We live in interesting times.
Many science fiction concepts that were fiction some decades ago are slowly becoming reality as scientists push the boundaries of science every day.
After reading through every breakthrough news of dazzling science, you cannot help but wonder that it was the same concept that was the core story of your favorite science fiction movie of your childhood.
Many of these technologies are still developing and evolving and trying very hard to become reality.
1. Matrix-style learning where you can accelerate learning with a computer
We are some way off from actually downloading data into our brains, but scientists have figured out how to enhance and accelerate learning. They stimulate the brain through electrical impulses and as a result, have seen the test subjects learning new things at an astonishing pace.
The tech is still in the development stage, so do not get high hopes of getting it to crack your final exams.
2. Printing new organs with a bionic 3D printer
Organ stealing is going to be a thing of the past because scientists are developing technology where printing live tissues will be a possibility.
The current technology obviously does not produce fully functional live organs, because quite simply put, human organs are just too complicated to be printed with the present technology.
3. Mind-controlled artificial limbs
Suppose a hand is cut off exactly at the wrist. Designing a prosthetic hand for the amputee is still easier because the muscles of the forearm and the bones and the nerves are still intact.
Such is not the case for amputees with a whole leg or an arm missing.
The electronic sensors for advanced prosthetic arms go straight to the sensory cortex in your brain and you can do the lightest and most delicate of hand movements after the bionic arm is calibrated.
The electrical arm also comes with a feedback system that lets the user know how hard he is gripping the object in the arm.
4. Laser guns that can destroy small boats and intercept missiles
A laser gun was demonstrated publicly by the US Navy that has the capability to destroy small boats and also intercept missiles mid-air.
They are completely electrically powered and will never run out of firepower as long as the ship has power.
5. Nanorobots that will start fighting diseases and conduct surgery too
In a few decades, nanobots will be swimming inside your body, fighting infections and diseases actively.
Scientists claim that by the 2030s, nanobots will also help in delicate surgeries to cure deadly diseases like cancer.
They are already used to cure type-I Diabetes today.
6. Flexible viewing screens that you can fold and keep in your pocket
It is basically paper that can display HD movies and then you can just fold it and put it in the pocket.
These thin displays can be pasted on wall surfaces and the small ones can be put on your wrists as you are traveling.
7. Telescopic lenses that will let you literally zoom into objects without spectacles
Scientists have already manufactured experimental artificial lenses that can zoom to a factor of almost 3X.
That means you can see an object three times closer than you actually are. These lenses are already being tested for military applications as of today.
8. Wireless charging
Power cords will be as obsolete as compact discs are today. Wireless charging is the future.
It already exists for small devices like your smartphone, but improvements are being made to it so that even a big device like a car battery can be charged wirelessly one day.
9. Thought based inputs that will replace even touchscreens
Scientists are working on making brainwaves translatable into words. The simplest application of such a breakthrough would be thought-based text messages.
You just have to think what you have to text and your phone will translate your thoughts into texts which you can then send by just another thought.
10. Weather on demand
We already know about cloud seeding where planes spray substances that cause rain clouds to precipitate and cause rainfall.
Scientists are coming up with a technology laser beams will be shot into clouds to generate rain and lightning. With this technique, scientists are planning to control lightning and rain over a vast area.
11. Deflector shields that will deflect enemy fire
Deflector shields are theoretically possible too. Students from the University of Leicester have theorized a design of an actual deflector shield.
The shield will be a strong magnetic field containing a super-dense plasma field.
The only catch is that it only deflects laser beams and not actual bullets.
12. Cloaks that will hide you, your sounds and also your body heat signature
We already have cloaks that hide our thermal signatures. Since most militaries use thermal goggles to spot enemy troops, these cloaks hide soldiers more efficiently on any terrain.
Scientists are working on metamaterials that will refract light in a way that people wearing them will be camouflaged not just to sight, but even to touch and sound.
But developing and manufacturing metamaterials is extremely expensive and scientists are figuring out a way to make their production cheaper and more efficient.
13. Cryonics – where you can be frozen and then live forever
Cryonics is a field of science where your body is frozen and preserved until future science and technology will revive the body fully so that the frozen body can live again.
Cryogenics is a budding field of science that is very seriously pursued by scientists. There are commercial cryogenic services already, where you can freeze yourself for a lot of money, obviously.
14. Cyber implants which make you a cybernetic organism – just like the Terminator
Pacemakers and artificial hearts are already are technically making people cybernetic organisms in a way. That’s because you have a fully functional electronic device inside you that is helping you be fully functional.
Scientists are tirelessly working to bridge the gap between machines and humans and making the human-machine interface as smooth and seamless as possible.
In the future machine arms and an electronic eye is not a farfetched proposition.