THE AMAZING FUTURE AHEAD OF US
Predicting the future of technology is a risky task. The human mind is ‘designed’ to make conclusions based on its experiences, surroundings and the things it has learned. When we try to predict how the world will look like in 100 years and how far science will advance, we are more likely to make predictions based on our current world. For example, people in the 60s, affected by the advances in space aviation technology, the thrill of the moon landing etc, predicted that in the future people would be living on the moon and a journey there would be a popular, every day activity. Of course, about 60 years later, our priorities have changed and we have technologies that only a handful of people would be able to predict back then. The same applies to us. Predicting how the world will look like in 200 years time is extremely difficult to do, for the simple reason that future technology will be based on things that our brains have never experienced. If one was to make an accurate prediction, he would likely be mocked and his predictions would be seen as extreme and far-fetched, just how people of the 18th century would probably have reacted to the idea of a commercial airplane.
This article will list some of the technologies which are currently being developed and are very likely to change our world in the upcoming years.
AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
Driverless cars feature first on this list since this is the technology that we are most likely to see first. Humans of our generation will be the last ones in the history of mankind who will have driven a car entirely by themselves. The technology is already out. Modern cars are run by computers and can warn you about potential dangers, lead you to your destination, find you a parking place and then even park the car for you. In the upcoming years, our cars, ambulances, trucks, will all become completely autonomous. The biggest flaw of driving, the human driver, will be completely eliminated resulting in a dramatic decrease of accidents, casualties and traffic. The new cars will be smarter, more efficient, more comfortable and will run on cleaner energy. You can read more about autonomous vehicles in a previous article that I wrote by clicking here.
3-D BIOPRINTING AND BIOBOTS
3D bioprinting is the formation of viable and functional biological tissues through the creation of cell patterns, using 3D printers. Even though currently, bioprinting is only used to create body tissues on which new drugs are tested, it is predicted that medical science is not far away from creating 3D printed tissues and organs which can be used in the human body itself. Medical companies are already researching and investing billions on this technology, hoping that one day it will be used for the regeneration and reconstruction of the human body. It can be potentially be used to create organs for donor patients, print skin tissue for burn victims and create new blood vessels to treat coronary heart disease. The field of Tissue Engineering is predicted to completely revolutionize medicine and completely change the life expectancy of humans and their quality of life.
Biobots, as the name implies, are robots with biological uses or robots which function as biological entities themselves. The biomimicry of these robots, along with nanotechnology, they can be used to diagnose and treat human diseases, deliver medication to specific body locations and even alter the functions of the brain itself.
VR and AR CONTACT LENSES
Virtual and Augmented Reality technology has been around for a few years now and I am sure you have all heard about the famous Google Glasses. Scientists are trying to combine the above technologies to create a mobile computer system which can be worn as a simple contact lens and will allow its users to interact and experience the world around them in a completely new way. It is estimated that the AR & VR smart glasses and contact lenses market will be worth over $25 billion by 2027. The use of this technology can truly be enormous; from treating diseases of the eye, such as colour blindness, all the way to merging the real world with the virtual one. The lenses will be able to provide to us information about the world which surrounds us, health reports about our bodies, even augment our view of the world with a digital overlay of information. For example they will be able to directly project to us GPS information, enhance our vision, allow us to zoom into specific objects with our eyes and even assist surgeons during medical procedures. Gradually, these devices will allow us to enter a completely different world than the one we are experiencing and allow us to interact with it in realistic ways, thus taking Virtual Reality to a completely new level.
GRAPHENE
This 2-D material made of carbon atoms could one day completely revolutionize the world around. This is why billions of dollars are being invested today into research around it. This amazing material is extremely light, nearly transparent, it nearly 200 times stronger than steel, yet it is flexible and ultra thin. It is also an efficient conductor of heat and electricity. Its potential applications are enormous. It can be used to produce flexible, semi-transparent devices with an astonishing longevity, medical devices, clothing, airplanes, body parts and computers. It can even solve the world’s clean water supply system by being used as an ultra-thin, super-filtrating membrane or be used in creating efficient, clean energy. Scientists predict that one day, this material will be a huge part of the world around us and this is why in 2010, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their research and experiments about Graphene.
DNA DIGITAL DATA STORAGE
The idea of storing digital data, just like in computers for example, in DNA base sequences, has been around for a few years now but any significant advances in this field have been made possible only during the last decade. The data is split into binary code strings and then these binary ‘strings’ are packed into ‘droplets’ and mapped to DNA bases. Barcodes are assigned to each droplet to allow a reassemble later. Subsequently, the DNA strand maps are sent to special labs which convert them into biological data. DNA has an enormous longevity and it is much more durable than current methods of data storage. It is also much more compact. The human body contains approximately 30-40 trillion cells and within each cell there is approximately 1-2 GB of information stored in its DNA. Just doing some rough calculations to estimate the amount of data stored within the average human body, one can only begin to imagine the potential of DNA being used for digital storage. Molecular technology is used to read these DNA strands and software converts the genetic code back to binary. Currently it is extremely expensive and slow to use this technology but scientists are making huge advances in this field. So far, scientists have stored in DNA a short movie, an operating system, a computer virus and a $50 Amazon gift card.
All the above, obviously make just a short list of the technology that will shape our world in the future. No matter what happens, one thing is certain; science and technology have made our world today a much better place than what it was 100 years ago and we can only hope that they will continue to do so in the future.
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