Predictions about Science and Technology

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Doc
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Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Doc »

Seems like this would be an interesting topic.

I'll go first:

I predict within 5 to 10 years trans cranial magnetic stimulation will be able to change what individuals believe and think. And will be used as a means of political and religious control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive ... terference
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
Simple Minded

Re: Predictions about Science and technology

Post by Simple Minded »

Doc wrote:Seems like this would be an interesting topic.

I'll go first:

I predict within 5 to 10 years trans cranial magnetic stimulation will be able to change what individuals believe and think. And will be used as a means of political and religious control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive ... terference
a.k.a. "the internet" :P
noddy
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Re: Predictions about Science and technology

Post by noddy »

i think google loon and the variations on it will make the IOT go from stupid webbrowsers on fridges to a complete global sensor network that changes every aspect of how we use the planet.
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Doc
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Re: Predictions about Science and technology

Post by Doc »

Simple Minded wrote:
Doc wrote:Seems like this would be an interesting topic.

I'll go first:

I predict within 5 to 10 years trans cranial magnetic stimulation will be able to change what individuals believe and think. And will be used as a means of political and religious control.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive ... terference
a.k.a. "the internet" :P
Actually I got this from the PBS series "The Brain" They actually cured a guy with Asperger syndrome by exposing his head to electro-magnetic stimulation. They are not sure how they did it, but the guy said it is like he could suddenly see that people had facial expressions that he could read that he never knew existed before. And is still seeing them years later. Then they showed where they identified the part of the brain that has to do with people suddenly becoming genocidal Like Serbs in Bosnia.

Connect the dots.
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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Typhoon
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Typhoon »

With regards to controlling the brain, I would not hold my breath

http://mathbabe.org/2015/10/20/guest-po ... n-project/
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Doc
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Doc »

Typhoon wrote:With regards to controlling the brain, I would not hold my breath

http://mathbabe.org/2015/10/20/guest-po ... n-project/
The follow up episode of "The Brain" I believe covered just that showing a simulation of a small part of the brain. Apparently to properly simulate the brain would take about a zetabyte of data storage. A Zetabyte being equal to the total digital data storage currently used by mankind.

Its an interesting series.

http://video.pbs.org/program/brain-david-eagleman/
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
Brecher
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

Doc wrote:
Typhoon wrote:With regards to controlling the brain, I would not hold my breath

http://mathbabe.org/2015/10/20/guest-po ... n-project/
The follow up episode of "The Brain" I believe covered just that showing a simulation of a small part of the brain. Apparently to properly simulate the brain would take about a zetabyte of data storage. A Zetabyte being equal to the total digital data storage currently used by mankind.

Its an interesting series.

http://video.pbs.org/program/brain-david-eagleman/
By 2070, middle class people will be able to afford a device that has that much memory.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2040, half of all new cars won't have internal combustion engines.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2060, 10% of babies will be genetically engineered.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2060, Saudi Arabia (or its successor states) will earn more money from the export of renewable energy than from the export of oil.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2050, there will be a vaccine for AIDS.
Brecher
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2070, there will be more robots than people.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2050, gem quality diamonds will be only three times as expensive, in real terms, as cubic zirconia are today.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2040, a human will be cloned.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2040, 10% of white women will wear makeup to look less white.
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Brecher »

By 2070, nuclear fusion for power generation will be economically viable.
Simple Minded

Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Simple Minded »

Brecher,

Are you tinker? After the first post I read from you I thought so, now I'm less sure.

I think the timeline of all your predictions are off by about 3 months. Probably due to AGW. ;)
noddy
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by noddy »

azrael i believe, lost account yadda yadda.
Brecher wrote:By 2040, 10% of white women will wear makeup to look less white.
so a decrease on the massive amount which go hard on the fake tans already ? :)
Brecher wrote:By 2070, nuclear fusion for power generation will be economically viable.
safely set for long after im dead so i cant snigger.
Brecher wrote:By 2040, a human will be cloned.
im not particularly convinced they havent been already, the amount of cloning on farm animals leaves me highly suspicious about what the uber rich are doing.
Brecher wrote:By 2070, there will be more robots than people.
i think that will be the case much earlier than that (for varying definitions of robot)
Brecher wrote:By 2060, Saudi Arabia (or its successor states) will earn more money from the export of renewable energy than from the export of oil.
i hope not - my money is on geothermal so that makes the new zealanders and the icelanders the new world energy power !
Brecher wrote:By 2040, half of all new cars won't have internal combustion engines.
its the driver im hoping that goes away -then i can be an early adopter and the first person let off by the police for being rotten drunk at the wheel.
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Heracleum Persicum
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Heracleum Persicum »

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The Future Is Here

In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide. Within just a few years, their business model disappeared and they went bankrupt.

What happened to Kodak will happen in a lot of industries in the next 10 year - and most people don't see it coming. Did you think in 1998 that 3 years later you would never take pictures on paper film again?

Yet digital cameras were invented in 1975. The first ones only had 10,000 pixels, but followed Moore's law. So as with all exponential technologies, it was a disappointment for a long time, before it became way superior and got mainstream in only a few short years. It will now happen with Artificial Intelligence, health, autonomous and electric cars, education, 3D printing, agriculture and jobs.

Welcome to the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Welcome to the Exponential Age.

Software will disrupt most traditional industries in the next 5-10 years.

Uber is just a software tool, they don't own any cars, and are now the biggest taxi company in the world.

Airbnb is now the biggest hotel company in the world, although they don't own any properties.

Artificial Intelligence: Computers become exponentially better in understanding the world. This year, a computer beat the best Go player in the world, 10 years earlier than expected. In the US, young lawyers already don't get jobs. Because of IBM Watson, you can get legal advice (so far for more or less basic stuff) within seconds, with 90% accuracy compared with 70% accuracy when done by humans.

So if you study law, stop immediately. There will be 90% less lawyers in the future, only specialists will remain. Watson already helps nurses diagnosing cancer, 4 time more accurate than human nurses. Facebook now has a pattern recognition software that can recognize faces better than humans. In 2030, computers will become more intelligent than humans.

Autonomous cars: In 2018 the first self driving cars will appear for the public. Around 2020, the complete industry will start to be disrupted. You don't want to own a car anymore. You will call a car with your phone, it will show up at your location and drive you to your destination. You will not need to park it, you only pay for the driven distance and can be productive while driving. Our kids will never get a driver's license and will never own a car. It will change the cities, because we will need 90-95% less cars for that. We can transform former parking space into parks.

1.2 million people die each year in car accidents worldwide. We now have one accident every 100,000 km, with autonomous driving that will drop to one accident in 10 million km. That will save a million lives each year.

Most car companies might become bankrupt. Traditional car companies try the evolutionary approach and just build a better car, while tech companies (Tesla, Apple, Google) will do the revolutionary approach and build a computer on wheels. I spoke to a lot of engineers from Volkswagen and Audi; they are completely terrified of Tesla.

Insurance companies will have massive trouble because without accidents, the insurance will become 100x cheaper. Their car insurance business model will disappear.
Real estate will change. Because if you can work while you commute, people will move further away to live in a more beautiful neighborhood.
Electric cars will become mainstream until 2020.
Cities will be less noisy because all cars will run on electric. Electricity will become incredibly cheap and clean.
Solar production has been on an exponential curve for 30 years, but you can only now see the impact. Last year, more solar energy was installed worldwide than fossil. The price for solar will drop so much that all coal companies will be out of business by 2025.
With cheap electricity comes cheap and abundant water. Desalination now only needs 2kwh per cubic meter. We don't have scarce water in most places, we only have scarce drinking water. Imagine what will be possible if anyone can have as much clean water as he wants, for nearly no cost.

Health: The Tricorder X price will be announced this year. There will be companies who will build a medical device (called the "Tricorder" from Star Trek) that works with your phone, which takes your retina scan, your blood sample and you breath into it. It then analyzes 54 biomarkers that will identify nearly any disease. It will be cheap, so in a few years everyone on this planet will have access to world class medicine, nearly for free.

3D printing: The price of the cheapest 3D printer came down from $18,000 to $400 within 10 years. In the same time, it became 100 times faster.

All major shoe companies started 3D printing shoes.

Spare airplane parts are already 3D printed in remote airports. The space station now has a printer that eliminates the need for the large amount of spare parts they used to have in the past.

At the end of this year, new smart phones will have 3D scanning possibilities. You can then 3D scan your feet and print your perfect shoe at home. In China, they already 3D printed a complete 6-story office building. By 2027, 10% of everything that's being produced will be 3D printed.

Business opportunities: If you think of a niche you want to go in, ask yourself: "In the future, do you think we will have that?"If the answer is yes, how can you make that happen sooner? If it doesn't work with your phone, forget the idea. And any idea designed for success in the 20th century is doomed in to failure in the 21st century.

Work: 70-80% of jobs will disappear in the next 20 years. There will be a lot of new jobs, but it is not clear if there will be enough new jobs in such a small time.

Agriculture: There will be a $100 agricultural robot in the future. Farmers in 3rd world countries can then become managers of their field instead of working all days on their fields. Aeroponics will need much less water.

The first Petri dish produced veal is now available and will be cheaper than cow produced veal in 2018. Right now, 30% of all agricultural surfaces is used for cows.

Imagine if we don't need that space anymore. There are several startups who will bring insect protein to the market shortly. It contains more protein than meat. It will be labeled as "alternative protein source" (because most people still reject the idea of eating insects).

There is an app called "moodies" which can already tell in which mood you are. Until 2020 there will be apps that can tell by your facial expressions if you are lying. (Imagine a political debate where it's being displayed when they are telling the truth and when not.)

Bitcoin will become mainstream this year and might even become the default reserve currency.

Longevity: Right now, the average life span increases by 3 months per year. Four years ago, the life span used to be 79 years, now it's 80 years. The increase itself is increasing and by 2036, there will be more that one year increase per year. So we all might live for a long long time, probably way more than 100.

Education: The cheapest smart phones are already at $10 in Africa and Asia. Until 2020, 70% of all humans will own a smart phone. That means, everyone has the same access to world class education. Every child can use Khan academy for everything a child learns at school in First World countries. We have already released our software in Indonesia and will release it in Arabic, Suaheli and Chinese this summer, because I see an enormous potential. We will give the English app for free, so that children in Africa can become fluent in English within half a year.

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Doc
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Re: Predictions about Science and Technology

Post by Doc »

If man were meant to fly he would have been given propellers instead of feet

brg1Q3oJ-fo
"I fancied myself as some kind of god....It is a sort of disease when you consider yourself some kind of god, the creator of everything, but I feel comfortable about it now since I began to live it out.” -- George Soros
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