Science in the real world vs. on TV....

[rt-sails]

4. Science, real world vs. TV

Gosh, some of us remember the "warp drive" from Startrek. It enabled faster-than-light travel. Where is it now that our planet is becoming uninhabitable?

'Course Startrek also featured "personal communicators" about the size of cell-phones and devices responding to voice commands. Now, there's something impossible. <G>

The main problem with the DNA sequencer is what to do with the information. The DNA molecule has the largest information-storage capacity of any device known. Unfortunately, we don't know what most of it means. We see the genetic equivalent of computer bits (zeros and ones), but how they fit together into something we can understand is a giant mystery. A few sequences -- a very few -- have been interpreted for meaning; most not.

I'd guess too that "$1,000 a pop" is attainable only if the machine runs at full capacity and doesn't require too much recalibration and maintenace. {Why do those CSI computers never need virus scans at just the wrong time?}