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Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

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Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#201

Post by blackbear_ »

justusthane wrote: post #28
benevol wrote: post #12

Energy with magnetics: https://www.KryonEngine.org

The great thing about perpetual motion machines is that you don't need to spend a lot of time digging through all the details, and you don't even need to be well-versed in physics, to understand that they're impossible. You just have to know that energy cannot be created or destroyed. Two items of note from their FAQ: > "Except for the usual forces such as mechanical friction, resistance due to air, etc., no major fo…

> The correct application of the Law of Thermodynamics [...] exist in a reality of which 100% is known and understood

Uh, are they really saying that thermodynamics only starts working when we have a perfect understanding of reality, and not a picosecond before that? What the actual duck.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#202

Post by agent281 »

greggsy wrote: post #112
Ftuuky wrote: post #35

Seeing a dude grow human neurons directly connected to a computer chip to make a "human AI", all from his garage [0]. It showed me what is possible with science these days if you have enough dedication and know-how. Made me feel deeply excited and scared for the incoming future. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2YDApNRK3g

The thought of clandestine modding labs and neural implants brings to mind a future similar to Ghost in the Shell.

At this point I feel like people must also be trying to modify their DNA in secret. I wonder if we'll hear some horror stories in the next few years.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#203

Post by gnarcoregrizz »

tricky wrote: post #34

Magnetic resonance focused high intensity ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier in humans to deliver drugs directly to brain tissue - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-12426-9

I'm really hopeful about focused ultrasound for non-invasive treatment of various brain diseases.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#204

Post by littlestymaar »

pkalinowski wrote: post #175

Unreal Keanu: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FeHzQizPDNg people in the comments have no idea it's a deepfake. Without knowing beforehand, I wouldn't recognize it too.

In fairness, Keanu Reeves, like Kristen Stewart, isn't the hardest person to deepfake…

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#206

Post by O__________O »

terramex wrote: post #170
alamortsubite wrote: post #44

This video on Helion impressed me, though admittedly I know very little about nuclear fusion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bDXXWQxK38

Youtube recommended me a good rebuttal of that video yesterday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vUPhsFoniw

Would be super curious to hear Sam’s response to that video given it claims that it’s impossible for it to be a clean reaction, which contradicts statements I believe have heard Sam make about it.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#207

Post by alistairSH »

LeonM wrote: post #158
FeistySkink wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately it's still a thing almost everywhere in EU.

Unfortunately, the EU country I live in does not allow them. And that is unfortunate, because whenever I visit another EU country I find them very useful.

I doubt many people would argue against their usefulness. The problem is management of the scooters when not in use.

Even out in the suburbs, the local sidewalks have them discarded haphazardly. Not in a charging stand, not in a group, just ad hoc lying across the sidewalk. The bike share has dedicated stands for groups of 10-20 bikes - this makes far more sense to me than users just dropping them in the sidewalk or street when they're done riding.

If you're an older pedestrian, or otherwise mobility challenged (but able to walk), they're a nightmare.

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#209

Post by JZL003 »

Thebroser wrote: post #138

Spatial Transcriptomics. Being able to see gene expression at a resolution of a handful of cells in a cross section of tissue is revolutionizing disease research. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-020-01033-y

Cool I work in spatial transcriptomics, it's still early days but not too far off we're going to get great resolution and great capture. Especially for the brain, and maybe even tumor micro-environments it could be really cool

Re: Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal recent technology you have seen?

#210

Post by barbazoo »

lm28469 wrote: post #82
mtmail wrote: post #3

Compost bin that requires a subscription. You send the compost via mail to a processing facility https://www.fastcompany.com/90834481/nests-co-founder-design...

Sometimes (often these days) i can't tell if these things are parodies or real products. It reminds me of Juicero: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juicero In Europe many countries have specific trash bins for food waste, they're collected by the city and reused for compost and biogas. No subscriptions, no investors, no soon to be e-waste wifi and bluetooth connected trash can, no shipping dirt in box

Some of their assumptions seem to be very much US based where "green bins" for garden and food waste might not be a thing? I don't know but where I live in Canada, contents of the green bin definitely don't end up in the landfill like they say. So it's not even a problem that needs solving in many other places.
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