What Is The Next Big Thing?

As we continue further and further down this path our technology and discoveries keep increasing at a rate which is just unbelievable. Planes, trains and automobiles. Medical research. The computer age. The internet revolution.

All of these things changed alot for us and how we do things now so I ask a question to all of you. Where do we go from here?

I posted before I think wireless has a big possibility to really changing it all once again but our future doesnt just lay with communications. Is hydrogen power or fusion going happen over night and just side swipe us with a flood of new things? Is someone going to discover and be able to manipulate the gene that makes us get old? Or maybe we will just develeop nanotech and saving the entire planet from all illness and problems?

Well I can't wait to see whats next and I want to know what else is out there for us that will change the face of everything.

[edit on 2-9-2004 by John bull 1]

Nanotechnology is going to be huge in the next decade. It will have incredible impact in technology, medicine, military, and liekly every other area of industry and everyday life. New sources of energy will also play a lead role over the next decade. As oil prices continue to rise and fossil fuel depletion becomes more of a reality we will see a real push toward the advancement and feasibility of everyday use of new energy sources. Look for nanotech to play a large role in this aswell.

Just my $0.02

Lukefj

Originally posted by build319
As we continue further and further down this path our technology and discoveries keep increasing at a rate which is just unbelievable. Planes, trains and automobiles. Medical research. The computer age. The internet revolution.

All of these things changed alot for us and how we do things now so I ask a question to all of you. Where do we go from here?

I posted before I think wireless has a big possibility to really changing it all once again but our future doesnt just lay with communications. Is hydrogen power or fusion going happen over night and just side swipe us with a flood of new things? Is someone going to discover and be able to manipulate the gene that makes us get old? Or maybe we will just develeop nanotech and saving the entire planet from all illness and problems?

Well I can't wait to see whats next and I want to know what else is out there for us that will change the face of everything.

Well, it wasn't "Ginger"

Nanotechnology facinates me and worries me at the same time. Once its coupled with AI it is going to be a very interesting creature.

GD:
I had to reference "Ginger" cause I didnt read it.

This is what you were talking about right?
www.wired.com...

Yeah, Ginger turned out to be the Segway personal transporter, or whatever they call it.

www.segway.com...

[edit on 1-9-2004 by GD]

Yeah the segway was definately more hype than what they are worth. ALthough they are cool, they aint gonna be revolutionizing the way I conduct my everyday life.

I agree that nanotech will be the next thing to transform the way we live. Along with that, I think that public transport will take a huge leap! magneticly charged highways that will set you vehicle on autopilot, supersonic trains (faster than airplanes). And I think that public housing will go the way of the skyscraper to make room for the overpupulating factor.

I'm thinking the next big breakthrough that we see in the coming years is cheap or even free energy. I'm not sure in what flavor that will be. Fusion, Hydro, Solar or geothermal? I don't think nanotechnology is that close to change anything just yet. But maybe I havent been following it enough.

I can't understand how no one has made reference to this yet.

Quantum Mechanics is going to be the hugest thing since the microtransistor, or even the transistor itself.

Putting today's biggest, most amazing supercomputers to shame, having quantum computers compare in operational speed to our supermachines today compare the same way that our supercomputers today do to abacus'.

It's common knowledge now that a code that would take an estimated 50 million years for today's computers to break would likely be cracked within minutes, if not seconds or instantaneously by quantum computers!

Aside from the amazing operational speed, Quantum Entanglement would allow instantaneous communication across any distances. You could speak across lightyears instantly, because that's how quantum entanglement works. Goodbye Lag and 10mbps Wireless! This is wireless instant.

Apart from computers, quantum mechanics can do hundreds of thousands of other things. Jumpstarting efficiency in engines, allowing for nanotechnology, better micro and telescopes, allowing for almost 100% efficient solar cells - making them a fully viable and commercial power source, as at present our cells supposedly are only 50-60% efficient.

I don't think you can just say 'Nanotech' and mean 'QD' inside of it, because QD is going to expand around Nanotech, not Nanotech around QD.. or, well, perhaps they'll simply go hand in hand.

Oh, also, space travel. With the advent of planet-finding techniques, and very soon earth-sized planetfinding, we're going to become amazingly interested in long distance spacetravel, and I think some shockingly big ideas will arise out of that. Whether permanent manned expeditions will be the thing, or whether it will merely be probes or there-and-back in 5000 years types ideas, I think that's going to be huge.

Good idea for a thread

While I do agree that nanotechnology will bring about a revolution, its impact will be paled by the (presumably subsequent) development of faster-than-light transportation.

Being able to conduct surgery on a microscopic level is cool and all, but I want Vulcan babes, and I want them soon.

I don't know what the next big thing in the next few years is going to be.
But what I do know is that the next big things in the near future are going to be the invention of making fire and the wheel.

This just taking logic and seeing the human race is driving itself to extinction, up to a point where there are only a few left that have to go back to the utter basics to be able to survive on this planet.

Viendin: Do you have some good links or info on Quantum Mechanics? I could look but you maybe able to reference something quick.

I honestly forgot all about Quantum Design and I don't have any idea for what the timeline of something like that would be. You are reight though, if we are close to this discovery it would surely be the next BIG thing

It would more than just change a little bit, this would flip our way of life upside down and start shaking.

thematrix:
I usually follow the WoT message board but I am trying to diversify. But keeping that in mind and not trying to fall too far off topic. With whats going on in the world today, I can just hope and pray that you are wrong. Troublesome times indeed. If we can make it through them though we'll be doing alright.

Originally posted by Viendin
Aside from the amazing operational speed, Quantum Entanglement would allow instantaneous communication across any distances. You could speak across lightyears instantly, because that's how quantum entanglement works. Goodbye Lag and 10mbps Wireless! This is wireless instant.

Quantum entanglement does not imply faster than light communication. Information cannot be transmitted through entanglement faster than the speed of light. Quantum mechanics is all the same a very fascinating new area of science, for example in the fields of quantum computing, quantum cryptography and even quantum teleportation.

So what are we looking for on a timeline on when we will be making a breakthrough in this field? I havent been able to get a good idea on when or if this will ever be possible within out life time.

If you look back at the expections 40 years ago, it shows that it is very difficult to predict the future of scientific development. I won't dare say anything about things still in development a lot, like quantum computers. One thing that has been in development for some time already and that I think will be mainstream technology in the next century is gene therapy. Not genetic engineering of humans, but inserting cells or virii that add certain genes to certain body parts. Your amount of muscles can increase 50% in injecting myostatin blocking genes. Therapies based on this are already in development for patients with muscle diseases. I except to see more of this in the future,

Yes gene therapy will be revolutionary and this is something that I know we *can* do right now and we are just trying to perfect it. This is definately something that could be amazing. Although testing for rogue genes vs. steriods in professional sports will be much more difficult

Quantum teleportation will be huge in the next 10 or 20 years. They will revolutionize computers (computers will become x1000 powerful), and communications. Communication will be available from any position in the universe to any other position in zero time.

Originally posted by masterp
Communication will be available from any position in the universe to any other position in zero time.

Errm, not really, as I stated earlier. I can not elaborate on the subject at this time, but I'm sure there's lot of info 'out there' if you're interested.

a) Quantum Mechanics is a science that predates the transistor by 20
to 30 years and as such has been with us for a while. It must have been
confused with quantum entanglement in this thread

b) Builiding a human/computer interface with the help of nanomachines will be da bomb. People will have direct way of communication with the network and will be able to google anything with just a thought. The development of human race with speed up by a factor of a million.

c) Gene therapy is really around the corner. So we'll have perfected humans with unlimited computing power. That's almost scary. Read "Age of Spiritual Machines" by Ray Kurzweil. As he says, "and, we'll have better sex".

And, one day the humans will be immportal.

Here are some links I found on the Quantum theories. I still havent found a good laymans one with pretty pictures and no cool slogans like "The Future is Now!"

Quantum Mechanics:
www.mtnmath.com...

Quantum Entanglement:
plato.stanford.edu...
www.cakes.mcmail.com...