
Ask HN: Sci-Fi things that you would like to become reality - wojciem
What interesting elements of Sci-Fi would you like to see to become reality and what do you think about time horizon for them?
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kleer001
Tech: Time viewing. See: The Light of Other Days [Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen
Baxter]

Horizon: Never. Why? Wormholes don't do that.

Tech: Near infinite storage for nearly free. I'm pretty sure that in my
lifetime most everyday people will no longer delete files or care how big
something is.

Horizon: 10 years tops. Why? Moores law for data storage.

Tech: FTL

Horizon: 50-100 years. Why? I have a sneaking suspicion that there's some
radical new theories about space and time just around the corner.

Tech: Androids

Horizon: 20 years. Why? Almost all the pieces are already here.

Tech: Artificial human wombs

Horizon: 15-50 years. Why? Kinda already here, just needs moral/political
support

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Valgrim
Mind uploading. This opens up a load of other possibilities, like functional
teleportation, living in dangerous environments, etc.

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bloodorange
From Star Trek (Roddenberry era): Prevalence of the idealistic mindset. I do
not, however, have any hope that this will happen.

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bwb
Love it :), i think a lot about this as i talk to so many people who construct
negative narratives by choice...

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gobuchol
Anti-ageing therapy i.e. lifespan extension (also related to medical science
as a longer lifespan also requires dealing with other health issues like
cancer). The technology for the first iteration of this is probably quite
close, within a few decades or by the end of the century at the latest.

It's a thorny issue though. People are afraid of death but paradoxically this
sometimes manifests in resistance to any efforts to address it. I think people
have difficulty dealing with the idea of life extension in an equanimous
manner, as the concept of death is loaded with fear.

So there will be arguments against it from many perspectives: psychological,
philosophical, economic, religious and so on. These arguments can have merit
and warrant due consideration but I think that fear and pessimism should be
balanced with hope and optimism.

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threatmodeler
Free or very cheap sustainable energy. This would be a catalyst for a whole
range of new inventions. Combine this with a more scientific driven earth
under 1 government in a society that rewards reaching ones potential to get
towards the Star Trek type society.

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Vinceo
A 1-government world is dystopic in my view. Where to hide if/when it becomes
tyrannical?

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gshdg
Medical science that can completely heal any injury or illness in minutes or
at most days.

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atarian
Pollution processors (from Master of Orion). I think the closest thing we have
to them are carbon capture plants, which are pretty cool too.

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chewxy
Replicator tech. Post scarcity (within a reasonable pocket of the universe
where there exists a energy inequilibrium).

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tryauuum
Various senses-enhacing implants. Well, simply implants. Would be cool to go
shopping and buy new upgrades for your body.

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muzani
I'm still looking forward to affordable electric cars. Hopefully in the next 5
years?

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bwb
What level is affordable?

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muzani
Where I can buy it off a middle income salary. I live in Asia and they're not
around yet.

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bwb
So maybe 22k usd or less? Curious what that amount is

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muzani
I was thinking more $50k-$100k, but cars here are expensive in general, easily
taking a third of someone's income for 9 years.

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bwb
Gotcha, guessing you are in Singapore then :)

In the USA a model 3 costs around $42k to 58k plus taxes.

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valand
Outer space exploration

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kleer001
we already have that to some extent, can you be more specific?

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potta_coffee
SHAI HULUD

