S&T: converting myth into reality

Science and Technology: Converting myth into Reality

This is a theme which has been discussed before, but I want to look at it in the context of three recent developments.
At the outset, of course, one must pay homage to Arthur C.Clarke's 3rd law:

http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Clarke%27s_Law

Clarke's Law states that:

Any sufficiently advanced form of technology is indistinguishable from magic.

And since myth is about magic, that just about says it all.

It is a truism that the remote controls that we use so nonchalantly are akin to magic wands. The next step was taken by Prof.Kevin Warwick who, in 1999, embedded a remote control in his body which could control lights, doors, computers, etc... "Look Ma! No wand!"

http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/10/20/cyborg/index2.html

However, the remote control today seems prosaic and quotidian.

Something much more magical is the cloak of invisibility, used by Harry Potter, but probably a lot older. I would have to search out the oldest, but here is the link for "Prince Bairam and the Fairy Bride" which mentions an 'invisible cap"(Charles Swynnerton: Indian Nights' Entertainment. Folk-Tales from the Upper Indus. London 1892, Nr. 82.):

http://www.maerchenlexikon.de/etexte/400/te400-010.htm,

Although H.G.Wells's The Invisible Man is probably the first full-fledged science fiction novel discussing the idea. A few years ago, at Duke University, the 'cloak of invisibility' was first demonstrated in two dimensions and at one wavelength in the microwave region.

http://www.physorg.com/news80488753.html

It was pointed out that you would need much better precision to attain invisibility in the visible wavelength (since wavelengths are much shorter than the microwave), but this too has been recently (Aug.2008) achieved - almost - using metamaterials:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080811092450.htm

Not only that, acoustic cloaking has also been demonstrated:

http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/20912/?a=f

That means, in principle, a cloak that prevents anyone from seeing or hearing you could be made...
Anyway, the details of how these feats are being achieved are best left to those who are developing them...The point I want to make is that scientists and technologists, very systematically, are creating these embodiments of ancient myths, with even add-ons (like acoustic cloaking) that may not have occurred to early dreamers but will certainly appeal to users (spies, thieves, soldiers...)

The second myth I want to discuss is the idea of shape-shifters e.g. werewolves. Apart from the horrific and lunatic elements of these stories, one can envisage that there might be advantages to being able to change your shape at will, in a protean fashion. A recent innovation by BMW is the shape-shifting car. I know: it isn't the same thing, but one has to start somewhere...

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca.html

The hydraulic actuators allow the owner to change the shape of the car e.g. wider fenders, spoiler: yes or no...Of course, it's just a concept car, covered with fabric, that's going to end up in the museum. But it is a demonstration, a proof of concept.

A more radical idea is that of shape-shifting robots, that might be able to reconfigure their modular bodies from a worm-like shape suitable for tunneling through drainage ducts to something like a crane, suited for heavy lifting. The video link is for a robot that "starts from a short tower, changes to a carousel, a walking spider, battle robot and lastly a tank":

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/03/30/shape-shifting-robot-video/

The last thing I want to discuss is the Jack the Beanstalk story. We all know the rest of the story about the giant, but let us stick to the beanstalk: a device for getting higher, way above the clouds. Actually, no known material could sustain its own weight if it got that high, and most certainly no beanstalk. But the concept of the space elevator could well render rockets and space shuttles irrelevant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_elevator

The space elevator was proposed by the visionary Russian scientist Konstantin Tsiolkosky in 1895. It is a cable that extends from Earth's surface to the geostationary orbit 36,000 kms away. It is theorized that carbon nanotubes are strong enough, but technologically no one yet knows how to make them long enough! Current status: "On February 13, 2006 the LiftPort Group announced that, earlier the same month, they had tested a mile of "space-elevator tether" made of carbon-fiber composite strings and fiberglass tape measuring 5 cm wide and 1 mm (approx. 6 sheets of paper) thick, lifted with balloons." Way to go! Just about 20,000 miles, in fact...

The moral of these three stories is that S&T are well on their way to translating myths into reality: cloaks of invisibility and inaudibility, shape-shifting cars and robots, and space elevators.

Essentially, science and technology are a powerful dynamic duo that systematically make ancient dreams real. Can they do everything? Probably not, but there's an awful lot that they can do.
It is meet that one closes this blog with Clarke's 1st law:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarke%27s_three_laws

1. When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.
2. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.
3. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.