous, if inhaled, than asbestos; another material this is insanely useful for a number of applications but is effectively blackballed as a engineer-able material. Another example is nuclear energy. Clean, abundant, and extremely safe. The fear of radiation exposer has…
I lived near one of the asbestos super-sites that the EPA was still involved in monitoring. Back in the day it had been a huge asbestos mine. As far as I know, it was safe when I lived in the area but the health impacts were still being felt.
Graphene will see adoption, but will probably be halted at the first sign of asbestos like diseases. I can only imagine how hard it would be to dispose of products with graphene correctly.