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Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

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Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#61

Post by renewiltord »

Zigurd wrote: post #42
m463 wrote: post #9

I wonder about that stuff too and sometimes I think some problems are really like: https://xkcd.com/530/ I suspect a big one is "regular" engineering vs software engineering. Regular engineering has schedules and (apart from the apple campus) can put up a building in a predictable amount of time. Also testing and maintenance and more.

Software creation has the characteristic that if you are doing the same thing over and over you are doing it wrong. Construction and manufacturing are much about doing the same thing the same way every time. This is why a lot of techniques do not translate well to/from software and other disciplines.

And considering nearly every construction process is behind time and over budget, the premise itself is flawed.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#62

Post by LexGray »

jevgeni wrote: post #50
frogpelt wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like you aren't a fan of the way this QR code was used. I went to a restaurant the other day and it had one of those Coke Freestyle soda machines. There was a QR code on the screen which I scanned with my phone. This opened a website with drink choices. I put my cup under the dispenser and pushed the Barq's Root Beer button on the website on my phone which dispensed the drink from the machine. I was impress…

Wouldn’t pressing a button on a machine be easier?

It seems the perfect COVID-19 option. Completely touchless and fast. I was playing with a DMV kiosk and it took about half a second to recognize a key press.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#63

Post by sslalready »

mabbo wrote: post #27
axegon_ wrote: post #2

A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...

My wife said to me yesterday "How do I use a QR Code?". Keep in mind, she's a civil engineer and one of the smartest people I know. I said "In what context?" because really, I didn't know either. "I have to scan this QR code if I go to my office. It's apparently posted at the door, and will let them know I've been there, for contact tracing." After a lot of playing around, we finally found out her phone's camera coul…

This one has been relevant for the last 10 years: https://picturesofpeoplescanningqrcodes.tumblr.com/

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#64

Post by danielovichdk »

Zigurd wrote: post #42
m463 wrote: post #9

I wonder about that stuff too and sometimes I think some problems are really like: https://xkcd.com/530/ I suspect a big one is "regular" engineering vs software engineering. Regular engineering has schedules and (apart from the apple campus) can put up a building in a predictable amount of time. Also testing and maintenance and more.

Software creation has the characteristic that if you are doing the same thing over and over you are doing it wrong. Construction and manufacturing are much about doing the same thing the same way every time. This is why a lot of techniques do not translate well to/from software and other disciplines.

I would argue that 90% of all software share the same premise.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#65

Post by donquichotte »

A bit late to the party, but: Statistics and Robotics, Statistics and Digital Communications.

Many filters in Robotics (Kalman Filter, Particle Filter) and many concepts in digital communication (Modulation Schemes, Filters, ...) are firmly rooted in statistics and require a decent applied understanding of the area.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#66

Post by jevgeni »

LexGray wrote: post #62
jevgeni wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t pressing a button on a machine be easier?

It seems the perfect COVID-19 option. Completely touchless and fast. I was playing with a DMV kiosk and it took about half a second to recognize a key press.

That’s a fair point!

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#67

Post by jevgeni »

gingerlime wrote: post #60
jevgeni wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn’t pressing a button on a machine be easier?

Normally I would completely agree, but perhaps in covid times it can prevent people from leaving germs on the buttons??

You’re right.

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#68

Post by teleforce »

Contrary to popular belief problems solved in unrelated domains are very common in invention and innovation but people just hate to admit them, hopefully in the near future someone can honestly write a book on it.

One of the most prolific scientists Albert Einstein had his single most productive year while working as a patent officer (Annus Mirabilis). I strongly suspect that he learned quite a lot from many patent applications, journal papers and books that he was required to read during his daily job, thus getting excellent and novel ideas from seemingly unrelated patents and discoveries.

The classic modern example (sorry for the oxymoron terminology) is how a patented signal processing technique of radio astronomy research by CSIRO solved the wireless multi-path propagation problem that enabled wireless revolution from WiFi to 4G/5G.

CSIRO's patent leads to the wireless OFDM invention that allows for much higher communication bandwidth especially on wireless environment where unmitigated multi-path interference is a deal breaker. But of course wireless people just hate to admit it [1].

[1]https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/04/how-the-aussie-g...

Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?

#69

Post by wombatmobile »

vikramkr wrote: post #55
wombatmobile wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, it is bioengineering. What Arnold brought to synthetic biology is an engineer's approach to iterative process. Rather than designing a new enzyme at the molecular level, Arnold constructed a process that would yield the design for her.

Yes - but that's not interdisciplinary in the way you think it is. Designing a new enzyme at the molecular level is basically still not a thing that humans have figured out how to do. Her approach was revolutionary in the same way that the invention of a telescope was revolutionary to physics. You could try and say it was some grand synthesis of optics and astronomy, but that's a hell of a stretch, they're both physi…

I see what you mean about this not being interdisciplinary. What Arnold did was to apply a biochemical process to a problem in biochemistry.

> If you wanted to claim that Arnold invented modern bioengineering and laid the framework for synthetic biology, I could buy that.

Well, I was just responding to the request for "some problems that were being experienced by one industry or domain but were solved elsewhere and were adopted by the industry plagued by the problem? Even better if the answer was really obvious for the people who solved it or solving it involved cross-domain knowledge".

I thought of Arnold because I recalled that at the time she was awarded the Nobel prize she said she didn't know a lot of enzyme biochemistry, and, having come to the discipline late, could never have hoped to catch up on the detailed knowledge that her peers had spent a lifetime cultivating.

[From Wikipedia]. What she did know about was engineering, having graduated in 1979 with a B.S. degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering from Princeton University, where she focused on solar energy research. In addition to the courses required for her major, she took classes in economics, Russian, and Italian, and envisioned herself as becoming a diplomat or CEO, even considering getting an advanced degree in international affairs. She took a year off from Princeton after her second year to travel to Italy and work in a factory that made nuclear reactor parts, then returned to complete her studies.

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