Is innovation slowing down? I'm not going to argue that point but I will tell you about a few inventions/innovations that I know about that will change the world in the next 10 or 20 years.

1. Umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). So listen I know reddit tends to hate Joe Rogan but I have to give credit where it's due, I first learned about mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) thanks to Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan interviewed Mel Gibson because apparently Mel Gibson flew his dying 92yo father down to Panama to have him intravenously injected with umbilical cord MSCs, Mel says his father's recovery was miraculous. Hutton Gibson would ultimately die at 101 but the stem cells are most likely the reason he lived for that long. This is just the first ten minutes, the whole interview is on Spotify. https://youtu.be/uUCJo1j0S9s
2. Exosomes. Mesenchymal stem cells don't turn into any new tissue, what they do is they secrete microscopic molecules that stimulate the body to heal itself, these molecules are called exosomes. Scientific research into exosomes is currently booming. Exosomes are currently headed into clinical trials in the USA. Scientific American did an excellent article on exosomes. https://www.scientificamerican.com/custom-media/nature-outlook-extracellular-rna/inside-the-stem-cell-pharmaceutical-factory/

Now I need to make a point that umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells can literally cure congestive heart failure, and can treat autism, arthritis, MS, a whole bunch of autoimmune diseases, and even spinal cord injury, I know this sounds too good to be true but it is. There are over 100 clinical trials underway in the USA using mesenchymal stem cells. I think it's just a matter of time til the FDA approves MSCs. The scientist who runs the clinic in Panama who treated Mel Gibson says he has people come to his clinic with congestive heart failure and they're cured after getting umbilical cord MSCs, I know it's just anecdotal but the placebo controlled clinical trials happening in the USA will prove whether or not if this is the real deal, trust me it is the real deal.

3. The world's first fully reusable rocket Starship. Starship is the tallest rocket ever built and it's the most powerful rocket ever built. Starship was built by Elon Musk's company SpaceX in Texas and should have it's first launch here soon. Here watch this 5 minute CGI animation of Starship that shows how this rocket will land after returning from space, this is a fully reusable rocket and it will change the world! Starship will allow humanity to colonize the Moon and Mars, there will be people on Mars in the 2030s thanks to Elon Musk. This is a CGI animation but they've already built this thing in real life. https://youtu.be/-Oox2w5sMcA

4. So we should've had nuclear fusion by now but I would say fusion will finally be a reality by 2050 for sure (possibly sooner), there are many well funded private companies building their fusion reactor prototypes right now, and the excitement is building. I mean billions of dollars are being poured into several private fusion companies right now. I think the leader of the pack is this one, they are building their first fusion reactor right now https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Fusion_Systems

5. AI is making leaps and bounds these days. I bet you haven't seen this or maybe you have but in 2018 Google showed the world a recording of their AI calling people on the phone to make appointments for haircuts and dinner reservations, the humans had no idea they spoke to a machine. If you haven't seen this yet it will blow your mind that an AI did this https://youtu.be/D5VN56jQMWM

I think AI will become self aware within 20 years and androids will follow soon thereafter. I'm telling you I think androids, a staple of sci-fi, will be a reality by 2050.

6. David Sinclair a Harvard scientist is claiming that they have figured out how to take old cells and rewind their biological clock, reversing them back into young youthful cells, it's called partial reprogramming, other scientists have also claimed to have done the same thing, so we'll see where this goes but this might be our ticket to immortality. Keep an eye on partial reprogramming. The world's second richest man Jeff Bezos recently invested in a longevity company called Altos Labs which is to pursue partial reprogramming as a means to defeat again and live forever. https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/09/04/1034364/altos-labs-silicon-valleys-jeff-bezos-milner-bet-living-forever/

7. Robots. Have you seen the video of the humanoid robots that can run and jump and do backflips? If you haven't seen this yet it will blow your mind!!! https://youtu.be/tF4DML7FIWk

Like i said I think androids will be a reality by 2050. I could be wrong but look at how fast AI is moving.

8. Last but not least. This was just posted today here on Futurology, check this out https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/y89eav/a_cure_for_spina_bifida_in_a_groundbreaking/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

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edit: there are actually over 200 clinical trials in the USA using mesenchymal stem cells.

On one hand, perhaps theres an upper limit we're reaching to how far we can really get with what we've got. Sure, we could probably build a ton of nuclear rockets to go off in every different direction from Venus to Alpha Centauri, but we'd be destroying our own biosphere (or irrepairably damaging it), which is what ultimately sustains us, and we'd be thus dooming ourselves to extinction (which is what we're doing anyway on the path we're on).

On the other hand, something probably more disturbing than a slowdown in technological innovation is cultural backlash towards it. Social Media for instance has made many peoples lives worse, and has fueled conspiracy theories and skepticism/resentment of science across a broad spectrum, the worst recent instance was the response to COVID.

Its obvious to everyone at this point that technology evolved much slower and more disappointingly than what many people used to expect, but the culture that was once supportive of said innovation is turning more and more against it, especially as we live in the age where the honeymoon period of many technologies is far behind us in the past and we live with the very real drawbacks and consequences of its continued use.

We also have to consider that maybe more technology isnt going to dig us out of the hole we've put ourselves in and maybe we really do need to change the way we think instead of continuing down a disposable consumerist black hole.

We actually have an effective treatment for antibiotic resistant
bacteria now, ever heard of phage therapy? There was a man who traveled
overseas and picked up a bacteria strain that was resistant to every
kind of antibiotic that we have, he should have died but they injected
him with bacteriophages, these are virus's that hunt down bacteria, and
he miraculously survived. Phage therapy is the answer to antibiotic
resistant bacteria. I think that over the next 20 - 30 years technology
is going to radically transform our world. Innovation may have slowed
down but it's still happening, I mean they even have working quantum
computers now, imagine what quantum computers will do to the world in
the coming decades? https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/this-man-should-have-died-but-unusual-infusions-saved-his-life/2017/06/30/503585b6-4aec-11e7-9669-250d0b15f83b_story.html

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I think it's more related with loss of the prestige of being an academic and increase in desire to become a businessman/woman. People think more how to make money than inventions for invention sake.

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Innovation is not slowing down. Ever heard of umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) or exosomes for example? Hell some scientists are saying they can take the biological clock of a cell and reverse it, age reversal, this could be the way to immortality. Umbilical cord MSC can literally cure congestive heart failure. Go on spotify and watch the Joe Rogan episode where he interviews Mel Gibson. Umbilical cord MSCs will revolutionize modern medicine. We have prototypes of quantum computers now. AI will be self aware in less than 20 years. Androids will be a reality by 2050. There will be a colony on Mars by 2035 thanks to Elon Musk, go on youtube and search SpaceX starship rocket.

Joe Rogan is how I first learned about umbilical cord MSCs, watch his interview of Mel Gibson. There are over 100 clinical trials in the USA going on using umbilical cord MSCs. Did I mention that people will be living on Mars by 2035 thanks to Elon Musk, have you seen the new Starship rocket Elon built in Texas? Starship is the world's first fully reusable rocket and it's also the tallest rocket ever built, it's also the most powerful rocket ever built.