Ray Kurzweil, inventor and futurist, has reportedly written, "A new generation of panels based on nanotechnology (which manipulates matter at the level of molecules) is starting to overcome these obstacles. The tipping point at which energy from solar panels will actually be less expensive than fossil fuels is only a few years away. The power we are generating from solar is doubling every two years; at that rate, it will be able to meet all our energy needs within 20 years."
I say "reportedly" because the publication in which I read this quote didn't cite the source (The S & A Digest dated today).
I cite Kurzweil's quote because his is not a mind to be ignored. The man is a card-carrying genius with a bag full of high-tech inventions to his credit and another bag of books on science and futurology. You can read the Wikipedia article about him for an overview or the article in the latest Wired to find out why he takes 200 vitamin and mineral supplements a day as he awaits "the singularity" (read the article).
So if Kurzweil thinks we'll be living with solar power in 20 years—and therefore weaned off our addiction to oil, foreign and domestic, and its negative climate impact—I wouldn't bet against him.
I say "reportedly" because the publication in which I read this quote didn't cite the source (The S & A Digest dated today).
I cite Kurzweil's quote because his is not a mind to be ignored. The man is a card-carrying genius with a bag full of high-tech inventions to his credit and another bag of books on science and futurology. You can read the Wikipedia article about him for an overview or the article in the latest Wired to find out why he takes 200 vitamin and mineral supplements a day as he awaits "the singularity" (read the article).
So if Kurzweil thinks we'll be living with solar power in 20 years—and therefore weaned off our addiction to oil, foreign and domestic, and its negative climate impact—I wouldn't bet against him.
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Stop...You're going too fast...It's hard to keep up! No, seriously, I do love the information you have been posting. It makes me feel like I have a little more knowledge about gardening, technology, theology, health, and now, the future:) I look forward to having solar panels one day.
ReplyDeletelove, Jen
Check out http://www.nano.sc.edu/ for current information on interdisciplinary investigation into nanotechnology at the University of South Carolina. Several professors in the philosophy department are key members of this group.
ReplyDeleteOn our homepage, http://www.cas.sc.edu/phil/, you can see that both George Khushf and Kevin Elliot have received recent grants from the NSF to investigate further implications of this new technology.
In other words, here is something ethicists do. They ask important questions about emerging technologies and the interaction with the human community and the environment.
Our department has received a bunch of funding from government agencies in the form of grants specifically to look into nano-stuff. It must be important.
Thanks for the nano-post.
daniel
Pretty impressive -- one doesn't think of the ethical implications of such, so it's good there are philosophers, et al, keeping tabs on the "radically disruptive technologies" (to quote the title of one of the studies, which quotes Clayton Christenson at Harvard who formulated the idea of "disruptive innovations/technologies" -- stuff that happens that results in old markets becoming chaotic and new markets become profitable. Solar, and certainly nano, definitely qualifies. Thanks for the USC link.
ReplyDelete