with the introduction of new inventions and technologies our lives are very different today than what our ancestors experienced just a few decades ago what are the technologies being developed today that will have the largest impact on future society stay tuned because we're taking a look at 15 incredible technologies that will change the world number 15 without reliance on technology only looking to increase over the coming decades along with the desire to move away from the use of fossil fuels in favor of greener alternatives every country on earth is being faced with the problem of how to generate enough electricity to supply the demand realistically there's only so many wind or solar farms that can be built and to truly solve the impending energy crisis many governments are looking at nuclear power current nuclear facilities use nuclear fission to produce heat that's then converted into electricity but the truly groundbreaking development would be to harness nuclear fusion which is the process that takes place at the center of the sun amazingly the ability to do this may be far closer than you think because there's currently a facility being constructed in france called uttar that's looking to prove that it can be used to produce electricity and could pave the way for construction of a nuclear fusion power plant to be in operation within the next few decades if all goes to plan this could completely change the face of energy production across the planet and end our reliance on coal gas and oil once and for all number 14 spin launch the ability to put satellites into earth's orbit has vastly improved the capabilities of a wide range of industries from communication companies to transport and logistics but there are far more who could benefit if it wasn't for the extreme cost involved in launching them the devices themselves can be hugely expensive but the biggest element in the price is having to hire a rocket the vast volumes of fuel that are needed to lift them through the atmosphere there could soon be an alternative to this approach though as a company based in long beach california called spin launch has re-envisioned how to propel an object into space and the solution uses far less rocket fuel than a traditional launch to do this they are building a mass accelerator which is essentially a vacuum sealed centrifuge that will be able to spin the rocket extremely quickly before releasing it towards the sky at speeds of up to 5 000 miles per hour or around 8 000 kilometers per hour once the rocket has reached an altitude of 200 000 feet or about 61 000 meters the smaller rockets will ignite to help it reach an orbital velocity of about seventeen and a half thousand miles or twenty eight thousand two hundred kilometers per hour and by doing this the cost of a launch is expected to be reduced by a factor of twenty and it will be possible for a price of around half a million dollars it's not without its challenges though the projectile will be exerted to a force of around 10 000 g's during the launch which means that any components being sent to space will need to be designed to withstand that pressure it certainly means this won't ever be a viable option for sending human beings beyond our atmosphere [Music] number 13 floating farms larger areas of land around the world are now dedicated to farming than ever before and this is causing two main issues the first is that it's destroying natural ecosystems and the second is that it's producing the food far away from where it's actually needed so involves large transportation networks that create pollution and congestion recent trial in rotterdam in the netherlands is showing that this doesn't have to be the way and by using space that's otherwise left untouched on rivers or potentially oceans technology is now allowing farmers to create produce directly within the market where it'll be sold these floating farms can be adapted to the precise local needs the trial in rotterdam was a floating platform designed to accommodate a herd of 32 cows it was secured in place by concrete pontoons that were driven into the seabed the entire structure rises and falls with the tide and robots are used to provide food to the animals and remove all waste products other versions could be used for alternative animals such as sheep or goats there are already floating farms in various places dedicated to growing crops too in the future instead of clearing large forests for new farms floating versions could well become a viable alternative number 12 quantum sensing we're used to watching sci-fi movies where the crew on a spaceship can use the sensors to scan planets or regions in space to find out what's there and while this may at first seem no more than a convenient narrative device systems like these may amazingly become commonplace within the coming decades a quantum sensor uses principles of quantum physics such as quantum entanglement quantum interference and quantum state squeezing to measure the presence of microgravity the behavior of photons and electromagnetic fields this enables the inference of the presence of objects and even light and has a huge potential range of applications currently the technology is being trialled and assisting with physics experiments but darpa the defense advanced research projects agency is already looking into its potential to replace the use of gps in areas without coverage or as a form of active radar that can detect submarines subterranean structures or vehicles and even the presence of nuclear material manufacturers of self-driving cars are also looking at the potential of using quantum sensors to actively scan around vehicles too and the hope is that they could be used to scan further ahead and detect other vehicles or hazards around corners that are far beyond the line of sight that human drivers would be able to see [Music] number 11 direct air capture as we look to reduce the amount of carbon that's released into the atmosphere to limit the damage that's being caused to the worldwide ecosystem one approach is to use green energies but another could be to actively try to remove the carbon that's already there this is a process called direct air capture and could either produce carbon that can be stored and removed for good or create what's essentially free carbon fuel with the theory being that the subsequent use and release of this would have a net zero effect because it had already been in the atmosphere to begin with currently direct air capture technologies are extremely expensive but as further investment is put into it the costs have already begun to fall and experts in the field believe it could be practical within the next 10 years there are two main ways that it's done the first is to use large fans that push air through filters that are covered with a liquid solvent such as sodium hydroxide this reacts with the carbon in the air to produce a carbonate that can then be extracted another way of doing it has recently been developed and it involves building an artificial tree-like structure which again contains the solvent but instead relies on the air blowing past and reacting with it instead of requiring energy to actively push the air through various other methods could be possible as well and are being actively explored and it's hoped that if it becomes viable direct air capture could well help to undo some of the damage that's already been done number 10 li-fi wi-fi is a technology that almost all of us are now familiar with and highly reliant upon but in the coming years there may well be an alternative that becomes just as important wi-fi put simply it's a wireless communication technologies that relies upon using a light source to transmit data between devices as opposed to radio waves and it has a range of interesting uses in theory it's possible to create li-fi devices that use ultraviolet infrared and visible light spectrums and use flashes that in most cases will be quicker than the eye can perceive to transfer information to a receiver it has the potential to transmit at speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second and while a method like this wouldn't be able to work through physical objects like walls other spaces could benefit hugely li-fi for example could be safe to use in places where electromagnetic interference is a concern such as aircraft cabins in hospitals and on military bases but one of the more interesting applications could be with the future of travel lighting fixtures along highways for example could be used to continuously transmit data to receivers on cars that are using the roads give them real-time updates on the positions of other vehicles and hazards that are in the way which could vastly improve the safety and functionality of autonomous driving systems number nine lab-grown meat there's a real concern with the world's population being larger than ever before about the impact of food production on the planet not only do huge farms dedicated to breeding livestock cause potentially harmful emissions but there's an increasing pressure to highlight the ethics of intensive meat production something that's encouraging people to adopt different dietary practices things could be about to drastically change though because instead of growing mold or forming vegetable paste into something that looks or even tastes like meat scientists have found a way to produce meat in a lab without the need for raising any animals at all so-called cultured meat is produced by growing in vitro cell cultures and is a new avenue of cellular agriculture even though countries like singapore have already approved cultured meat for sale the technology is still extremely expensive to set up so burgers produced this way for example are still unaffordable as it becomes more commonplace though the costs are expected to drop significantly and could well be on the shelves in a store near you within a few years number eight hydrogen planes in 2019 there were on average 115 000 commercial flights every day and countless more private ones with all of these requiring aviation fuel to operate the emissions released are vast in fact the aviation industry is believed to produce 12 percent of carbon emissions from all types of transport and 2.1 percent of all human induced carbon emissions so anything that can be done to reduce this would surely be a good thing for the moment the idea of fully electric planes in the same way as becoming common with cars is a long way off because of the weight of batteries and the power required for a plane to take off there's another technology that has the potential to step in instead hydrogen can either be used to power fuel cells which in turn provide electricity to the plane's motors or can be burnt as a fuel by itself and when this is done the only byproducts are water vapor and a very small amount of nitrogen oxide it is hoped that the increased use of green technologies like this in other industries may begin producing large quantities of hydrogen as their own waste products and would help us move towards a more cyclical energy structure currently prototype hydrogen planes have already been built and are in the testing phase and could be taken to the skies in a commercial way by the mid-2030s [Music] number seven exoskeleton from the moment that ripley used that power loader in the aliens movie people have dreamt of the possibility of using an exoskeleton in real life in a classic case of reality imitating art technology has just about reached a point where something like this is possible and various organizations are developing their own whether it be for adding extra strength to workers on a building site or granting further speed agility and endurance to soldiers on a battlefield it's a technology being pursued by major robotics companies such as panasonic and armed forces around the world lockheed martin for example has built a device known as onyx which is a lower body powered exoskeleton that's made with a rigid and flexible structure that allows it to conform to the wearer's body but also to absorb weight and impacts if you wanted it's quite possible to buy an exoskeleton already although the publicly available ones are extremely expensive and cumbersome right now but with the introduction of new composite materials longer life battery packs and complex algorithms to replicate natural human motion it's expected that they'll be affordable and commonplace in a range of different industries as soon as the end of this decade number six graphene is continually looking for new materials to offer stronger and more reliable performance but the next game-changing development is expected to be graphene it's a substance that's long been theorized to exist but it's proven to be so complicated to manufacture that it's taken until now to become feasible as the name might suggest it's derived from graphite which is the material you'll be familiar with that's used in pencils made entirely from carbon atoms graphite is a three-dimensional structure but the exciting thing about graphene is that it's more two-dimensional what this means is that the carbon is arranged perfectly in a hexagonal honeycomb formation that's only 0.3 nanometers thick and there's just 0.1 nanometers between each one of the atoms in practice this arrangement offers huge benefits that are only just starting to be fully understood graphene can conduct electricity far more efficiently than copper for example it's also 200 times stronger than steel and six times lighter it's almost completely transparent because it only absorbs two percent of light and it's impermeable to gases even the lightest ones and can have chemical components added to the surface to alter its properties researchers see graphene more as a platform that developers will be able to arrange in a way that plays to their needs it could for example revolutionize touch screen technologies be incorporated to make lighter composite materials and has a number of uses in electronics too the possibilities for graphene are truly endless and it's expected to be possible to produce it in commercial quantities within the next decade number five self-healing concrete concrete is one of the most important construction materials that's used around the world and is second to water in terms of the most consumed material amazingly twice as much concrete is used in construction than everything else combined this works out to be the equivalent of more than three tons per person in the world each year the problem though is that even though it's a tough and durable material it is susceptible to wear and tear and can develop cracks and holes that affect its stability in the long term this means that either it needs to be maintained or replaced to avoid disaster which can be a costly endeavor but researchers have come up with a new solution self-healing concrete by adding bacterial spores to the concrete mix along with a food source like yeast extract an amazing thing will happen when the concrete cracks the bacteria are exposed to oxygen and water and begin to consume the food and multiply and then produce calcium carbonate or limestone as a byproduct this in turn seals the crack again and if done right means that you won't even be able to see where the crack had formed in the first place for small openings the process can be completed with around 14 days and it'll prevent them from widening and becoming a greater problem soon it's expected that virtually all concrete will incorporate technology like this and the days of potentially dangerous faults will be over number four flying cars right now the biggest exciting development in the world of cars are electric vehicles and self-driving ones but the next innovation is only just around the corner since the introduction of the automobile they've faced one big limitation that they can only drive on a 2d plane along the ground but soon we could see the introduction of ones that are able to lift off from the road and fly into the air in january of 2022 for example a slovakian company called klein vision air car was given air worthiness certification for their vehicle which can function both as a car and the plane it has foldable wings that can be extended when needed and it's powered by a 1.6 liter bmw engine the prototype just takes over two minutes to convert from a car and back again and well you need to hold both drivers and a pilot's license to make the best use of it there are hopes that this will be very different by the time vehicles like this are ready to be mass produced the technology being used to enable autonomous cars will eventually be able to control flying cars too and this means we'll be able to automatically fly from place to place avoiding all the traffic as we go and never having to put our hands on the controls number three zero knowledge proof we are relying on the online world more than anyone had ever anticipated when the first connected networks were created this has moved on far beyond merely sharing information currencies now exist purely within cyberspace in the form of cryptocurrencies and digital products are now trading hands in a similar way through the use of nfts the technology that underpins their existence is complex and based on the blockchain while users are still able to remain anonymous and it's all supposedly decentralized there still remains an inherent risk with the use of these one idea that's already a part of some newly designed cryptocurrencies and will have plenty of other applications is that of zero knowledge proof this is in effect the ability to prove knowledge or ownership of something to a second party without actually having to reveal the information itself it's similar to proving to a potential landlord that you can afford the rent but don't want to reveal information about your bank details or in this case the wallet address of where you store your crypto something that could make it a target for thieves by adding extra security like this into the system online currencies will get closer to being adopted by many more people than have already and instead of mainly being a speculative market trading become more commonly used payment methods number two 3d printed organs medical knowledge and capabilities have progressed substantially over the past century but it's the main reason why our life expectancies are so much longer now than for our ancestors just a few generations ago the diseases and ailments that once killed large numbers of people have in some cases been almost completely eradicated and we have a far better understanding of how to treat and avoid other issues too there are countless exciting developments happening within medicine but arguably the one that will be the biggest game changer is the idea of 3d printed organs that's right in the same way that you can currently use a 3d printer to make plastic components it's expected that within 20 or 30 years similar devices will be used to build organic components that can be transplanted into your body working in the same way as current devices the main difference will be of course the material that's being printed with which will be a combination of plastic that's seated with human cells from the actual patient that the organ is being made for this overcomes the concerns of rejection and will mean the recipient's body will receive the new organ as if it had been there all along number one brain computer interfaces as well as having designed much faster processors and components one of the biggest reasons why computers have become so much more integrated into our lives is because of improved methods of importing our commands in the earliest days you had to write lines and lines of code to insert into a machine this eventually became replaced by the click of a mouse then with touch screens and now with the advent of voice recognition which has allowed smart devices to be installed throughout the home across the world the end game for this though is a true brain computer interface that will allow technology to know what you want by simply thinking it and this ability is surprisingly close to becoming a reality far beyond helping us scroll through social media this will have life-changing effects for countless people who could benefit for example from a prosthetic limb that acts by thought or who have no means of communicating with others and would finally be able to talk to their loved ones there are already devices that can be implanted into the brain that pick up on specific signals and can convert them into commands but it's expected that by 2050 we'll be able to wear an external device that can pick up on signals and control virtually anything with them you
2022-07-21