Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff
Projects to find the limits of what is possible right now?
cdev:
I think one of the more interesting projects is trying to improve how we function cognitively, in a safe, legal, fun, food based manner. I've been into that for a long time. It does seem to work in certain domains. Others, not so much, and we do get older.
But all in all I wouldn't do it any other way.
CatalinaWOW:
Different folks have different motivations. I find little interest in pushing a capability to the limit just for bragging rights or whatever. I do like making something that was hard easy, or even just possible. But once that has been done it is hard to motivate myself to go further.
In your archetype example, I couldn't for the life of me motivate myself to invent a better simulation compute engine or element. UNLESS it was a step towards doing a simulation I wanted to do, that couldn't meaningfully be done with current technologies. That interest could push me to try. Of course trying is not guarantee of success.
Other examples of the difference. Your wall wart example. Existing wall warts meet all my needs so I can't get motivated to work on them to make them better by any metric - cost, size, regulation, current capacity, adjustability, safety or anything else I can think of. There are design challenges in all of those directions, but for me, electronics and software are a means to an end, not the purpose of my intellectual activity.
Nominal Animal:
--- Quote from: cdev on January 24, 2019, 02:55:09 am ---I think one of the more interesting projects is trying to improve how we function cognitively, in a safe, legal, fun, food based manner.
--- End quote ---
Cognition is one of those things that change as you age, no matter what you do. It is an interesting challenge to steer the changes in an useful direction. Food -- and not just its composition, but also the intestinal bacteria it best supports and the calorific intake patterns -- is definitely one way to do it. I am lazy on that front, so I tend to use puzzles and abstract intellectual challenges myself.
--- Quote from: CatalinaWOW on January 24, 2019, 06:09:14 am ---I find little interest in pushing a capability to the limit just for bragging rights or whatever.
--- End quote ---
It is very much the "whatever" part, by the way. I am absolutely not interested in being popular or in bragging rights; it's not about that. It is about being genuinely interested in where the limits of what is possible are.
This probably has to do with personality types. I've always been an analytical crazy scientist type; there are family stories about that dating back to preschool age. I often spend time creating better tools just because even minor deficiencies in existing tools annoy me when I know how those deficiencies can be fixed/overcome/avoided. I have had to learn the engineering approach the hard way; making things good enough, but not waste resources overdoing it. That is still very hard for me, as I'd much rather make things as good as I can. Not because of bragging rights or anything like that, it is more an innate need of some sort. Could be a variant of OCD.
cdev:
Probiotics and prebiotics (fiber like inulin) definitely do help in that regard, as do phytonutrients like berberine. Two that are particularly good for a healthy gut are trimethylglycine. (also called betaine) and its close relative choline. Choline is very good for both the brain and your little brain in your gut. Also, cold water fish oil is too. The brain contains a lot of DHA, an n-3 fatty acid found in large amounts in ocean fish and it needs lots of it when its growing, also later in life for its integrity. (Also eating lots of fish oil is very good for the heart see https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/83/6/1477S/4633237 )
Infants and children as well as people at risk for heart disease and older people in particular should get a lot of Omega 3s. For vegetarians, Flaxseed oil is a good nutritional source of Omega 3s as is alpha lineolic acid. However they may not be as good for the heart as is fish oil.
Two more nutrients that are helpful as we age are Aceytyl-l-Carnitine and alpha lipoic acid. They help keep your mitochondria in good shape.
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 24, 2019, 12:02:04 pm ---Cognition is one of those things that change as you age, no matter what you do.
--- End quote ---
Thats true but we can influence this much more than many think.
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 24, 2019, 12:02:04 pm ---It is an interesting challenge to steer the changes in an useful direction. Food -- and not just its composition, but also the intestinal bacteria it best supports and the calorific intake patterns -- is definitely one way to do it. I am lazy on that front, so I tend to use puzzles and abstract intellectual challenges myself.
--- End quote ---
:) This is really true and taking probiotics like yogurt and prebiotics like fiber both are really good for your health as you age. Acetyl-l-carnitine in particular is also really good for diseases that impact the gut as well as the brain.
coppercone2:
most process controllers you can do better then what is available, like most things with feedback loops including amplifiers. Filters too most likely.
The biggest problem for most people IMO with this kind of stuff is the damn expensive laser trimmed dividers, HV dividers.
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