51–60 of 64 posts
I am interested in both robotics and agriculture, specifically small scale agriculture such as home hydroponics and container gardening. I would create a company based on the idea of combining the two fields in order to help bring technology and automation to the process of growing healthy food in limited spaces.
ps: if youre asking for inspiration because you actually got the money, dont forget to gimme a share ;]
I read Jared Diamond's book "Collapse" a few years ago and it certainly is a sobering book. I would agree with its thesis that we face a distinct possibility of our high tech "Western" society crashing - and due to the Threads linking us together this crash could be pretty hard. I would use the 100 million to investigate possible ways of mitigating the effects of such a crash. As the actual causes would be essentiall…
I don't know why threats.org is down at the moment; perhaps it's due to the fact that there weren't that many people willing to actually help with the non-profit a few months ago.
http://continuations.com/post/106672598/looking-for-help-in-...
Prototype vertical farms. It's my new obsession. The UN projects that arable land will decline to 1/3 acre per person by 2050 (down from 1 acre/person in 1970). I'd buy up a few old mill buildings (they're all over New England, where I live), and convert them to combination indoor farms using hydroponic or aeroponic growing systems, living space (for farmers), and retail space (to sell the food to the community and o…
Move to Detroit. See http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=930868 and http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab0802... Me and a friend have a half-baked (in more ways than one) idea that it would be fun to move to Detroit and get into aquaculture. It's something we managed to romanticize. Give it some steam-punk marketing aesthetic for giggles. (I think half the value of HN is being able to browse your o…
I would use the rest of the money (there would be a LOT leftover) to send teams of techs with portable equipment to poor areas and then inject these studies into the radiologist's work queues so they get analyzed for free.
I think this could be a self-sustaining system where the profits from reading studies could pay for the charity work.
I read Jared Diamond's book "Collapse" a few years ago and it certainly is a sobering book. I would agree with its thesis that we face a distinct possibility of our high tech "Western" society crashing - and due to the Threads linking us together this crash could be pretty hard. I would use the 100 million to investigate possible ways of mitigating the effects of such a crash. As the actual causes would be essentiall…
I would establish a huge prize for finding the most efficient way to teach the principles of rational thinking and economics to society. And then I'd spend the rest of the money on establishing that teaching method so that everyone can benefit, regardless of prior education or status. This will lead to a better society.
Makes me think the people most able to teach these principles would rely on them to avoid your contest.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I just read his book. Interesting in a Popular Science magazine type way. I mostly enjoyed the fact that de Grey -- a guy who champions vastly extended lifespans -- dresses like a freaking wizard. The photo on the back cover has him sporting a long wizard-like beard with a very colorful, starfish print shirt. I'd almost donate to him just for that.
If you want something that is less popular science (the book was after all written for a popular audience), check out his papers. Yes, his beard probably gets more ink than anything else. That's sad in a way (don't judge a book by its cover), but it's probably also good in another way, since it makes him pretty unforgettable.
And I do agree with you that it makes him unforgettable. I personally think it is done with deliberation. To a certain degree, he is going to be treated as a quack. He even says so often. By dressing the part of Gandalf the Gray he's almost openly mocking them.