Submitted by minde0815 t3_zxaou6 in Futurology
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Comments
weenie007 t1_j1zdlao wrote
I bet people will try to oppose it, saying it will make their offspring gay or something
JefferyTheQuaxly t1_j1zhlbb wrote
not much different than people saying 5G is giving them cancer warping their brain waves.
Cody-Nobody t1_j1zs8qg wrote
I mean I fully believe some of the things we use everyday will turn out to be like lead in boomers gasoline.
We know some of it is bad already, but there is always more that we don’t.
Stillwater215 t1_j1zkoam wrote
As long as it doesn’t make the frogs gay I think folks will be alright with it.
Nuciferous1 t1_j1zn349 wrote
There will absolutely be a ‘it’ll take jobs from hard working people’ contingent.
hgs25 t1_j1zpbbw wrote
It’ll be all the same arguments they currently use against the current Gen nuclear plants. “It’s still nuclear! I don’t want mutated babies!”
Thanks Simpsons
Rich_Elderberry5153 t1_j1zeajh wrote
I’m officially anti-fusion reactor! No way you’re making my kids gay! /s
Supereurobeat t1_j1za525 wrote
I've been hearing this too.
hgs25 t1_j1zpmkq wrote
Also, a new battery type. We are already making progress with Solid State batteries and “super” capacitors.
Lithium-ion batteries did a lot to advance mobile technology.
Ohheyimryan t1_j1zskw7 wrote
Fusion is very far off and we already can create more than enough power to supply our needs with fission. The same people who lobbied against fission will lobby against fusion.
Instead of hoping some new technology is going to o fix the world's energy crisis, we need to start implementing real technology we already have to start affecting global warming.
OccupationSock t1_j1zlzo2 wrote
The day fusion works people will realize it's as dangerous as a nuclear power plant
crazy_crank t1_j1zf7rz wrote
I mean... It will change the way we produce energy and basically provide unlimited energy. But I don't think it will have much of an effect on us personally. Same as with nuclear energy. It's just a means to an end
Atechiman t1_j1zlph5 wrote
Once we shrink it, powering space going vessels by fusion becomes reasonable which lowers the cost and time it takes to get places. Suddenly mars and Venus become reasonable for exploitation along with NEOs and earth Trojans.
Plus it wouldn't be that far fetched to make artificial cosmic rays and turn carbon or oxygen into lithium, which will soon be a bottle neck mineral.
Tip_Odde t1_j1zlvv0 wrote
Its okay to be poorly informed.
whitewail602 t1_j1zppo5 wrote
Your entire post history is asinine comments implying people are dumb and don't know something you do. Yet you never display any actual knowledge...
Heap_Good_Firewater t1_j1zafli wrote
In no particular order
- Fusion power
- General artificial intelligence
- Gene editing
- Nanotechnology
7ECA t1_j1zfxd2 wrote
This. Exactly
I might add quantum computing to the list
Heap_Good_Firewater t1_j1zgdv0 wrote
For sure. Forgot about quantum computers. May be necessary for true AI
Stillwater215 t1_j1zkt02 wrote
If quantum computers ever come to fruition, the biggest challenge will be updating old encryption technology to be quantum secure.
Tip_Odde t1_j1zlyp8 wrote
lol no, it wont
YoghurtDull1466 t1_j1znb1e wrote
Why do people say random incorrect shit like this
whitewail602 t1_j1zptv1 wrote
Look at their post history. This is their schtick.
Tip_Odde t1_j1zvvmx wrote
I cant help Im smarter than yall, I can just thank the universe for it and try to help you.
Tip_Odde t1_j1zvtsv wrote
It wont be, it wont be an issue at all because all of those systems are going to be open. It will be a huge diaster, its unavoidable and then we will move on.
YoghurtDull1466 t1_j1zw47u wrote
Why will it be a huge disaster?
Tip_Odde t1_j1zwyzt wrote
Take all the locks in the world and open them at one time and see how that goes for your social structures and financial resources.
YoghurtDull1466 t1_j1zx3wm wrote
Financial encryption is different from average data and so are medical systems, no?
Tip_Odde t1_j1zxm0n wrote
to a degree but considering they cant stand up to current levels of access from bad actors, there have been countless examples of breaches in hospital systems and financial institutions. Once were on an entirely different platform of security itll be a free for all for a bit.
JefferyTheQuaxly t1_j1zi18w wrote
i want to see how quantum computer affects gaming. obviously they wont make gaming quantum computers but ive heard future computers might get like a quantum computer chip slot for their motherboard or something that could like help make the NPC's in your game more lifelike/reactive to your character, or affect random in game events or something like that, make game worlds more life like.
whitewail602 t1_j1zq190 wrote
Quantum co-processor. I like it. Math coprocessors were a thing just before GPUs came along.
acutelychronicpanic t1_j1z7p0d wrote
Artificial Intelligence is probably the next big fundamental change. Having intelligence on tap like a utility will change how you live your life every single day. Its hard to say how the future will be different, because everything will be affected.
RandomLogicThough t1_j1z7zm1 wrote
AI coupled with automation, some kind of battery tech, of fusion type massive clean energy boost.
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buzzzzz1 t1_j1z9ngs wrote
Probably something we haven't even discovered/considered yet.
Civ6Ever t1_j1zrufk wrote
Outside context problem.
Access to fire is pretty integral in the story of humans, but most prehumans would have likely only considered it extremely dangerous and never beneficial in ways similar to other animals when they see fire.
The wheel is surprisingly new considering the length of human history, we've only had wheels for about half the time. Basically, everything that moved had legs, so moving was leg stuff, not weird geometry stuff. It's a sufficiently long time of working with round objects (trees) likely on hilly terrain to not realize the gravitational effect on a tubular shape, but it's not a leg, so it doesn't really move...
Six hundred years ago, nobody thought the same stuff that made lightning could also move a vehicle or move liquid around to make ice. It just wasn't part of the way we understood the universe.
OCPs suck because we can't ever go back the other direction. There's probably not many human adults alive today that wouldn't understand the benefits that a wheel could have, or that fire can be good or bad, or at least, in some capacity, lightning stuff makes the blender go vrrrrrr. It makes seeing the next one even harder.
Used_spaghetti t1_j1zbjig wrote
This will probably end up being one in the same, but viable treatment for dementia/Alzheimer's/cognitive disorders and anti-aging.
WombatGuts t1_j1zbrsi wrote
Advanced battery technology.
Think a battery as small as a PowerBank but powerful enough to run a semi truck 500 miles.
barouchez t1_j1zef0d wrote
Public transportation (mostly autonomous which already exist in many places), public healthcare, autononous urban food forests, etc. It will be mostly social innovations powered by existing tech.
Edit: grammar
welsh_dragon_roar t1_j1z8awu wrote
I think we’re now passed the ‘Age of Discovery’ insofar as there are no physics-based mega surprises waiting for us, unless one of our scientific principles is demonstrated to be wildly incorrect for some reason or other.
Our current paradigm is more about waiting for technology to catch up with what we know there is a high likelihood of being but with no way to get into it e.g. operationally viable fusion, zero-point energy realisation, gravity manipulation etc.
So the next ‘big thing’ will most likely be something that scientists are currently trying to access with success being foreseeable not far down the line. For me it’ll probably be viable fusion as that will then open the door to high-energy research, something to which we have very limited access atm. Imagine CERN being powered by fusion and not coal-fired power stations!
Hoosier_Ken t1_j1zalz2 wrote
I think that you are probably close to being right about humans being near the top, at least homo sapiens. I do think that there will be something that transcends us. IMO it needs to be something that lacks some or most of our psychological evolutionary adaptations, decreased physical limitations, fewer physical requirements or perceived needs (living space, food, atmosphere and temperature limitations, accoutrements, emotional fulfilment) increased lifespan, greatly increased intellectual ability, improved memory storage capacity and recall. I don't just mean Gattaca like either nor will eugenics be necessary, well hopefully not necessary.
jwhildeb t1_j1z83p8 wrote
Not remotely in our lifetimes, if ever, but Star Trek replicators and transporters would be that kind of huge shift. Energy-to-matter conversion with subatomic control.
ovirt001 t1_j1zcsc4 wrote
3D printers are primitive replicators. Scientists have managed to make ones that print on the nanoscale so we really aren't terribly far off from true replicators.
https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/News/2021/no-more-jagged-edges-nanoscale-3d-printing-that-is-fast-smooth-and-repeatable
minde0815 OP t1_j1zdwng wrote
this is a very interesting thought.
jwhildeb t1_j1zlczc wrote
Kinda, but aside from scale the fundamental difference is that 3D printers can only make things out of the substance they're fed. Replicators eliminate basically every type of scarcity, globally and locally. THAT'S the fire-like paradigm shift.
ovirt001 t1_j1zn0p6 wrote
If all that is needed is some generic set of substances, it's a huge improvement over existing manufacturing technology. That said, the underlying science has been proven so it's not completely outlandish:
https://www.inverse.com/science/einstein-light-matter
ovirt001 t1_j1zcfzo wrote
I would say AI is the current example of this. It's developing faster than we know how to put it to use and we'll likely spend the next several decades implementing and improving it. The capacity for it to speed development of other new technologies is massive. We may even see fusion in the next 10 years thanks to AI.
I suspect AI will enable many other breakthrough technologies such as ultra high density batteries, fusion (as mentioned), nanotech, customizing humans through genomics, and massive advances in material science (which will bring untold advancements).
kjbaran t1_j1zchwd wrote
A singularity is taking shape in both our energy development and information processing. This will lead to better medicines, more power, and an equalization of knowledge.
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ChronoFish t1_j1zbx3x wrote
A new high power/small package/safe/(cheap) power source.
I.e. a cars worth of batter pack (or more) in something the size of a quarter.
One years worth of a home's energy needs in a AA form package. Compared to today, basically a limitless amount of energy. Eliminates central power - and therefore control of power world-wide. It would be geo-politically destabilizing (at least at first), make all sorts of transportation real, eliminate power generation (and use) pollutants. With cheap power comes cheap goods and cheap food. Basically a democratizing of energy.
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AugustusClaximus t1_j1zdbwd wrote
It’s going to a collection of innovations that leads to unmanned, scalable space industry. Fusion is great, but it’ll probably be made obsolete once the dyson swarm is built, and a Dyson Swarm could be build shockingly fast with sufficiently automated industry.
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WavyAsEver t1_j1zgcyx wrote
I think the it has to do with making humans more mobile l
vagabondvisions t1_j1zgogx wrote
Fusion and especially miniaturized fusion reactors, powering everything from spaceships to cars.
JefferyTheQuaxly t1_j1zieyr wrote
well i think scientists are creating a crazy amount of super tech materials (like graphene, etc). while im not sure if itll be crazy or anything, i feel like eventualy we'll figure out how to utilize some of these super materials could potentially revolutionize certain existing technologies or industries.
quirkycurlygirly t1_j1zjiqx wrote
The fuel mineral source that China found on the moon, and the continued innovation of artificial wombs
gaffney116 t1_j1zk91l wrote
In my opinion the cancer vaccines that seem to be on horizon.
katsumojo t1_j1zkbwt wrote
We just had the next wheel/electricity. It's called the internet. It's why things are simultaneously so fucked up and great right now.
Stillwater215 t1_j1zkltj wrote
General purpose AI. Imagine being a doctor or scientist or lawyer and not needing to read through a dozen papers to find the one piece of information you need.
Think of “the computer” from Star Trek that had every piece of information available at a single vocal command. That it what a general purpose AI could offer.
Charliedrown86 t1_j1zkmc7 wrote
Any technology that gives humans capability to travel faster than the speed of light. That probably won’t be the next big thing but I wish it were.
danuffer t1_j1zkmre wrote
I’d say the internet was the most recent life changing technology. Next up I hope is clean energy generation or energy storage.
bradland t1_j1zkpmm wrote
I think on a very long time scale, the direct manipulation of the gravitational force (within a single frame of reference) is the most significant discovery mankind has yet to make. This technology would change everything.
It would be the greatest enabler on our path toward becoming an interstellar species. It would also revolutionize life here on Earth. With the ability to manipulate gravity, everything from travel to manufacturing would be forever changed in similar ways that manipulating the electromagnetic force changed our world.
Gravity is the only fundamental force humans are unable to directly manipulate. Tackling that problem is the most fundamental and significant problem we have yet to solve.
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archiewaldron t1_j1zl3ej wrote
Cheap fusion energy/augmented reality/faster-than-light information transfer
strvgglecity t1_j1zlyrk wrote
I'm gonna go with the big science thing that is guaranteed to change the life of every future human and current earth resident: the ongoing destruction of our planet. In short terms, climate change, mass extinction, plastics and forever chemicals, plus the still real threat of global nuclear war. Sure fusion might power the light and heat in 50 years (we are nowhere near actually using fusion power), and AI might be able to design better systems or solutions. The coming years will deliver major changes to human societies, but it's unlikely they are going to be for the better.
OccupationSock t1_j1zm6cm wrote
Free, unlimited, energy. That's powering robotized production of foods, goods, and inventions.
biged0034 t1_j1zo20p wrote
Helium-3 being found on the moon, anyone who finds that first is set to make a lot of money.
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PicadaSalvation t1_j1zpqkv wrote
Antimatter is probably the thing once we learn how to make it sustainably easily cheaply. It could theoretically provide us with a lot of cool stuff.
mjdlight t1_j1zqtia wrote
I would argue it's going to be generalized AI, because the AI itself will begin to make breakthroughs that we couldn't.
AI, even in its current relatively primitive form, has already discovered an antibiotic before humans did. https://news.mit.edu/2020/artificial-intelligence-identifies-new-antibiotic-0220
r2k-in-the-vortex t1_j1zqvbf wrote
Understanding of biomechanics is imho going to be the next big thing after IT. Cure all diseases, up to and including aging - this is the overarching goal for this and next century.
At the same time IT revolution is far from over yet, it's still searching for it's plateau of maturity. One big consequence of that ongoing technological revolution is ever increasing amount of automation and labor efficiency.
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ericdeben t1_j1zr7h2 wrote
A good steering wheel that doesn’t fly off while you’re driving.
SatansMoisture t1_j1zrbr2 wrote
A lawn mower that turns itself off when the grass collecting bag is full.
Glaborage t1_j1zresz wrote
Self-driving cars will trigger a profound reshaping of our societies. From city design, to international relations, to national finances. A large array of social services will suddenly become financially sustainable.
SatansMoisture t1_j1zrfit wrote
Turn on your car and it immediately blocks cellphone signals making it impossible to text and drive.
BigDisk t1_j1zru75 wrote
The holy trinity of achievable technology:
AI, Graphene and Nuclear Fusion.
reececonrad t1_j1zrxdk wrote
I was thinking fusion power would make a new era of unfathomable giant machines. Machines the length of the entire ocean, 10 stories tall submerged to clean the ocean. They would would be built to clean the water 24/7 and could sway with the water by opening and closing with AI to allow currents to pass
Or every city on earth with giant blimps the size of football fields that fly all day capturing carbon 24/7.
Giant machines never made sense because there would be no safe or effective way to power them. But fusion could solve that problem.
Civ6Ever t1_j1zs0ig wrote
We'll see it play out in the next few hundred years, I'd guess a few non-OCPs would be a new way of understanding fundamental forces, genomic editing at scale, or human-level self-programming A.I. (singularity). Probably number one leads to three leads to two.
hondenfluisteraar t1_j1zsq4z wrote
Digitizing complex multi-material matter, and reassembling it in another physical place. Streaming freight.
WaycoKid1129 t1_j1zu40p wrote
You’re assuming the wealthy don’t hoard that technology from the masses
[deleted] t1_j1zueny wrote
What is truly needed is a Dyson swarm that is built and maintained by drones from mining asteroids.
RealHonest-Ish_352 t1_j1zusjm wrote
More of a creative contribution:
Mood adjusting chewing gum, finally available over-the-counter.
Mind reading and thought blocks "Show me your last 10-minutes. "Fack you..."
Group mild melds for problem solving and spiritual enlightenment.
Warp drive, get to Mars this weekend, Mars Hyatt running a special for Labor Day(s). Moon shuttles for New Years celebrations. There's 50 million people living up there
Quantum computing (first thought) Unlimited accessible, sustainable power source(s).
Everyone has access to clean, filtered water. And plant foods that taste like anything you want.
Of course, compassionate, capable androids in the home/people with disabilities and for Healthcare. Childcare...
Cures for all spinal injuries, eye degeneration, and blindness. Regrowth of limbs and teeth.
And the Re-Juve market!!
OMG, please hurry...
No_Ninja3309_NoNoYes t1_j1zv6p1 wrote
- Understanding the human brain better
- Efficient solar panels
- Multimodal AI capable of online learning
- Cheap graphene production
- Free education for more people
- Free healthcare for more people
- Discovery of alien civilization
ihc_hotshot t1_j1z8rmn wrote
Not as big as some of the other topics discussed here so far.... But I always thought graphene was going to change everything. There was a lot of hype a few years ago about it but it hasn't lived up to the hype yet.
curtcarlos t1_j1z7w9j wrote
Energy harnessing. Capitalism is a big obstacle , if a free energy source is developed the global economy will crumble and plunge us into chaos. There has been many breakthroughs that have been shut down due to national security. In the early days of YouTube you could find some scientists appealing for help recovering their lives work after seizure from government.
DeejayPleazure t1_j1z9go4 wrote
The fusion reactor is starting to take shape. That will be life changing in many ways from travel to energy consumption.