This week in scientific news there have been reports of a mathematical proof to the ABC conjecture, apparently junk DNA isn't, scientists have taken a picture of molecular bonds, high-temperature superconductivity has been induced with the aid of scotch tape, a neural implant in a monkey's brain has restored decision making capability and the Higgs Boson data has passed peer review.
Developments such as these were traditionally few and far between but the rate of advancement today is reaching a truly phenomenal pace. Almost every day, a breakthrough in some esoteric scientific discipline that has far-reaching consequences for green energy, medical science, electronics and computing or some other high-profile area of study is brought forth upon the world. What we know already is being applied to discover what we need to know that the rate of actually learning the principle or truth vastly outstrips our meager capacity to use it in a practical way.
Today, a woman with a spinal injury that would have rendered her immobile for life is walking around, albeit with the aid of a robotic exoskeleton. What would that have done for Christopher Reeve? Self driving cars collaborate to show each other what's around the corner that they cannot actually detect on their own. Thought-directed helicopters, games and wheelchairs are not even newsworthy any more. Microsoft has patented a "holodeck".
I wonder what tomorrow's breakfast will bring?
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