What is the next technological breakthrough in our lifetime? (by 2062)

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Train

Lifer
Jun 22, 2000
13,586
82
91
www.bing.com
The anti-aging pill is supposed to be due sometime in 20's

Anyone who takes it should be able to live to 400 with the body of a 25 year old. Imagine the ramifications this will have on over population. I assume the frst wave of these pills will be for the uber rich only, and could cause insane shifts in politics and ideologies.
 
BurnItDwn

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,352
1,860
126
Juddog said:
Cars that drive themselves.

Imagine the literally tens of thousands of deaths per year from driving while intoxicated, or under the influence of some drug, reduced to a mere handful from AI or a car part malfunctioning.

The first few iterations will have issues, but each evolutionary step beyond will continue to increase the capabilities of the AI within the car, to the point where traffic as we know it now will be transformed. This will bring huge increases in fuel economy, faster transportation to work, amongst other things.
Click to expand...

Yes, I do see this coming. Not just cars driving themselves, but communicating with the other cars in almost real time, tracking trajectories, as well as avoiding obstacles. All while maintaining very high speeds. It could cut commute times down by 70-80% and injury/death rates on the road by 99%. Because cars could safely travel with extremely close following distances, and because almost no fuel would be wasted with "stop go" type traffic .... fuel economy would rise significantly as well...

Now we just need to start worrying about the Chinese autocar virus of 2044 which will make all autocars worldwide stall out and require bribe money to go to China.
 
crashtestdummy

crashtestdummy

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2010
2,893
0
0
My predictions, guaranteed to be wrong in 40 years:

  • We'll view the cancer treatment of today much the same way we view leeching now. Treatments will be better targeted and tailored to the root cause of the particular type of cancer (this is already happening with breast cancer).
  • Obesity will become a thing of the past, as people take appetite suppressants to lower calorie intake. Presence of this drug creates its own medical problems, however.
  • People will have cell phones and/or computers wired into their heads. I will be the uncool old curmudgeon that still doesn't have this.
  • Power generation will shift to a combination of nuclear and renewables. Cars will slowly shift to designs (hybrids-->plugin hybrids-->volt-like things-->all-electric) that use swappable batteries, but it will happen later than you think.
  • Customized commodities will become the new vogue. People will design their own specialty cellphones, cars, furniture, toys, etc, and have them sent out within days.
Most of these opinions are only slightly informed, but many have already had their beginnings.
 
D

darkxshade

Lifer
Mar 31, 2001
13,749
6
81
You will be able to reach into your monitor and slap an AT forum member from miles away for trolling.
 
NuclearNed

NuclearNed

Raconteur
May 18, 2001
7,882
380
126
Watch Minority Report and take notes. That's what the future is going to look like in 50 yrs.
 
CrackRabbit

CrackRabbit

Lifer
Mar 30, 2001
16,642
62
91
I'm going to go with advanced cybernetics.
Not Borg level stuff, but think more along the lines of Luke's hand in Star Wars.
Something that looks and behaves like the real thing and is controlled by the user's brain.
Or
Regrowth of lost or failing body parts. Take a sample of the persons DNA or stem cells and get them to regrow whatever item it is that is needed and re-attach or insert it with little chance of rejection.
 
mmntech

mmntech

Lifer
Sep 20, 2007
17,501
12
0
My likely totally wrong predictions.

Medicine
-Cybernetics will become commonplace. Go blind, here's a bionic eye. Lose an arm, here's a new one.
-Replacement organs will be grown in labs, eliminating the need for organ donation.
-Nano-medicine will continue to improve to the point where cutting someone open to perform surgery seems barbaric.

Transportation
-The hydrogen economy will replace petroleum. Fuel cells will replace engines as they have all the benefits of electric without the range and refueling drawbacks.
-Cars will become self-driving in order to reduce increased traffic congestion as urban environments grow.
-Space flight will become commercialized and become cheaper. LEO space craft will replace air travel for long haul flights, greatly reducing transport times.
-Toronto will finally build a fourth subway line. (Very optimistic)

Electronics
-Quantum computing will replace binary computing
-By this time, the internet will have long replaced other telecommunication methods. Everything will be cloud based. Desktops, game consoles and laptops will cease to exist. They will all be replaced by some form of tablet or smart phone-like device, which act as online portals.
-Retina displays will become common should monitor panels continue to exist. Holographics will become commonplace.

Agriculture
-Genetically modified foods will become accepted, greatly reducing hunger.

Urban planning
-Cities will continue to grow upwards, eventually replacing suburbs with towers. These buildings will be semi-self sustainable. Buildings will generate some of their own electricity through photovoltaic glass. They will feature shops and office space. A greater emphasis on living and working in the same area, or the same building.
-Roads will be able to communicate with cars to tackle with the increased congestion
 
Jeff7

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,596
20
81
Juddog said:
Cars that drive themselves.

Imagine the literally tens of thousands of deaths per year from driving while intoxicated, or under the influence of some drug, reduced to a mere handful from AI or a car part malfunctioning.

The first few iterations will have issues, but each evolutionary step beyond will continue to increase the capabilities of the AI within the car, to the point where traffic as we know it now will be transformed. This will bring huge increases in fuel economy, faster transportation to work, amongst other things.
Click to expand...
Yeah.
There'll probably be a day when the idea of driving a car yourself is just stupid and crazy.

"The car can begin to react to a problem in less than a microsecond. Are you nuts??"
 
B

BergeLSU

Senior member
Apr 6, 2011
475
0
76
Jeff7 said:
Yeah.
There'll probably be a day when the idea of driving a car yourself is just stupid and crazy.

"The car can begin to react to a problem in less than a microsecond. Are you nuts??"
Click to expand...

The automated car thing is very hard to predict because it won't be an "all-or-nothing" thing. Some people will want to drive, and you don't want people on the road who have never driven before. What happens if the automation breaks? Is someone who doesn't know how to drive stranded?

I would say the first step for automated vehicles is to mandate that when any car gets on a highway, the automatic driving takes over. This would control speeds (with everyone going the same speed, the "speed limit" would be able to increase). Also, traffic jams would no longer be a problem because cars would communicate with each other.

I don't see this happening in the next 50 years though.
 
rudder

rudder

Lifer
Nov 9, 2000
19,441
86
91
Train said:
The anti-aging pill is supposed to be due sometime in 20's

Anyone who takes it should be able to live to 400 with the body of a 25 year old. Imagine the ramifications this will have on over population. I assume the frst wave of these pills will be for the uber rich only, and could cause insane shifts in politics and ideologies.
Click to expand...

My guess would be some sort of timer genetically engineered into our bodies. Of course if you are wealthy you could get more time on your clock... if you are poor you die when your time runs out. This would help with overpopulation.
 
J

JimmiG

Platinum Member
Feb 24, 2005
2,024
112
106
BergeLSU said:
The automated car thing is very hard to predict because it won't be an "all-or-nothing" thing. Some people will want to drive, and you don't want people on the road who have never driven before. What happens if the automation breaks? Is someone who doesn't know how to drive stranded?

I would say the first step for automated vehicles is to mandate that when any car gets on a highway, the automatic driving takes over. This would control speeds (with everyone going the same speed, the "speed limit" would be able to increase). Also, traffic jams would no longer be a problem because cars would communicate with each other.

I don't see this happening in the next 50 years though.
Click to expand...

If cars drive themselves, and everyone is going to travel the same route, at the same speed, at exactly the same spacing, then it's really just glorified public transportation. I think it would be more efficient to just build better automated trains and PRT systems. If everyone is traveling the same route, you might as well have a guided system instead of complex optical and sensory guiding systems.

I think that especially in Europe and Asia, owning and driving your own car is going to seem stupid unless you live way out in the countryside. Such systems are already being evaluated (there's a test track in my city, for example) and are about a first full-scale system would be about 10-15 years off, should they decide to implement them.
 
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GrumpyMan

GrumpyMan

Diamond Member
May 14, 2001
5,780
266
136
Free outstanding healthcare for all and balancing the federal budget!!!!!!

Oh, crap, I thought you wrote 2562, I see you have 2062 now, no way that will happen by then.
 
M

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
74,733
6,758
126
coloumb said:
According to the brainiacs - Technological Singularity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technological_singularity
Click to expand...

I like this post but since it's taken I will offer additive manufacturing.

It will end the flow of capital to cheap labor markets and mean that everything will be made locally and on demand. This will not only eliminate just in time manufacturing, but storage and shipping costs. Parts will be stored virtually and made on demand. Some say this technology will be as big as the industrial revolution was.
 
Beev

Beev

Diamond Member
Apr 20, 2006
7,775
0
0
Moonbeam said:
I like this post but since it's taken I will offer additive manufacturing.

It will end the flow of capital to cheap labor markets and mean that everything will be made locally and on demand. This will not only eliminate just in time manufacturing, but storage and shipping costs. Parts will be stored virtually and made on demand. Some say this technology will be as big as the industrial revolution was.
Click to expand...

And I can't wait... if it happens in my lifetime :(
 
IronWing

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
72,821
33,843
136
DNA tagging of socks. Socks will automatically pair up in the dryer.

Memory fabrics will allow for shirts that turn themselves inside right.

We'll find a cure for country music.

Electrostatically charged floors which cause fallen dust, dirt, and crumbs to migrate to a collection bin.

Self healing cryptobiotic tires which feed off of pavement hydrocarbons => safer tires, cleaner water.
 
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