Genetically Modified Humans Are Created

The genetically modified organisms (GMO) are corn, tomato, soy, cow.. and the latest addition was human.

Photo from NASA

There is a “drug” that will cure a rare fat production disrupting disease by modifying a damaged gene; and 1 or 2 people in a million will get the treatment. You may think that it’s not that bad, at most there could be two people per million to be modified. That’s not the only story.

30 genetically modified babies are already created in the US. The cover reason behind this is parents having problems conceiving. 2 of those babies have gene combinations from 3 different parents. Now these parents will have a more favorable life, as the geneticists state, “this genetic modification method may one day be used to create genetically modified babies ‘with extra, desired characteristics such as strength or high intelligence’” (Gucciardi, 2012).

There are no policies guiding genetic modifications of humans, and powerhouse countries are taking advantage of it. Human stem cells are implanted on goats in China; human brain cells are embedded on mice in the US; 150 human-animal hybrids are grown in the labs of UK.

We don’t know what these monsters are for. Maybe for research to treat diseases, maybe something else. What we know is the government funds scientists and biotech companies to achieve “a much larger feat – genetically modified humans in the form of ‘super soldiers’” (Waking Times, 2012).

Rats that ate genetically modified corn either became ill or died (Mestel, 2012). Let’s say we take away ethics, GMO’s safety is still not guaranteed. But the bigger issue here is invasion of GMOs. When you put a genetically modified plant in a field, it could potentially affect the other plants by sucking all the nutrients from the land. Via survival of the fittest, the GMO plant will persist and reproduce until the rest of the field is full of GMOs.

Now that we have genetically modified humans, are we breeding a new class in the society, a group called the “superior race”? How long can us, the normal race, will last? At the time the GMO babies reproduce, the spread will start.

Now that scientists are claiming that they could trace the “criminal gene”, it may not be too long to produce another drug to isolate that gene; and thus, controlling humanity. People started thinking that we could correct the disordered genes. When will they stop? Until they produced the perfect human? Perfect is not characteristic of human at all.

Are you scared of the genetically modified people living with us?

Sources:
Study points to health problems with genetically modified foods; LA Times
Genetically Modified Babies ‘Created’ in US – The World’s First; Natural Society
Genetically Modified Humans? New Gene-Altering Drug Paves Way for Mass Modification; Waking Times
150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labs: Embryos have been produced secretively for the past three years; Dailymail UK

Future of Money: Papers and Coins will be Missed

Electronic money is replacing papers and coins.

Photo from mangpages’ flickr

We get more incentives when we use our debit/credit card to pay for our purchases. Points accumulate to discounts and even cash. It is more convenient as you only have to scan your card, no counting of paper money and no burden of the clinking coins. I don’t see why we won’t use this.

Apple is rumored to be developing “Near Field Communication” feature in their devices. When brought to fruition, people can use their iPhone and iPad to do the paying for them. The latest software of Apple though has Passbook. It has the all the coupons you need. Another coupon managing application that is more accessible to most smartphones is Groupon.

75% of the world’s population has mobile phones (Fitzpatrick, 2012). As smartphones increase in popularity, its functionality of being a wallet is emerging. You can now use PayPal for store transactions, a leap from their famous online paying platform. Google Wallet keeps the record of your debit and credit accounts for in-store and online use. All you need to do is tap your phone to pay.

Money has changed many times, and maybe we’re seeing another cycle right now. It is argued that the oldest form of money is cattle, around 9000 to 6000 B.C.. Then money, well, became easier to tame as people used the “most widely and longest used currency in history”, Cowrie shells. And through the course, it became bronze, copper, leather, paper and gold (NOVA, 1996).

It’s rather queer that the modern money is transitioning from tangible to abstract. The future of money is imaginary but still agreed money. People would have to believe that they’re working for money that will go directly to their bank and accessible via their phone. They won’t have to see them. Oh, I guess neither will we see our wallets.

Do you like the future’s electronic money?

Sources
The History of Money; Nova
Apple Plans Service That Lets IPhone Users Pay With Handsets; Bloomberg
75% of World Has Access to Mobile Phones; Mashable
Inspired by BennyBuzz’s Future of Money 

The Horoscope Believers

You know your zodiac sign, but does that mean anything to you?

Photo from Remko van Dokkum’s flickr

My horoscope says, “you will receive money today”. Well, fantastic! Give it to me! Then I realize, there are a lot of cancers in the world. Either we’re all getting richer today or I have to be fast and get that money. The latter makes more sense since it says “you”, pertaining a person. Damn, it’s me against the rest of the canny crustaceans.

My friend’s horoscope reading is wackier. It says that it is a good day to buy a new sink. I don’t know where she read that and I don’t think the stars mean that. Whoever made the interpretation is potentially high.

A Haris Poll in 2009 tells us who the believers of horoscope are.  Majority of them are women. A quarter of Americans are horoscope adherents. Another quarter of Catholics are also horoscope believers. 100% of students in England “know their star sign, 70% read their horoscopes regularly and 85% agree that the description of their birth sign describes their personality” (Currey, 2009). And according to USA Today, the fastest growing group of believers are executives and professionals.

In 2004, horoscope is the most searched term in AOL. It remains in the top generic searches in the internet since internet.

Astrology employs 6,000 to 8,000 professionals in America. To become one, you must be certified. The Kepler College of Astrological Arts and Sciences in Seattle is the first to offer BS and MA in Astrological studies.

It is amusing how the description of cancer somewhat fits my personality and it is entertaining to read wacky horoscope readings. But I stopped long ago from monitoring my horoscope because I see it as a guide for my future and I don’t want it.

Are you one of the horoscope believers?

Sources:
Twenty facts about astrology; The Telegraph
One quarter of Americans ‘believe’ in astrology; Astrology.co.uk
Most Popular Words, Terms and Phrases Searched for on Internet; Suite 101
‘Horoscopes’ is AOL’s most searched word; The Register

Punishing Before and After Crimes

There is technology that can detect thoughts that  might, or will, lead to a crime.

Photo from photoXpress

Is it ethically responsible to hold people in detention for crimes they are going to commit in the future?

Normally, you will be sentenced to prison for a crime you committed in the past. The punishment is a reaction to your crime. If you’d commit murder, you would be in prison for 30 years or so, maybe for the rest of your life. We see this as a normal thing, but were you accountable for what you did? Probably so, unless you have a mental disorder. It is very hard to draw the line between those two. Doesn’t everyone who commits murder have a mental disorder? The real question is whether someone will commit murder again. If you have a mental disorder you aren’t expected to. You’re just a case of chance.

But if you’re not a case of chance, and you have been in prison for 29 years, with one year left, are you at that moment still accountable for what you did 29 years ago? How long does a punishment have to last? The worse the crime, the longer the imprisonment. But do those 30 years re-awake the dead person? Do they take away the guilt?

In the Netherlands the police is punishing people for crimes they committed, 4 years ago. People who uploaded videos of illegal sets of fireworks a few years ago are being held accountable for it now. Is this not a strange way of punishing, when people don’t even remember the video existing on YouTube?

What if you’re sentenced for a crime you are going to commit in the future? In the movie Minority Report gifted humans predict that John, the main character, will commit murder in 36 hours. John doesn’t even know the victim at that moment, but he is sentenced for murder. If pre-crime detection were possible in our world, would we use it? Are you accountable for a murder you are going to commit, without yourself knowing yet? We’d say it’s impossible to prove a future crime, but what if the government says the pre-crime detection is certainly right?

Video:
Indefinite Detention for Future Crime

Upcoming Technology: Seen from June 2012

People say that the prime of today’s technology is always laughable for the future’s citizen of the world.

In the earlier times, I mean way earlier, it is magical to see yourself in paper. To take a photograph, you need to pose for whole 8 hours in front of a box as bulky as your grandmother’s cabinet. And the photograph will fade soon after, waving goodbye to 8 hours of smiling. That is their breakthrough technology; and now we just hope all the photos people post online will fade all at once, and never appear again.

Camera Obscura. Photo from hayleylewis.wordpress.com

Today, June 2012, we see what’s coming in the future’s technological facet. Thanks to the hints of the industry and company players, we have the glimpse of what’s coming ahead. This is just to remind us that what we could have today will be childish compared to what they’ll release in the future.

Cars gone auto and gasless. I know automatic cars are rampant in our roads, but automatic is not the apt name for it. I call this new one automatic automatic car because it’s beyond our definition of automatic car. Google named it Google’s self-driving car. It’s a car that drives on its own, powered by computer that is programmed to know traffic rules and human behavior. Okay, goodluck with human behavior but someday, dads won’t need to drive their son to soccer game because their car is on self-drive.

A month ago, Nevada became the first state that approved operation of Google’s self-drive car. They have a red license plate and a Greek infinity symbol so people know and they won’t freak out upon seeing that no one’s driving it.

There are a few gasless cars available for purchase now; but as long as gas aren’t depleted, we won’t see it taking over. However, when car makers produce more gasless cars than the usual gas-dependent, people would turn to it. It’s cheaper and it’s environment friendly. Electric cars are on the move, oxygen powered are in development and even cars turn invisible with hydrogen fuel.

Cloud services for all. Yesterday, I got myself a Nokia Lumia 900. Unlike the iPhone and the rest of smartphones, it only comes in 16GB. It made the price cheaper and constant, but it doesn’t mean the memory is compromised. It is embedded with Microsoft’s SkyDrive where you store your music, videos, photos and documents in your online hard drive. Your phone will simultaneously sync to it whenever you need to access your files, say you want to listen to Dave Matthews Band. In turn, my phone’s memory is wide as the sky.

Apple also has its cloud services, called iCloud that syncs all your files to all your iOS devices. Add to that, there are emerging cloud storage services like Dropbox or JustCloud. External and internal hard drives will be needless in the future; and this cloud service will also travel to gaming consoles like Xbox Live.

Microsoft Surface. Photo from digitaltrends.com

Kicking and screaming Windows. Windows Phone came out and it’s rocking. The software is creative and beautiful. If you have common sense, you won’t need any support for it because it’s user friendly. Android is still number one, followed by iOS; but according to market analysts at IDC, the new player Windows Phone will overtake Apple’s iOS market share by 2016, Google’s Android will remain the top spot but will drop to 52.9 % share.

Microsoft also announced Surface. When iPad and the resembling tablets teared our eyes for the futuristic device, we soon realized that it doesn’t do much. It is cool and portable but it cannot replace the functionality of a Laptop. Now with the upcoming Microsoft Surface, tablet and laptop are fused as one – and the crossover looks promising. But I’m shooting here, we can’t say any more until we’ve tried one with our own hands.

Transparent TV. Photo from gizmowatch.com

“Find me” – TV. Television has a history full of gimmicks. It started with black and white, then they put some colors, and then full colors. It has gone bigger and bigger to slimmer and slimmer. They added an extra dimension with 3DTV, and now the SmartTV, where you can go online and chat while watching football.

The latest they have is a transparent TV. You can’t easily see it because it’s transparent until you turn it on, or you bump into it.

Never say charge. You hate charging right? Cellphones can go off at the best time you needed it. You can’t find an outlet or you didn’t bring your charger but you need to call your brother to bring you a sponge, so what are you gonna do? In the future, we may never have to re-charge our devices again. Nokia’s developers are working on a prototype that uses radio waves to charge your phone even when it’s resting. And radio waves are just in the air, so our phones will never ran out of battery.

There is a technology that is called wireless power technology. It transmits electrons between two coils without the need of wires. That means, we can charge our devices wirelessly.

Which technology looks promising to you?

More Moments for you:
Life Upgrades
Keeping Up With The Techians
Unnecessary Technological Upgrades

Source:
IDC claims Windows Phone will overtake IOS in 2016; The Inquirer
Nokia developing technology to charge phones from ambient radio waves?; phoneArena
Wireless power could revolutionize highway transportation, researchers say; PHYS ORG