110 Predictions for the Future

2012—2022

· People will be fluent in every language. With DARPA and Google racing to perfect instant translation, it won't be long until your cellphone speaks Swahili on your behalf. 

· Software will predict traffic jams before they occur. Using archived data, roadside sensors, and GPS, IBM has come up with a modeling program that anticipates bumper-to-bumper congestion a full hour before it begins. Better yet, the idea proved successful in early tests—even on the Jersey Turnpike. 

· Climate-controlled jackets will protect soldiers from extreme heat and cold. The secret to all-weather clothing, according to former MIT student Kranthi Vistakula, is Peltier plates, which can be used to warm you up or cool you down by sending an electric current across the junction between two different metals. U.S. soldiers have put the lightweight tech to the test. So have soldiers in India. Based on early reviews, it won't be long until others enlist. 

· Nanoparticles will make chemotherapy far more effective. By delivering tiny doses of cisplatin and docetaxel right to cancerous cells, the mini messengers will significantly reduce the pain and side effects of today's treatments. 

· Electric cars will roam (some) highways. Who says you can't road-trip in a Tesla? In a few years, the 1350-mile stretch of Interstate 5 spanning Washington, Oregon, and California will be lined with fast-charging stations—each no more than 60 miles apart. In some areas you will find stations to the east and west too. Don't get any bright ideas, though. If you try to cross the country, you won't get much farther than Tucson. 

· Athletes will employ robotic trainers. Picture a rotor-propelled drone that tracks a pattern on your T-shirt with an onboard camera. Now imagine it flying in front of you at world-record pace. That's just the start—a simple concept developed by researchers in Australia. 

· Bridges will repair themselves with self-healing concrete. Invented by University of Michigan engineer Victor Li, the new composite is laced with microfibers that bend without breaking. Hairline fractures mend themselves within days when calcium ions in the mix react with rainwater and carbon dioxide to create a calcium carbonate patch. 

· Digital "ants" will protect the U.S. power grid from cyber attacks. Programmed to wander networks in search of threats, the high-tech sleuths in this software, developed by Wake Forest University security expert Errin Fulp, leave behind a digital trail modeled after the scent streams of their real-life cousins. When a digital ant designed to perform a task spots a problem, others rush to the location to do their own analysis. If operators see a swarm, they know there's trouble.n style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica,argin: 0px; padding: 0pxle="font-size: 19px;">· It will interact with other vehicles to prevetyle="font-size: 19px;">

· Scrolls will replace tablets. Researchers have already reproduced words and images on thin plastic digital displays. If they want those displays to compete with the iPad, they need to fine-tune the color and refine the screens so you can put your feet up and watch LeBron throw down on YouTube. 

Your Car Will Be Truly Connected

· It will communicate with traffic lights to improve traffic flow.

· It will interact with other vehicles to prevent accidents.

· It will let you drag and drop a playlist from your home network.

· It will find the gas station with the deepest discount and handle the payment.

· It will notify you when someone dents your door and supply footage of the incident. 

As we branch out as a species, it's quite reasonable to think that we'll send 3D printers to other planets to print habitats for humans prior to our arrival. — Dave Evans, Chief Technology Officer and Resident Futurist, Cisco Systems 

· Your genome will be sequenced before you are born. Researchers led by Jay Shendure of the University of Washington recently reconstructed the genome of a fetus using saliva from the father and a blood sample from the mother (which yielded free-floating DNA from the child). Blood from the umbilical cord later confirmed that the sequencing was 98 percent accurate. Once the price declines, this procedure will allow us to do noninvasive prenatal testing. 

Read more: 110 Predictions For the Next 110 Years - Popular Mechanics 

Read more: 110 Predictions For the Next 110 Years - Popular Mechanics 

The Superhuman Workplace

"Imagine becoming superhuman. Or, at the very least, becoming superhumanly good at your job. A new prescription allows you total focus. Total composure. Genius-level clarity of thought, and the ability to stay up, in the zone, for two days straight. Aural and optical implants, gene transfers, and even bionics keep you sharp and operating at peak ability well into your retirement years.  




Imagine that those technologies used by the military to augment soldiers are turning you into a super-worker capable of moving ahead in your profession, and up the career ladder, with beyond-human, almost Übermenschen abilities.

Now, imagine that everyone in your office is on the same tip. Imagine that you’re being forced to stay in line, too, just to keep up—that you’re becoming a medical experiment in human efficiency just to retain your job.

The latest research suggests that we’re not too far off from this sort of labor ecosystem. A new report compiled by the Royal Society (the United Kingdom’s national science academy) summarizes the findings of British academics, doctors, professionals and futurists, and it suggests, somewhat cautiously, that jacked-up worker ants could soon be marching en masse. 

“Work will evolve over the next decade,” the report, titled Human enhancement and the future of work, states, “with enhancement technologies potentially making a significant contribution. Widespread use of enhancements might influence an individual’s ability to learn or perform tasks and perhaps even to enter a profession; influence motivation; enable people to work in more extreme conditions or into old age, reduce work-related illness; or facilitate earlier return to work after illness.” 

Those “enhancements” include chemical cocktails, such as the sleep-annihilating drug Modafinil, and surgical improvements like directed-brain stimulation and bionic limbs. While many of these technologies are already available, their increasing proliferation in the workplace is expected to raise serious issues. Will those who can’t afford them be hopelessly outpaced by those who can? Even more disturbingly, will workers soon be socially pressured, or even overtly coerced into going superhuman? 







MODAFINIL: THE PERFECT PRESCRIPTION?

Many of the technologies the report describes are still in early development stages. Still others, including Modafinil, are already widespread. Sometimes marketed as Provigil, it’s a drug designed to treat narcolepsy. It allows users to stay awake and productive for up to two days straight. Not surprisingly, Modafinil cuts across professional and class lines, appealing to students, professionals, truck drivers, soldiers, and anybody else who might need to stay alert for extended periods of time.

Modafinil and other cognitive enhancers are becoming de rigeur for students, with users potentially extending the habit later into their careers. Dr. Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Cambridge, suggests that 16 percent of American students are on cognitive-boosting drugs.

The drug—which is being studied by select researchers as a potential addiction treatment for that other workplace marching-powder standby, cocaine—is a favorite among doctors, scientists and academics, with the performance of users clearly outpacing those who don’t. It’s even used on the International Space Station to manage the sleep disruptions caused by experiencing sixteen sunsets and..... 

Read the rest at 

http://transhumanity.net/articles/entry/how-smart-drugs-and-cybernetics-could-create-a-superhuman-workforce