Sort of the ultimate heads-up display - contact lenses with a computer monitor built in so you see what the computer's displaying overlaid on your field of vision. Not that long ago it was purely science fiction. Now there are prototypes working in the lab. Only used in a rabbit's eyes now but obviously, not that far in the future for human beings.

The same article also has a piece about retinal implants. Electronic gadgetry to help the blind to see.

link

Quote from: arpad on November 21, 2011, 08:47:43 PM
Sort of the ultimate heads-up display - contact lenses with a computer monitor built in so you see what the computer's displaying overlaid on your field of vision. Not that long ago it was purely science fiction. Now there are prototypes working in the lab. Only used in a rabbit's eyes now but obviously, not that far in the future for human beings.

The same article also has a piece about retinal implants. Electronic gadgetry to help the blind to see.

link

Now that would be GREAT!!!!!!

Work on vision prosthetics has been going on for some time. It's a tough nut to crack since it requires direct stimulation of the brain but back in 2002 a blind guy, using vision prosthetics, successfully drove a car around a parking lot - link

But to get back to the "Terminator"-style contact lenses, here's a link - and as usual Gizmag is almost completely empty of even the detail available.

It's an early prototype that uses non-breathable lenses. That means it can't be worn for more then a short time. Also, it hasn't according to what little I've read, been fitted to a human being. Rabbits only so far. Last, it only controls a single LED which means not an image but a point of light shows up in the visual field. But as I wrong, it's an early prototype that integrates all the pieces necessary - communications link, processor, "image" source and optics.

It'll be interesting to see how quickly the technology develops.

How odd, I was just talking about this re: the future and humanity.
I fear that man will become so connected, that he will become too dependent upon it, that if ever severed from the collective, he would have a nervous breakdown.

I give it 30 years and we will start hearing stories of suicide when someone was excommunicated from the hive.

"excommunicated from the hive"?  :))

OK, Dr. Arpad prescribes less in the way of the SciFi channel distopian epics for you.

Sure there'll be problems but they'll be good problems. Kind of like one of the problems of cheap food is obesity. Obesity might kill you, although that's a lot less certain outcome then calorie fascists like to portray, but starvation will kill you every time.

Quote from: arpad on November 25, 2011, 06:14:21 AM
"excommunicated from the hive"?  :))

OK, Dr. Arpad prescribes less in the way of the SciFi channel distopian epics for you.

Sure there'll be problems but they'll be good problems. Kind of like one of the problems of cheap food is obesity. Obesity might kill you, although that's a lot less certain outcome then calorie fascists like to portray, but starvation will kill you every time.

When I say connected, I'm not just referencing individuals, I'm talking about the entire network.
In just the last few decades the country has become dependent on the chip.

Now fast forward 50 years, when everyone on the planet is connected in some way.
Whether its stop lights or appliances in the house.
Now consider a magnetic storm taking out our network.
Power lines catching fire, transformers exploding, all power out across the globe.

I'm not saying its a certainty, but if it were to happen and probably will, most people will simply be unable to function.
We are already overly dependent on computers such as satellites, without them our transportation network would shut down, the military would be blind,
cell phones would cease to function, the list is endless, and thats current, just think 50 years from now.

Just think if the web were to go down this moment from an electric storm (plasma burst), there is so much dependent on it, from the Fed, to local gov, to cars failing on the spot.
NaASA is calling for a big magnetic storm in 2012.

http://www.solarstorms.org/SRefStorms.html

And no, I haven't a dystopian view on life, just an observer of human nature.

But then, if I am, so is our Gov, considering they're preparing for such an event.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/sww/SWW_2011_Presentations/tues_340p/Extreme_Solar_WeatherandCCPublicV2.pdf&embedded=true&chrome=true

One of my main beefs with worries like what you've described is that they inevitably ignore the fact that our ability to deal with disasters has increased along with the complexity of our society and our technology. We're dependent on technology but that technology provides resources that wouldn't exist but for that technology.

Your concern about EMPs, natural or man-made, isn't entirely without merit. Obviously since there have been widespread power outages due to solar storms and inadvertent damage from man-made EMPs. But dealing with EMPs really isn't that big a deal. The military's been doing it for decades and mostly it's a matter of designing to deal with the problem. Hardening electronics is much less of a problem when it's done at the design stage. My guess is that somehow, somewhen, some enterprising entrepreneur will figure out a way to sell EMP-hardening as a worthwhile feature of their product. Maybe sweet-talk Underwriter's Laboratory to add EMP-vulnerability as one of their product tests.

Also, when the economy starts to come back my prediction is that electrical backup systems will start to become more popular.

Not because the end of civilization is nigh but because it's so effing unpleasant to be without electricity for even a few hours. I know I've tossed around the idea of installing a natural gas/bottled gas gen-set so we don't have to sit in the dark, except for flashlights and candles, when the power goes down.

I've read about rich guys in Florida installing gen-sets that'll support their full electrical load when the utility grid goes down. They're not anticipating the end of civilization but the interruption of electricity and would rather not swelter for the three days or so it'll take to replace a sub-station transformer that's exploded.

It's wealth that determines how bad the aftermath of disaster can be and we're pretty damned wealthy. Look at the difference between Haiti's response to their earthquake and Japan's response to theirs.

Yes, Japan has a lot of experience with earthquakes and yes, Japan's not the borderline failed state Haiti is but Japan's also a lot wealthier then Haiti and money changes a lot of things.

I just wonder if the thought of no civilization-ending catastrophe scares some people so much that they'd rather focus on civilization ending due to a catasroph.

One problem Arpad, it won't be 1, 5 or a dozen transformers that need replacing, virtually 90% of transformers on power lines will explode from a solar flare like the one in 1859.
Not to mention the fires it will spawn, along with satellite com being down and possibly out altogether, until replacements can be launched.

The inherent problem is, the power lines act like antennas and amplify the effect in concentrating the energy in and to the transformers.
I've studied this subject in depth because many of my customers have had a ton of questions, not to mention my father was an electrical engineer for the Sacramento power district and was a wealth of information.
Point is, its not an "if" it happens, but when.

Did you read the FEMA page regarding a blast?
They have a rating from 1 to 5, of course a 5 is worst case scenario, but a 1 has a chance of serious disruption.
Go and read it, you might be surprised just how much damage can take place when it happens.
Oh, and these transformers aren't quite readily available, some take years to replace.

First, we know that solar mass ejections like the one that hit earth in 1859 are rare events. Mostly since one of similar magnitude hasn't occurred since. Second, preparation for such an eventuality is a function of perceived risk and cost, and the wealth of the risk-taker.

The reason ships have life boats is because ships sinking is hardly rare event and people dying is a very high cost. But lifeboats were once open boats with oars. Now many are fully-enclosed with engines, supplies and motors. We're richer so we can afford not just life boats but pretty damned good life boats.

Similarly, if the perceived risk of an 1859-style SME is high and the perceived cost is high, we'll move to protect ourselves. If that event occurs tomorrow, or for some time into the future, we're screwed although I wonder if we're as thoroughly screwed as you seem to believe. Like I wrote up the thread, a technologically-advanced culture is vulnerable in ways a more backward culture isn't but a technologically-advanced culture has resources a backward culture can't dream of.

One resource they didn't have in 1859 was a solar "weather" monitoring system which could give us some significant warning, allowing for defensive measures to be taken, preparatory to the impact of the solar mass ejection. We have that capability now, albeit not anywhere near as sophisticated and capable as it ought to be. We're also getting wealthy enough that, were the danger widely enough recognized, I could see a non-governmental solar-monitoring satellite array being being emplaced. Bill Gates, Brian Allen and quite a few other folks are so wealthy that were they to be convinced not enough was being done to mitigate this danger they could step in themselves.

How's that scenario play out if we've got from hours to days to prepare for the event?

Just scanned that FEMA article you linked - the Google link didn't say anything about "FEMA" so I just guessed that was the link you were referring too - and a couple of things jumped out:

- 1859 Carrington-Hodgson superstorm was the largest in the last 500 years (determined statistically for sure) and such storms appear to occur roughly every 500-600 years.

- Destructive superstorms may occur roughly once in every 100 years. It has been 90 years since the "Great Storm" 1921 (which means something but not as much as some might read into the last sentence).

- The North American Power Grid is vulnerable but at least some electric utility providers are implementing mitigation and response measures (italics mine).

The biggest dangers appears to be our relatively low state of societal preparation for such an event and the very wide spread nature of the event. I guess what we have to hope for is a rather smaller event that has a real, wide spread but not catastrophic impact to convince us that the danger's real. That or hope the real deal doesn't show up for a couple of decades by which time we'll be wealthy enough and capable enough to deal much more easily with a solar superstorm.