We live in one of, if not the most, exciting periods in the history of mankind. Sure, there was Gutenberg’s printing press, the cotton gin, the industrial revolution, the Wright brothers’ discovery of flight, landing on the Moon, and plenty of other amazing advances for mankind, but the digital age truly surpasses everything else and we are living it today.
While computers took us from 0-100, we are now taking that to a whole new level with modern science and technology. Science Focus Magazine recently published a terrific list of ideas that stand as possibilities to absolutely change our world as we know it. These are exciting times, so let’s have a look at what we can expect in the coming years.
Believe it or not, Finnish engineers have discovered a way to turn large containers of sand into a giant battery by harnessing the sand’s ability to store energy for long periods. With this technology, together with the Sahara Desert, we are looking at infinite energy!
Space tourism is in its fledgling stages, but it is not difficult to imagine a time when the average person living in a western country will be able to afford a trip to space and see Earth from the outside.
On the same note, with space technology constantly improving and our knowledge of the universe constantly expanding, we may just yet see mankind’s colonization of other planets, specifically Mars and perhaps even our own Moon.
Augmented Reality (AR) has promising potential to make our lives easier and certainly more interesting. This groundbreaking and phenomenal technology can be used for virtually (pun intended) anything. This area includes Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is already used in several fields including the automotive industry, which is trying to develop autonomous vehicles.
Some companies are working on changing how we eat and 3D-printed food is becoming the new fast-food diet. Gone are the unhealthy trans fats. Now, you can have a burger made of lab-grown meat. Rooftops might become mini-farms and stores will be contactless with cameras and lasers allowing shoppers to self-checkout.The apparel industry will change as clothing incorporates smart technology. The garment-making process is also expected to undergo drastic changes as technology improves and less waste is generated by the industry.
There is a lot of technology out there that already exists. The greater question is simply how to apply it so that it becomes useful on the consumer level and can be mass-marketed. There are smart mirrors that can check your health, toothbrushes that can communicate with your dentist, refrigerators that can contact the store if you are low on ingredients, and even a toilet that analyzes your, uh, waste.
The quantum internet. Quantum computing requires huge amounts of power and data, but as technology improves, chips become smaller and processing power grows, we will see more and more quantum-related computing. This means another revolutionary era is on its way because this will change the way computing is achieved.
There are so many advances in different areas that it is difficult to keep up. We will see tremendous changes in the fields of 3D printing, nanotechnology, energy, synthetic biology, and perhaps even a revolutionized financial system. With all of these advances taking place at the same time, the digital revolution is undergoing a massive transition that may soon change the world as we know it.
