If you’re reading this blog, you probably agree with us that the
development of technology is basically the most fascinating thing ever.
It’s strange to think, though, that when you look back at old movies and
TV shows set in the future, you don’t really see anything like the
Internet or Facebook-enabled smartphones.
What you do see are flying cars, teleportation, robots, and lots of other technologies we don’t even have yet. And we thought this was the future!
Just because we don’t have them yet, doesn’t mean they’re not on the horizon. Let’s check in on a few future-esque technologies and how close we are to having them in our everyday lives.
Flying Cars
Ok, this one isn’t really practical or safe in modern society, BUT at least one prototype is being developed by a company called Moller International!
The bad news? They’ve been developing it for 30 years. Intended as more of a recreational vehicle than a road revolution, the “SkyCar” seats four and can supposedly reach speeds up to 300 mph and altitudes of 36,000 feet. It also boasts vertical take off and landings, which means you don’t need any runway, and it can also hover. Well, I guess we’ll believe it when we see it. In the meantime, could we at least get Marty McFly’s hover board?
Human-like robots As opposed to flying cars, robots are getting a ton of research time in institutions all over the globe. Every year, we see new advancements in robot intelligence, agility, and human-like characteristics. Shoot, this robot dances! But so far, no dice on the perfect robo-companion. We’re getting close, though. Honda has a humanoid robot already, and then there’s this creepy thing – a tendon-driven robot. Some of those robots are balancing precariously on the uncanny valley.
For now we can at least console ourselves with the fact that the robot apocalypse is no where near nigh.
Teleportation
Whether you were stuck in traffic or facing an 18-hour flight, you’ve probably fantasized about being able to just disappear and reappear where ever you need to go, without all the hassle of travel. The days of just saying “beam me up” are definitely far off, but scientists are able to teleport photons and have been since 1997! Unfortunately, they can’t teleport the photons very far at all. For a long time teleportation was limited to mere meters, but now Chinese scientists have teleported a photon almost 100 kilometers! That’s enough to get me to the grocery store at least, but so far, nothing but photons have been successfully teleported. Plus, the proton that comes out the other side isn’t truly the original proton, but an exact copy. Oh yeah, and the original is destroyed. So for now, it’s not something we’d like to test personally, but it’s still very cool. Read more about it here and here.
Invisibility
We’ve seen a few incarnations of “invisibility cloaks” like this one and this one, but so far nothing like Harry Potter’s, and that’s what we really all want. However, late last year, reports began to surface about a new product called “Quantum Stealth” that is (supposedly) being developed by a Canadian military contractor. However, the creator, Guy Cramer, is being super secretive about his invention (what else would you expect from someone developing a perfect shrouding technology?), and hasn’t released real photos of his cloak in action.
However, he did release mock-up photos of how the thing is supposed to look, and if the photos are to be believed – it’s AWESOME.
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