[Emerikol]

I actually went back and checked the dates on this thread to make sure it was not a necro.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

Most of the candidate technologies pointed in this topic are either "not yet there" or blatant lies for the sake of venture capital.

- Fusion Power: has an insurmountable problem to overcome, we can't reach (so imagine maintain) the million degrees temperature necessary to fuse hydrogen, so all the current reactors uses either deuterium or tritium, and the results are way different: https://thebulletin.org/2017/04/fusi...cked-up-to-be/

Agree fusion power is not there yet.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- Self driving cars: good joke

Really? Only America's obsession with safety and our independent streak are stopping this from already being true. We have self driving cars. They work. They've yet to make them safe enough for American comfort. If we had a separate self-driving car road network for hauling crap it would already be a reality. This is inches from becoming reality and is more our psyche than anything else.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- IA: Mr Hofstadter wants to have a chat with you: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...-think/309529/ (yes the article is a bit old but it well explains when we had the split between "True IA" and "IA that's just a quick search engine"

I think the AI that we think of is not there (e.g. HAL 9000 or Asimov's robots). Machine learning though is making massive strides everywhere and even humdrum boring companies have teams implementing it. Trust me I know this for a fact.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- CRISPR gene editing: maybe it's the only true TL9 tech we reached, it's application are wide and its effects evident (thanks mRMA vaccines) and now a vaccine for malaria is in research, we'll see...

I admit I don't know as much about genes as some. But your statement seems plausible.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- Smart VR glasses: are they really TL9? Or just an overhyped '90s idea that nobody really wants or have use for?

I think the real application here is military combat information. As a platoon leader you know where every one of your men is at at any given moment and whether they are down or still fighting. It may not be widely deployed in our military (mainly due to cost) but the technology is there.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- 5G mobile: it's infrastructure, not an "item" and it's yet to be adopted BUT it has potential.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean by 5G but as I understand the term it is in wide use right now in many major cities across America.

Originally Posted by Opellulo

- MagLev Trains: they work, they are amazing but they are also prohibitively expensive to maintain.

- Electric planes: maybe in few years

- Drones: this is tricky... Apparently someone thought that it was a good idea to arm a drone and let it go killing without human supervision. So yes probably the only operational TL9 item we got is also the worst one.

Probably with you on these though I thought drones were piloted by humans at this stage. Not doubting you just something I thought.