Biggest tech advance in the next 100 years?

[Smurf]

What do you think the most important technological advancment will be in the next century or so?

 

[mattmns]

A good alternatvie for gas(oil, or whatever it is officially called) for vehicles. One that will fully(as much as possible) replace it.

 

[Smurf]

I've heard good things about hydrogen powered engines being developed in iceland because of all their geothermal energy there.

 

[Lyuokdea]

feasible nuclear fusion power

 

[Smurf]

Yeah, a new energy source would be huge in hampering global warming and providing the energy necessary for new areas of technology.

 

[fourier jr]

A good alternatvie for gas(oil, or whatever it is officially called) for vehicles. One that will fully(as much as possible) replace it.

not if the luddites in the oil industry have anything to say about it...


i was thinking of something like artificial intelligence, but that alternative-energy thing sounds good. maybe something like cold fusion, unless that is strictly a sci-fi idea.

 

[cragwolf]

I think it's impossible to predict what it will be, but I'll take a stab at what it won't be. The following tech advances will not happen:

* Quantum computers
* Fusion-powered cars or vehicles
* Interstellar spacecraft
* Artificial intelligence (near or beyond human level)
* Time travel
* Universal replicators
* Teleporters

I also doubt that nuclear fusion will ever be harnessed for large-scale energy use. It will always be too unwieldy and expensive for that purpose. There is a certain range of energies and length scales to which we humans will always be restricted, no matter how far we progress in physics.

 

[FulhamFan3]

superconductivity, nuclear fusion and quantum computers.

 

[Smurf]

Are you sure cragwolf?
I mean we've gone from horses to space shuttles in the last 150 years.
Next 150 years, space shuttles to...?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Coffee pots that don't dribble when you pour. Apparently this is a huge challenge to modern science.

Otherwise, I believe that the biggest [most significant] advances will be through the merging of humans with hardware and nanotechnology, and of course the application of technology to human genetics - curing disease, ending blindness, deafness, and perhaps ending nearly all forms of genetic disease and physical deformities, as well as providing artificial body parts, the performance of which exceed those obtained the old fashioned way. Also, we may see human lifespans extended to 400 years and human abilities enhanced greatly. Even now we are just a heartbeat away from artificial telekinesis, so to speak, where our thoughts can control our surroundings through technology. So it seems to me that the synthesis of humans with technology promises to be a profound event in human evolution.

 

[Kakarot]

why http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=6657 of course!

 

[tribdog]

I'm betting on a space elevator.
Oh, and one of those transport tubes like on the Jetsons.

 

[Moonbear]

Coffee pots that don't dribble when you pour. Apparently this is a huge challenge to modern science.

You know, all they actually need to do to fix this problem is widen the opening on the lid for the spout. I've noticed the dribble happens when the coffee hits the lid on the edges of the pour spout. (Pop the lid off and you'll see it doesn't dribble when you pour anymore.)

Anyway, that's actually not far from what I was thinking. It won't be anything so dramatic as what has been suggested, it will be something we are doing just fine without, but once we have it, we won't believe we were ever able to live without it! Something like a shower that can be pre-programmed with preferred temperature settings for each member of the household, or a kitchen appliance that not only can be set with a timer to cook stuff while you're out, but has multiple "hoppers" you can prefill with ingredients and program to add ingredients at the right time so the busy professional can have more complex meals as they arrive home than the everything the same texture of mushy cooked in a crockpot all day. It'll be the greatest thing since the dishwasher!

 

[fourier jr]

why http://www.baytoday.ca/content/news/details.asp?c=6657 of course!

lol that's the same guy who built the bear suit & that fireproof paste stuff! i wonder if he'll be on the discovery channel anytime soon to talk about his see-thru-walls thingy

 

[Quantum_Prodegy]

My top 5: (no particular order)

-teleportation
-flying cars (like in any futuristic movie)
-personal robots (like in "I, Robot", only ones that don't evolve)
-a device so that i don't need sleep (like in "Die Another Day")
-Invisibility cloak (like in "Harry Potter")

wait...was this thread what we think will be the biggest tech advance or what we dream will be the biggest tech advance? The flying cars and personal robots i can see in the next 100 years...the other ones are a little bit far-fetched i guess.

[edit]u know what, i like IvanSeeking's extension of human capabilities and lifespan...