It’s about time we saw some new things enter our physical world, so for our next Top 10, it will be about inventions we have been promised and haven’t gotten! While nature tells the same old story, as big as it may be, it’s up to man to allow impossibilities to drop the prefix.
Science has brought us all sorts of cures and technologies that would’ve made anyone from more than a century ago’s head explode at the thought. Explain text messaging to someone who relied on the Pony Express for swift communication. We are always being introduced to fantastic devices, usually after the military’s gotten plenty bored of just fooling around with them, almost on a per-decade basis. Remember the miracle of microwave technology, or when the iPod killed CDs? We’ve not been surprised, and had our minds lit up with wonderment in a good while, so presented here are the top ten futurist inventions we should have by now, or at least pretty damn soon (you can only repackage the iPod or Xbox so many times). Here is our countdown!
Keith – auto tying shoes
Back to the Future Part II was a smorgasbord of dazzling tech. Hoverboards? Check. Holographic sharks? You betcha. Maybe best of all, though, was something awesomely simple: shoes that tied themselves.
We’re not talking lame Velcro here, either, but “power laces.” It’s the work of one Blake Bevin, who hooked a micro-controller on to the back of a pair of sneakers. It’s a little bulky and Bevin herself calls it “tongue in cheek,” but the effect is still damn cool.
“This project is less ‘Practical’ than ‘Proof of Concept’,” she writes, “but hopefully it’ll tide you over until Nike comes out with something more polished.” We can only hope they will, Bevin.
Check out the power laces yourself in the video below (and make sure you’ve got your sound turned on if you want to get hit by a wave of nostalgia).
David – android/robots
(As seen in: Star Wars, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Lost in Space”, Blade Runner, Robocop, Terminator, Bicentennial Man, The Stepford Wives, “Astro Boy,” and almost every other anime and manga).
Robots already do a myriad of things men cannot. They mass produce consumer products, ensure safety, perform surgery with absolute precision, and entertain us to no end. Also, they vacuum for us à la Rosy from “The Jetsons”. But they don’t quite interact with us when we get lonely (GERTY from Moon or K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider”) or strive for human emotions (Data from “Star Trek: TNG”), or otherwise stand in where another human doesn’t happen to exist. Robots don’t require food or money or anything else that makes humans weak and fragile, only the occasional software upgrade and power charge. We are missing out on growth potential in all areas by not making this priority number one in the scientific community. Also included is any competent A.I. that can pass the Turing Test, e.g.: H.A.L. from 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Keith – invisiblilty
(As seen in: Harry Potter, The Invisible Man, Predator, real life).
While military testing has resulted in the closest thing to an invisibility cloak not trapped in unbelievable fiction, cloaks which house the potential to hide tanks, bases and soldiers from enemy tracking devices, they aren’t quite see through, or available in stores. Invisible, in these military terms, only means really good camouflage. In H.G. Wells’ Invisible Man, a potion that refracts light in a way that makes the consumer completely, glass-pane clear allows the protagonist the ability to travel unnoticed and unsuspected. While the temptations that come with such a power are limitless, and usually no good, it seems the only practical purpose the characteristic of clear could possibly possess is during wartime. Otherwise it’s just a peeping tom superpower.
David – laser weapons, and laser weaponed satellites
(As seen in: Real Genius, “Bubblegum Crisis”, and virtually every sci-fi movie/TV show/radio program ever).
A bullet can only do so much. In the future everything is bulletproof, but a laser, such as in the form of a light saber, can cut through a foot-thick steel door like butter. In a world of massive unchecked material consumption, great benefits could result from harnessing the destructive properties of light rather than mass producing iron for the sole purpose of converting it to shrapnel. The military budget could even loosen up a couple of notches on its belt, something that would greatly mitigate this brutal economic climate. Lasers might just be what this country needs to get back on its feet, and not to mention when robotic repo men eventually decide enough’s enough.
Keith – laser weapons
(As seen in: virtually every sci-fi movie/TV show/radio program ever).
A bullet can only do so much. In the future everything is bulletproof, but a laser, such as in the form of a light saber, can cut through a foot-thick steel door like butter. In a world of massive unchecked material consumption, great benefits could result from harnessing the destructive properties of light rather than mass producing iron for the sole purpose of converting it to shrapnel. The military budget could even loosen up a couple of notches on its belt, something that would greatly mitigate this brutal economic climate. Lasers might just be what this country needs to get back on its feet, and not to mention when robotic repo men eventually decide enough’s enough.
David – food synthesizer
(As seen in: “Star Trek”, “The Jetsons”, and other sci-fi shows).
Throwing to the wind scientific laws which dictate that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, these impossibly beneficial devices could replicate or synthesize any type of food stored in its database like it was merely burning a CD. There were a few unwritten exceptions, such as the fact that living organisms and certain important minerals and materials couldn’t be produced out of thin air, but who cares – this virtual cornucopia would be the absolute end of world hunger. As a result. no longer would we be exposed to commercials of sad children in third world countries asking “for just 3 cents a day…” The world would be fat on digital foodstuffs. We have energy bars, but where are the three-course meals in tablet or pill form?
Keith – hoverboard
(as seen in Back to the Future II)
A Hoverboard is a levitating board used for personal transportation in the films Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III. Hoverboards resemble a skateboard without wheels. Through special effects the film-makers depicted the boards hovering above the ground. During the 1990s there were rumors, fuelled by director Robert Zemeckis, that hoverboards were in fact real, but not marketed because they were deemed too dangerous by parents’ groups. These rumors have been conclusively debunked. Some companies hoping to leverage the commercial success of the movies have marketed hovercraft vehicles as hoverboards, but these products have not been shown to replicate the experience depicted in the movies. Subsequent to the movies the hoverboard concept has been reused by many authors in various forms of media in fictional universes not directly related to Back to the Future.
The Guinness World Records recognizes the term hoverboard to include autonomously powered personal levitators. In May, 2015, the Romania-born Canadian inventor Catalin Alexandru Duru set a Guinness World Record by travelling a distance of 275.9 m at heights up to 5 m over a lake, on an autonomously powered hoverboard of his own design and construction.
David – The Cure for Cancer
In many movies, and novels, the cure was not invented by mankind, but presented as a gift from extraterrestrials. Also known as a malignant tumor or malignant neoplasm, is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. Not all tumors are cancerous; benign tumors do not spread to other parts of the body. Possible signs and symptoms include: a new lump, abnormal bleeding, a prolonged cough, unexplained weight loss, and a change in bowel movements among others. While these symptoms may indicate cancer, they may also occur due to other issues. There are over 100 different known cancers that affect humans.
Many cancers can be prevented by not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, not drinking too much alcohol, eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, being vaccinated against certain infectious diseases, not eating too much red meat, and avoiding too much exposure to sunlight. Early detection through screening is useful for cervical and colorectal cancer. The benefits of screening in breast cancer are controversial. Cancer is often treated with some combination of radiation therapy, surgery, chemotherapy, and targeted therapy. Pain and symptom management are an important part of care. Palliative care is particularly important in those with advanced disease. The chance of survival depends on the type of cancer and extent of disease at the start of treatment. In children under 15 at diagnosis the five-year survival rate in the developed world is on average 80%. For cancer in the United States the average five-year survival rate is 66%
Keith – teleportation
(As seen in: “The Jetsons”, The Fly, StarGate, “Star Trek”).
If Jeff Goldblum’s taught us anything, besides how to make neuroses sound sexy, it’s that teleportation is a risky operation. At least, it is if you are teleporting by way of reparticalization and between two confined spaces. (I get that the 80’s sci-fi flick is a remake, but his performance is most topical, as topical as fly hairs on a shoulder-blade). His character neglected to work out all the kinks and observe all possible sources of error – for one there are a plethora of microscopic particles in any given space, so how could they be separated from any pertaining to man when broken down and realigned. Also, flies and insects are the most abundant contamination factor in any sterile setting. Something tells me he wasn’t the most attentive student in medical school. The Star Trek teleporter, on the other hand, has never had a problem; that is if you don’t count the possibility of accidentally transporting a Tribble on board, or inputting the wrong coordinates, but that’d be more the fault of a careless Scotty than the original designer. It needs not be said how completely nonexistent a problem like traffic or tardiness would become; again commercial efficiency insists upon the invention of something more practical than a rolling pollution-factory that goes slower than the speed of light.
David – Bionic and/or cyborg Implants
(As seen in “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and “The Bionic Woman.”) The dream of the cyborg is coming true at an exhilarating rate. As humans gets better and better at making machines, we keep attaching those machines to our bodies to make ourselves better humans. It seems at times that the only question left is if we can put a human brain in a robotic frame. Actually, it’s not a matter of if. It’s a matter of when. This week, social psychologist Bertold Meyer’s been traveling around the country with a contraption that looks like a cross between a Halloween mask and Johnny Number Five. It’s the subject of a new documentary by the Smithsonian Channel called The Incredible Bionic Man. Meyer makes for a great spokesman, since he was born without the lower part of his left arm and now wears a bionic prosthesis. He is, by definition, a cyborg—but only partially.
Keith – food synthesizer
(As seen in: the Star Trek and other sic-fi shows).
Throwing to the wind scientific laws which dictate that matter cannot be created nor destroyed, these impossibly beneficial devices could replicate or synthesize any type of food stored in its database like it was merely burning a CD. There were a few unwritten exceptions, such as the fact that living organisms and certain important minerals and materials couldn’t be produced out of thin air, but who cares – this virtual cornucopia would be the absolute end of world hunger. As a result. no longer would we be exposed to commercials of sad children in third world countries asking “for just 3 cents a day…” The world would be fat on digital foodstuffs.
David – teleportation
(As seen in: “The Jetsons”, The Fly, StarGate, “Star Trek”).
If Jeff Goldblum’s taught us anything, besides how to make neuroses sound sexy, it’s that teleportation is a risky operation. At least, it is if you are teleporting by way of reparticalization and between two confined spaces. (I get that the 80’s sci-fi flick is a remake, but his performance is most topical, as topical as fly hairs on a shoulder-blade). His character neglected to work out all the kinks and observe all possible sources of error – for one there are a plethora of microscopic particles in any given space, so how could they be separated from any pertaining to man when broken down and realigned. Also, flies and insects are the most abundant contamination factor in any sterile setting. Something tells me he wasn’t the most attentive student in medical school. The Star Trek teleporter, on the other hand, has never had a problem; that is if you don’t count the possibility of accidentally transporting a Tribble on board, or inputting the wrong coordinates, but that’d be more the fault of a careless Scotty than the original designer. It needs not be said how completely nonexistent a problem like traffic or tardiness would become; again commercial efficiency insists upon the invention of something more practical than a rolling pollution-factory that goes slower than the speed of light.
Keith – hologram TVs
(As seen in: Blade Runner, Star Wars, Back to the Future II, Minority Report, coverage of the 2008 presidential elections). We already have glasses-free 3D, which is about the closest you can get to a hologram without it being projected from a bleeping blue-and-silver robot, but it’s not quite the same – a hologram occupies space and can simulate reality without influencing it. “3D” only works in a single direction, just out and in your face. The difference is you should be able to watch an action movie and have life-sized translucent warriors circle you as if you were part of the fight. As it stands, we can only watch that fight from inside a virtual cupboard.
David – jet packs
(As seen on: Thunderball, The Return of the Jedi, The Rocketeer, the video game Pilot Wings for Nintendo 64, Iron Man).
It’s about time we had jetpacks. This has been the outcry of every futurist since we realized they looked so awesome. There’s even a band called “We Were Promised Jetpacks.” The military hasn’t seemed to be able to find a good use for them, beyond a fuel-wasting novelty, and they aren’t used to catch fugitives, à la the Thought Police in Minority Report. They would snip the ribbon on individual restriction, allowing single men to fly around the skies, and national monuments like some kind of superhero. The feeling would equate to something like the rush a motorcyclist feels on the open road; now allow that same cyclist a third dimension of liberty and uncontainable joy will flood the Earth as if there was some kind of sequel to sexual intercourse: a new pleasure dropped from the heavens just to see how we’d be able to handle it (the answer: like a screaming schoolgirl).
Keith – android/robots
(As seen in: Star Wars, “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, “Lost in Space”, Blade Runner, Robocop, Terminator, Bicentennial Man, The Stepford Wives).
Robots already do a myriad of things men cannot. They mass produce consumer products, ensure safety, perform surgery with absolute precision, and entertain us to no end. Also, they vacuum for us à la Rosy from The Jetsons. But they don’t quite interact with us when we get lonely (GERTY from Moon or K.I.T.T. from “Knight Rider”) or strive for human emotions (Data from Star Trek: TNG), or otherwise stand in where another human doesn’t happen to exist. Robots don’t require food or money or anything else that makes humans weak and fragile, only the occasional software upgrade and power charge. We are missing out on growth potential in all areas by not making this priority number one in the scientific community.
David – FTL travel
Faster-than-light (also superluminal or FTL) communication and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light. Under the special theory of relativity, a particle (that has rest mass) with subluminal velocity needs infinite energy to accelerate to the speed of light, although special relativity does not forbid the existence of particles that travel faster than light at all times (tachyons). On the other hand, what some physicists refer to as “apparent” or “effective” FTL depends on the hypothesis that unusually distorted regions of spacetime might permit matter to reach distant locations in less time than light could in normal or undistorted spacetime. Although according to current theories matter is still required to travel subluminally with respect to the locally distorted spacetime region, apparent FTL is not excluded by general relativity. Examples of FTL proposals are the Alcubierre drive and the traversable wormhole, although their physical plausibility is uncertain.
Keith – flying cars
(As seen in: “The Jetsons”, Star Wars, Back to the Future II, Blade Runner, The Fifth Element).
The highways are too crowded; that’s why we need to start opening up the skies for traffic. Planes never encounter traffic, and fly higher than any altitude a standard passenger would prefer, but are, so far, the fastest way to get around. The downside is that this regulated commodity requires travelers to accommodate very rigid schedules. Imagine consumer air travel on a daily basis, rather than just once in a while for business and vacations. Road trips would be immensely more doable and would allow people who would rather not breathe in other people’s sneezes to do just that. Flying cars means no screaming babies (unless you own one). Of course, the downside is that everyone and their significant others would have a sky-car and eventually find a way to clog the skies, leaving you to be stuck behind that reckless bastard in the flying Hummer hogging all the clouds.
David – Colonies on the Moon, Mars, etc.
(As seen in “Cowboy Bebop”, “Space:1999”, “Babylon 5”) Mars is the focus of much speculation and scientific study about possible human colonization. Its surface conditions and the likely availability of water make it arguably the most hospitable of the planets, other than Earth. Mars requires less energy per unit mass (delta-v) to reach from Earth than any planet except Venus. However, at minimum energy use, a trip to Mars requires 6–7 months in space using current chemical propulsion methods.
Keith – Jet Packs
(As seen on: Thunderball, Return of the Jedi, the video game “Pilot Wings” for Nintendo 64, “Iron Man”, experimental military personnel, rich eccentrics). It’s about time we had jetpacks. This has been the outcry of every futurist since we realized they looked so awesome. There’s even a band called “We Were Promised Jetpacks.” The military hasn’t seemed to be able to find a good use for them, beyond a fuel-wasting novelty, and they aren’t used to catch fugitives, à la the Thought Police in Minority Report. They would snip the ribbon on individual restriction, allowing single men to fly around the skies, and national monuments like some kind of superhero. The feeling would equate to something like the rush a motorcyclist feels on the open road; now allow that same cyclist a third dimension of liberty and uncontainable joy will flood the Earth as if there was some kind of sequel to sexual intercourse: a new pleasure dropped from the heavens just to see how we’d be able to handle it (the answer: like a screaming schoolgirl).
David – Hovercar
A hover car is a personal vehicle that flies at a constant altitude of up to few meters above the ground and used for personal transportation in the same way a modern automobile is employed. It usually appears in works of science fiction. In science fiction, it is usually capable of elevating itself some distance from the ground through some repulsion technology, presumably exploiting some short-range anti-gravity principle so as to eliminate most friction forces which act against conventional vehicles. The capability of hovering above the ground eliminates the need for tires, and unlike an air-cushion vehicle, it does not produce a dust cloud. The closest real-world devices are the hovercraft, which elevates itself above a water or level hard surface using a cushion of air retained by a flexible skirt, and the hovertrain, which is a type of high-speed train that replaces conventional steel wheels with hovercraft lift pads, and the conventional railway bed with a paved road-like surface, known as the “track” or “guideway” (Dave’s note: Personally, I am getting sick and tired of losing my car’s tires every winter due to the ice and snow. Not only do they cause my tires to lose their treads, but they cause massive-sized potholes in the streets and highways. My car also lost its front bumper from a snow bank; something a hover car could easily float over. That is why I’m putting this ahead of jet packs.)
What’s on your list? We want to know! And tune into our future podcasts to hear our other great lists!