About 2,500 years ago, during the Persian Empire, an angel told the prophet Daniel, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased” (Daniel 12:4). We are seeing a dramatic fulfillment of this in our day. Recent inventions include the following: Headway is being made in driverless vehicles. Google and every major automobile company are engaged in research toward putting driverless vehicles on highways. Volvo plans to put 100 driverless cars on the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden, by 2017 (“The truth about driverless vehicles,” BBC, Oct. 13, 2014). Mines in Pilbara, Western Australia, are already using driverless heavy-duty trucks, each weighing more than 500 tons, and the U.S. Army is testing a fleet of “zombie” trucks. Scientists at Cornell University have invented a scale that can weigh things as light as a virus or a DNA molecule. The weight is measured by units of daltons, with one dalton being about the weight of a single proton or neutron (“How Much Does DNA Weigh?” WorldChanging.com, May 26, 2005). The U.S. Navy has put the first weaponized laser into operation on a warship. The 30-kilowatt laser on the USS Ponce can destroy anything from large attack boats to missiles and aircraft (“Navy declares laser weapons ready to protect ships,” Fox News, Dec. 11, 2014). The cost of a laser beam is about 59 cents as opposed to the hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars needed to fire an interceptor missile. The Navy is planning to put much more powerful lasers on its larger warships. The Navy is also nearing completion of an Electromagnetic Railgun which promises to revolutionize long-range weapons. A prototype was displayed to the public for the first time in Washington, D.C., in February 2015. “The EM Railgun launcher is a long-range weapon that uses electromagnetic energy, instead of conventional chemical propellants, to fire projectiles. The electromagnetic force is so powerful that it launches the projectile up to Mach 6, firing projectiles farther and faster than current options. These projectiles reach an amazing 4,500 mph and precisely hit targets more than 100 miles away” (“US Navy’s new ‘Star Wars’-style railgun hits Mach 6, Fox News, Feb. 5, 2015). Researchers are nearing human testing of 3D-printed implants that can grow new body parts (“3D-printed implant will help you grow new knee joints,” Fox News, Dec. 17, 2014). New knee joints have been grown in sheep using 3D-imprinted scaffolds infused with human growth proteins. This prompts the body to regenerate the scaffold, which deteriorates as the tissue grows back. 3D systems has unveiled the world's first and only professionally-certified, kitchen-ready 3D food printers. The ChefJet Pro is a large-format full-color, multi-flavor printer. The printing material comes in flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, mint, sour apple sugar, and cherry sugar. (Friday Church News Notes, March 11, 2016, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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