It always feels like some form of VR tech comes out with some sort of fanfare and with a promise it will take over the world, but it never does.

  • notsosure@sh.itjust.works
    104·
    10 hours ago

    The hype around biotech. It has been around for 40 years, and the next big thing is just around the corner, but progress is always much slower than all predictions. Nuclear fusion will be available in ten years time; I’ve heard that in 1970, 1980, 1990 etc etc. Conquering the solar system, the universe - perhaps in 1000 years?

      • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
        3·
        7 hours ago

        solving word hunger?

        So, this was principally artificial selection to modify plants rather than genetic engineering (and I think that most people who say ‘biotech’ in 2026 mean genetic engineering), but there were a lot of people who did anticipate global famines until we made some substantial technological advancements with plants some decades back:

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Revolution

        The Green Revolution, or the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period during which technology transfer initiatives resulted in a significant increase in crop yields.[1][2] These changes in agriculture initially emerged in developed countries in the early 20th century and subsequently spread globally until the late 1980s.[3] In the late 1960s, farmers began incorporating new technologies, including high-yielding varieties of cereals, particularly dwarf wheat and rice, and the widespread use of chemical fertilizers (to produce their high yields, the new seeds require far more fertilizer than traditional varieties[4]), pesticides, and controlled irrigation.

        At the same time, newer methods of cultivation, including mechanization, were adopted, often as a package of practices to replace traditional agricultural technology.[5] This was often in conjunction with loans conditional on policy changes being made by the developing nations adopting them, such as privatizing fertilizer manufacture and distribution.[4]

        Both the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation were heavily involved in its initial development in Mexico.[6][7] A key leader was agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the “Father of the Green Revolution”, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. He is credited with saving over a billion people from starvation.[8] Another important scientific figure was Yuan Longping, whose work on hybrid rice varieties is credited with saving at least as many lives.[9] The basic approach was the development of high-yielding varieties of cereal grains, expansion of irrigation infrastructure, modernization of management techniques, distribution of hybridized seeds, synthetic fertilizers, and pesticides to farmers. As crops began to reach the maximum improvement possible through selective breeding, genetic modification technologies were developed to allow for continued efforts.[10][11]

        Studies show that the Green Revolution contributed to widespread eradication of poverty, averted hunger for millions, raised incomes, increased greenhouse gas emissions, reduced land use for agriculture, and contributed to declines in infant mortality.[12][13][14][15][16][17][excessive citations]

    • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
      11·
      10 hours ago

      It’s not very high profile, but there are definitely a number of major plant cultivars that have been genetically engineered.

      searches

      https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/adoption-of-genetically-engineered-crops-in-the-united-states/recent-trends-in-ge-adoption

      We just don’t really talk about it much, because the changes are things like better disease resistance or something useful but not especially mediagenic. We don’t have, oh, cats that can breathe underwater or something like that in 2026.

      • trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world
        6·
        10 hours ago

        We don’t have, oh, cats that can breathe underwater or something like that in 2026.

        If we had that, I’d be a major extinction event for a lot of fish species, causing food shortages for humans and famines around the globe.

        • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
          5·
          10 hours ago

          And so these humans would…be willing to do much to avoid the unchaining of these aquatic cats, you say?

      • Saapas@piefed.zipEnglish
        5·
        10 hours ago

        We still don’t have cats who glow when near radiation. It’s bullshit!

        • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
          4·
          10 hours ago

          Well, it depends on the frequency range you’re talking about. In common usage, “radiation” often means something like ionizing radiation, but technically, UV light is a frequency of electromagnetic radiation.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_radiation

          In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) or electromagnetic wave (EMW) is a self-propagating wave of the electromagnetic field that carries momentum and radiant energy through space.[1][2] It encompasses a broad spectrum, classified by frequency (inversely proportional to wavelength), ranging from radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, to gamma rays.[3][4]

          And if you include the ultraviolet frequency range, we did it decades ago:

          https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1080042/Meet-Mr-Green-Genes--worlds-glow-dark-cat.html

          Meet Mr Green Genes - the world’s first glow-in-the-dark cat

          His eyes glow ghoulishly in the right light, just like any other cat’s - but so do his nostrils, gums and tongue.

          Mr Green Genes of New Orleans in the U.S. is the country’s first ‘glow in the dark’ ginger tom.

          In daylight he looks normal, but put him in a darkened room and switch on an ultraviolet light, and his face will beam out a bright green.