THUNDERBIRDS AND LEARNING IN THE XXI CENTURY

Thunderbirds was a British and New Zealand science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, filmed by its production company AP Films (APF) and distributed by ITC Entertainment. It was produced between 1964 and 1966 using an electronic puppet form (?Supermarionation?) combined with a scale model with special effects sequences.

Supermarionation (from ?super?, ?marionette? and ?animation?) is a technique of puppets suspended and controlled by thin wires. The metal filaments were the two control cables of the suspension for the movement of puppets, and the electric cables that provided control signals to the electronic components in the heads of the puppets. With the advent of miniaturized electronic components in the mid-1960s, a new type of puppet was designed with control mechanisms in the chest, connected to the mouth by means of narrow bars through the neck. This resulted in a much more proportional appearance to the puppets.

Born on November 14, 2040, Brains, one of the Thunderbirds was orphaned after a hurricane hit his home. At the age of twelve, he was adopted by a professor at the University of Cambridge who recognized his great intelligence and encouraged his phenomenal learning skills. He met Jeff Tracy for the first time while lecturing at a cultural hall in Paris while Jeff was looking for a brilliant scientist to help make his plans for Rescate International, the global international agency for which the Thunderbirds worked, come true.

The Thunderbird pilots wore a blue uniform consisting of a high-necked tunic, pants, boots, and a simple Scottish-style cap. After realizing that Jeff was someone who wanted to use his knowledge and money for the benefit of others, Brains accepted Jeff’s offer. He was transported to Tracy Island and immediately began working on the design of amazing high-tech machines for International Rescue, including all the Thunderbirds and all their amazing futuristic vehicles. His real name was unknown, but he used the alias ?Hiram K Hackenbacker? and ?Mr. X ?to protect his identity from the outside world while developing new machines and aircraft for other businesses, such as Skythrust.

The Thunderbirds became practically a series of cult of the infantile public of the period 1965-1970. However it draws attention in one of the series, an episode of great future vision in which one of the Thunderbirds used a micro chip implanted in his brain to quickly acquire all the skills necessary to pilot a fighter plane. In that futuristic world of the year 2065, Gordon Tracy, one of the Thunderbirds had an implanted Chip which constantly transmitted information.

With the development of current artificial intelligence the technology vision of the planet is towards the download of information to a micro chip implanted in the human brain. The concept of ?learning? will change radically because in a small instant of time, one will be able to become an expert in what one wish, just as one of the Thunderbirds did when downloading the ?fuzzy expert? to pilot a F16 fighter plane, the technology of that time.

?The concept of learning is changing radically. In a few seconds you can become a great conductor of a Philharmonic Orchestra, acquire the knowledge or skill to pilot a fighter plane or be a super expert in mathematics?

Fernando Jiménez Motte Ph.D (c) EE, MSEE, BSEE

CEO of NEUROMORPHIC TECHNOLOGIES NT Robotics, Control Systems, Artificial Intelligence AI

https://fernandojimenezmotte.com/

https://neuromorphic-technologies.com/

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