#Transhumanists are often bio-phobic; they forget biological organisms are #machines too.
Originally shared by Singularity 2045
#Transhumanists are often bio-phobic; they forget biological organisms are #machines too. In the not too distant future we will rewrite the code of biological systems to create absolutely anything.
At the moment we are hardly scratching the surface, but gene-therapy, synbio, and biotech already reveal awesome possibilities.
Here is an article from PopSci (20 May 2015) regarding a synthesis of #bacteria and concrete, to create self-healing concrete. Biocrete?
At the moment this biocrete is a crude exploitation of #biological potential. In the future bacteria and other organisms will be re-engineered in novel ways, to produce astounding solutions. Imagine transforming the bacteria within biocrete into biological computers, while retaining their traditional bacterial qualities, we could then have self-healing super-intelligent biological buildings, perhaps?
PopSci: "The bacteria are packaged in minuscule pellets, which together look like a fine, white powder. These pellets contain dormant Bacillus and/or Sporosarcina bacteria, as well as their food source, calcium lactate. The powdery substances are then mixed into wet concrete before it gets poured into place. When a crack forms and water seeps in, the bacteria "wake up," and start eating the food. As a result, the bacteria excrete a hard limestone filler, which fills in the crack and prevents the water from doing more damage (such as rusting the steel bars that are present in a lot of concrete structures)."
http://www.popsci.com/futuristic-concrete-heals-itself-built-bacteria-0
#Transhumanists are often bio-phobic; they forget biological organisms are #machines too. In the not too distant future we will rewrite the code of biological systems to create absolutely anything.
At the moment we are hardly scratching the surface, but gene-therapy, synbio, and biotech already reveal awesome possibilities.
Here is an article from PopSci (20 May 2015) regarding a synthesis of #bacteria and concrete, to create self-healing concrete. Biocrete?
At the moment this biocrete is a crude exploitation of #biological potential. In the future bacteria and other organisms will be re-engineered in novel ways, to produce astounding solutions. Imagine transforming the bacteria within biocrete into biological computers, while retaining their traditional bacterial qualities, we could then have self-healing super-intelligent biological buildings, perhaps?
PopSci: "The bacteria are packaged in minuscule pellets, which together look like a fine, white powder. These pellets contain dormant Bacillus and/or Sporosarcina bacteria, as well as their food source, calcium lactate. The powdery substances are then mixed into wet concrete before it gets poured into place. When a crack forms and water seeps in, the bacteria "wake up," and start eating the food. As a result, the bacteria excrete a hard limestone filler, which fills in the crack and prevents the water from doing more damage (such as rusting the steel bars that are present in a lot of concrete structures)."
http://www.popsci.com/futuristic-concrete-heals-itself-built-bacteria-0