The Blue Board

A true sign of the decentralization of power and influence the internet has achieved: Exaflop super computing is being predicted as up and operational in the West by 2017. A dedicated, government funded effort in India of all places though said if they arent up and running by early 2016 they'd be shocked. They are also working on a system they project to produce 134.2 exaflops when done.

Exaflop computers would only be used for major simulations done by weather services, governments, etc for probably a decade as some believe the jump to Zetaflop being almost more theoretical than possible. But the emergence of exaflop computing would make teraflop computing ubiquitous and wildly cheap. Teraflop laptops would have near limitless functionality in terms of the software we have or are working on now. Would be awesome. Industry would explode with these revelations.

There's a million of these stories and then most Americans are familiar with the joke, "Looks like government work" which usually describes any situation where there are 3-4 folks out doing something but only one is working and then there's like 3 supervisors. And THIS is the organization that we give $714B a year out of our own pockets!!!!

My other argument is that the military, while in theory is ready to do so, has never been for protecting America. Nobody has the balls or means to even try. Our military has been for a single purpose, mobilizing into regions that have gone into turmoil, stabilizing situation, attempt to proliferate our culture and ideals. But we dont need a military to do that anymore!

If all we had done in Iraq and Afghanistan is lay cable/internet infrastructure and flood the country with cheap laptop computers we could have sat back and watched them spit out their government like rotten food. It's information that we need to provide these people and they will inherently desire democracy, free markets, hyperspecialization, education and personal freedom.

Yeah but despite being a GDP% there should have been a glass ceiling somewhere around 450 billion. JMO.

USA = 714
China = 141
Russia = 74

Those are the three leading defense expenditures. Screw it being a GDP%, our number is illogical.

The OCO is one of the best examples of how we could cut billions and not lose quality. We built and negotiated all these OCO bases so we could be anywhere in the world within three hours. Shut down 2/3s of those bases and build two new Gerald Ford class carriers and we are good to go.

Decentralize, ramp up the technology, revamp expenditure policies and our military will improve AND cheapen.

Great article BLF

Here's one on potential findings at least progressing our understanding of space and nearing us to the complete, unified law of physics.

Imagine, for a moment, what a unified Human Space Agency could achieve in 2035 and thereafter with a unified theory of physics, zeta flop computers and exaflop operating robots.

I've been saying it for a year or two, we need to work on missions to Mars as practice but when I hear someone refer to Mars as the destination it almost angers me. We arent going to Mars folks. We will find an Earth twin or better and go there. I really believe that. Within 15 light years distance.

I wish we could get it going.

Sorry guys, I should be contributing more here.

This is an incredibly cool concept that I've been looking at a lot recently - wireless in-road charging of electric vehicles. IMO, this is the future of transportation - we could practically eliminate gas.

Yeah, in an ideal world, roads could just be inlaid with solar panels and wireless chargers, so the roads would essentially be generating all the electricity needed for traffic signals, streetlights, and the vehicles themselves. I only hope I live to see some of these incredible ideas come to fruition.

Not sure how old you are but the next twenty five years will see a totally new human experience arrive. Robotics will be ubiquitous by 2030 according to nearly any prediction you can find. By 2040 there will be some real iRobot stuff going on. Not the war and ridiculousness, but those new models basically being in every home will be real. They will have lab on a chip technologies as well as a full surgical suite. Your home robot will be a portable world class hospital and that's not even what his purpose is.

Yea. Sadly. Luckily those people are a shrinking minority.

I'm 24, so by no means an old guy. I'm simply hoping that any political barriers that would stand in the way of so many scientific advances are broken down quickly. The incredible opposition to stem cell research is just so maddening.

It's an antiquated debate. We don't even need embryonic stem cells anymore but the words stem cell have such a stigma, it might as well be.