TransVision Thursday Keynote Peter Diamandis

I’m in Chicago for TransVision 2007. Here are some notes and thoughts from Thursday morning session II.

Peter Diamandis spoke on getting off earth. In the early days of space exploration, there were no regulations or old engineers to say what could not be done. The laws of physics are what we know today, and we’re just at the beginning of a technological society. What is possible in the future is unfathomable today.

Stephen Hawking thinks humanity does not have a future unless it goes into space. The X prize, zero gravity corporation and rocket racing league are focused on how to get to space privately. Lindberg crossed the atlantic to win a prize. Within 18 months, passenger traffic increased 30 times and the number of aircraft increased 4 times.

X prize stemmed from realization of what drove Lindberg. It was set up to attract small innovators – not large corporations. 26 teams from seven countries spent 100 million dollars to win prize. The prize resulted in darwinian attempts to win prize.

SpaceShipOne won the competition and is now next to Lindberg’s plane in museum. The best way to predict the future is to create it yourself. They are now looking at x prizes in many other areas, such as medical and genomics (sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days), energy and automotive (100mpg vehicle). They have put together a zero-g parabolic flight program out of las vegas and florida.

They want to make it possible for everyone to experience weightlessness. He showed videos of Hawking’s trip on zero-G. Rocket racers idea came while watching Indy 500. It will include an augmented reality race course, ten racers, staggered takeoff, touch and go each lap with thrust in front of crowds.

More Notes on TransVision 2007

If you enjoyed my notes on this session of TransVision 2007, you might also enjoy my notes on other sessions. Here's a list, in chronological order, of the TransVision 2007 sessions for which I've published notes:

• TransVision Tuesday Morning Session I
• TransVision Tuesday Keynote Aubrey de Grey
• TransVision Tuesday Morning Session II
• TransVision Tuesday Afternoon Session II
• TransVision Wednesday Keynote Ed Begley, Jr.
• TransVision Wednesday Morning Session II
• TransVision Thursday Morning Session I
• TransVision Thursday Keynote Peter Diamandis
• TransVision Thursday Afternoon Session I
• TransVision Thursday Afternoon Session II
• TransVision Thursday Keynote William Shatner
• TransVision Thursday Keynote Ray Kurzweil