Jump to content
Search In
  • More options...
Find results that contain...
Find results in...
CodeImp

Next major technological breakthrough?

Recommended Posts

One of the major technological breakthroughs in our history is no doubt electicity. Or maybe the light bulb. Look around you and you see it everywhere. We now consider this a standard, it has become as usual to us as drinking water and eating food is.

What do you think would be the next technological breakthrough? Or maybe something is coming up already?

I'm not talking about little things like the CD or DVD, ofcourse they are good inventions as well, but they do not have an impact as major as electricity and light had.

Share this post


Link to post

It's impossible to predict sudden breakthroughs like the lightbulb, radio or aeroplanes, but as a general area I think nanotechnology is going to be the area from which we see the big advances of the next half-century or so coming from. It has so much potential and in so many areas: computing, medicine, construction, manufacturing, etc.

Edit: Beaten!

Share this post


Link to post

Nanotechnology? Didn't I hear that in star-trek once? Would be very helpfull if we had tiny intelligent robots in our blood stream that fix our body :)

Share this post


Link to post

Internet is obviously the next big breakthrough. It’s on our phones, laptops, blackberries, home and pocket consoles, palm pilots, Mylo. Every kid these days is on the internet not the TV. And the government is also trying to put limitations on it just like electricity. The more you pay the more you get.

Share this post


Link to post

Maybe an undepletable source of energy. something the goverment won't deny we have this time.

Share this post


Link to post

Maybe hologram projection. On TV a while ago I saw a thing about some preliminary hologram displays like Star Wars, you can rotate the images but other interaction was still very limited.

Share this post


Link to post

NailGunner said:
Hangover-free vodka.

Get a fairly decent vodka (preferably potato instead of grain-based) and stick the whole bottle in the freezer. After a few hours, pull it out and serve it neat. The burn you usually get when drinking it will be almost gone, and I can notice a sweet taste to it.

This has two advantages. First, you won't be mixing it with fruit juices, whose sugar is the cause of most vodka-related hangovers. Second, it's easy to drink and a couple full glasses should be enough to get one's self drunk.

Share this post


Link to post
NailGunner said:

Hangover-free vodka.

I read an article where scientists were trying to do just that. Essentially, it was synthetic alcohol, kind of like that stuff in Star Trek, which has all the positive sides of alcohol, such as getting a buzz, but without the hangover.

Miniaturization such as nanotechnology and nanites will probably be a major breakthrough. Think about tiny machines constantly fixing and producing anything. The only thing I worry about is what happens if we end up in a situation like Deus Ex, where such technology is used as a means of keeping the populace in check. I'm sure each nanite in your body would have a radio frequency assigned to it or would be subordinate to a "mother nanite", and a person with access to the right technology could essentially hit a "kill switch" and turn you off. :/

Share this post


Link to post
Bucket said:

I await the day when science gives us the gift of turning children into fuel.


Do you plan on being a donor?

Share this post


Link to post

In the late 1800s it was electricity, in the early 1900s it was the internal combustion engine, in the 1950s, it was television, and now it's the internet. I think the next new technology will either be cybernetics or genetic engineering. They've made great strides in both fields in just the last 5 years and it's only a matter of time before such things will be fully marketable to the populace. Genetic engineering perhaps less so now that Bush has vetoed the bill allowing stem cell research (that was passed by both the Senate and the House, btw).

Bucket said:

I await the day when science gives us the gift of turning children into fuel.


Well that sounds like a modest proposal.

Share this post


Link to post
udderdude said:

A cheap, abundant energy source, and cheap space travel.

I agree on the energy part.
History proves that technological advancements come from necessity and function.
We need the following in the next 100 years:
better energy source, better food source, better natural resources(lumber, etc..), solution to over-population problem
Society sees these as important:
global health, cessation of religious differences, drugs to combat deadly ailments

Share this post


Link to post
Fredrik said:

Maybe medicine that cures stupidity?

Already exists. Cyanide. Arsenic. Liquid Plumr.

Danarchy said:

Well that sounds like a modest proposal.

Don't forget the hides.

Share this post


Link to post

Already developed, but as of now not reasonable to bring home: Superconduction -- never have to pay for more energy again!

Share this post


Link to post

If we could learn to harness zero point energy(or vacuum energy) on a mass scale, we would have acces to an infinite amount of energy.

Share this post


Link to post
GGG said:

Do you plan on being a donor?

Yeah, I'll be like the Sexxon Valdez.








...Sorry.

Share this post


Link to post

The people in power don't like cheap energy, so we'd have to wait a good half century for that. Space travel would require a serious crisis here on Earth for NASA to get their finger out (so I'd say a half-century again), so I'd bet on cybernetic or genetic breakthroughs, superconductivity or artificial intelligence.

Share this post


Link to post

genetic engineering. Living, breathing sofas made out of real skin and blood that mould to the countours of your body. Cars with hearts and stomaches that run on coca cola instead of fossil fuel. Computers with organic brains.

The future will be gross. trust me on this.

Share this post


Link to post
Psyonisis said:

It's already happened, but once nanotechnology really gets going it'll be in almost every industry.

If Deus Ex has taught us anything it's that we'll have mechanically augmented agents first : D

Honestly I believe it will be the evolution of the internet from the transitionary period it is in right now to the true "cyberverse". I expect to see fully virtual reality implimented.

Share this post


Link to post

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×