New Technology

While the world has been debating whether we live on a flat plain or a globe, technology has been developing at a rapid pace behind the scenes. Below are a few examples of New Technology that will change your worldview.

The first two technological advancements come from the far east. China has developed the first agricultural formula that changes desert sand into fertile land. So far they've been able to grow corn, tomatoes, sunflowers and other vegetables on over two hundred hectares of sand. This amazing feat was achievable by mixing sand, water and a paste made from natural substances found in the cell walls of plants. The substances (which are not named) are extracted from the plant wall and combined with other ingredients. Once the paste is combined with sand it has the ability to retain water, nutrients, and oxygen. All the necessary ingredients for growing crops.



The second big advancement to come out of China builds upon research that's already twenty years old. China has successfully cloned the first primates. They cloned two Macaque monkeys inside a lab. Although these Macaques are amazing and China is celebrating a groundbreaking achievement. They were not the first to clone a mammal. The first cloned animal was a sheep named Dolly. Dolly, the sheep was cloned in 1996 by a research team from Edinburgh, Scotland. The research team in China is building upon their achievements. The big difference between Dolly and the Macaques is that Macaque monkeys are primates the same as humans. This brings up big ethical questions on how close we are to cloning humans and what regulations are in place if some rogue research team actually tries it.



Next on our list is a relatively unknown device called EyeDetect. This machine has better accuracy than the polygraph and doesn't require tape and wires to be attached to the skin. EyeDetect is a high-resolution infrared camera designed to capture pupil dilation, blink rate, and focal fixation to register if you're lying or telling the truth. This non-intrusive test can tell with over 85% accuracy if a person is lying in thirty minutes. It can also give an estimation of whether they're being deceptive in five minutes. Consider this... the polygraph was invented almost one hundred years ago. This is the first successful invention since that time to actually give it competition. Since EyeDetect isn't 100% accurate it would be better utilized in conjunction with the standard polygraph to give an almost 100% accuracy rate.




Last is a device that looks eerily similar to the devices used in the 2005 action, science fiction film The Island to grow clones. There is an artificial womb that was used to grow a lamb. This device basically needs the fertilized egg and some nutrients fed through a tube to grow a full sized animal. A group of students came up with a concept incubator following that same premise. It's the incubator that looks exactly like the ones used in the film...except smaller. Is art copying science or is science being masked as art. Make your own decision. Below are videos of both the artificial womb and concept incubator. One thing I can say for sure is we're living in interesting technological times.