Buzz
"We're living in the future" feels more accurate today than ever before. The leap from telegrams to telephones was massive. The jump from isolating yourself in a dark room to diving into the vast world of the internet is even bigger... even though a lot of internet use still involves sitting alone in a dimly lit room. While the pace of technological growth may have slowed in recent years, it still pales in comparison to the groundbreaking inventions emerging now.
Here are 10 innovations, either soon to be developed or that you probably never imagined could even exist, which will make you look around and think: "James Cameron? Are you the mastermind behind all this? Are you watching me right now?"
10. Say Goodbye to the 'Pew Pew'
In all those high-tech, teleportation-filled, voice-activated, mind-reading machines we see in sci-fi films and TV shows, the weapons are undeniably the most captivating. Imagine how easy deer hunting would be with a phaser? What about defending your home with a lightsaber? Or taking a quick shot at target practice with a Warhammer 40k bolter gun? Well, the last one might soon be a reality.
Arcflash Labs, a U.S.-based company, has unveiled the first-ever commercially available hand-held Gauss rifle. This weapon, part gun, part cannon, part world-saving tool, operates as an electromagnetic catapult, using a series of coiled magnets that switch on and off with pinpoint precision to accelerate the projectile. This enables the shot to reach astonishing speeds before launching out of the gun, obliterating any alien exoskeleton in its path.
Or at least that’s where this technology is headed. For now, Arcflash Labs’ GR-1 Anvil can fire a steel rod at about 200 feet per second, delivering around 75 ft-pounds of energy. Not too shabby for a first attempt. But should any miscreant find themselves facing you while wielding one of these beasts, it’s nearly guaranteed they won’t think twice about messing with you—nobody dares challenge the “Doom Guy.”
9. #UltracapacitorRevolution
Doesn’t it feel like we’re just on the edge of a monumental breakthrough in energy technology that could change everything as we know it? Well, either that or we’re looking at the brink of total societal collapse...
The rise of ultracapacitors might just be the game-changer we need to delay our collapse a little longer. These compact energy storage devices could eventually replace traditional batteries. Currently, Skeleton Tech is pushing forward with production of their curved graphene units. While they’re not quite as efficient at storing energy as lithium-ion batteries (yet), their output is nothing short of impressive—massive, in fact.
Skeleton provides batteries as a supplement to traditional cell batteries in transport systems, ranging from electric cars to public transit vehicles. This allows all auxiliary electric functions to be powered by ultracapacitors, freeing up energy for the vehicle's propulsion and reducing space and weight, which ultimately enhances overall performance. The further and faster we can travel, the sooner we can turn our attention to bigger questions—like what new drama Joe Rogan will find himself caught up in next. You know, the truly pressing existential dilemmas.
8. Triffids Are Delicious
When *The Simpsons* aired the iconic episode "E-I-E-I-D'oh" in 1999, no one could have imagined that even an average Joe without a fancy lab or a Ph.D. from MIT could splice two plant species together, as Homer did with tomatoes and tobacco.
Wrong. Completely wrong.
Apologies for the morbid tone. Fast forward to 2013, when a gardening company in England introduced the commercially available TomTato plant, a hybrid of cherry tomatoes and white potatoes. Since then, amateur gardeners channeling their inner mad scientist have been busy grafting. Now, with a couple of YouTube tutorials under your belt, you can create the next crop that might just solve world hunger. It’s all about precise grafting—combining a surgeon's touch with a gardener's passion.
Or doom humanity to a reign of genetically mutated SproutKumquats. All hail the bitter tanginess!
7. Art Meets Fashion Meets Futuristic Tech
Many people dismiss high fashion as, to put it bluntly, total nonsense and an exercise in mindless luxury. Clothes no one actually wears, showcased by people who sometimes look more alien than human, and with less artistic value than a Bob Ross painting of a tree, lake, and bush. But don’t worry, you millennial cynics and realists—futuristic technology is here to save the day!
Innovative fashion designer Iris Van Herpen is pushing the boundaries by creating runway pieces using 3D printing and advanced AI technology. The results, especially when compared to the usual absurdities at Paris, London, Milan, and New York Fashion Weeks, are genuinely captivating. And the impressive technical expertise involved shows that fashion is evolving, not just decaying.
6. Meating Expectations
It seems that, whether we want it or not, meat is gradually disappearing from the global menu. Sure, it will never truly vanish—we've got canine teeth for a reason, and nobody’s too thrilled when their 30/30 ammo goes bad. But don’t be surprised if mass-produced supermarket meat products are soon replaced by plant-based alternatives. Some will cheer, some will protest, but most of us will only care about one thing: Does the facon really taste like bacon?
Innovative Israeli company RedefineMeat has come remarkably close to recreating the experience. Renowned chef Marco Pierre White (the guy who taught Gordon Ramsay that great cooking starts with yelling at everyone) called the products he worked with, "the most clever thing I've ever seen in my 45 years of being in a kitchen." High praise from a man known for not giving praise easily. Made from plant-based ingredients like pea protein and beetroot, their offerings contain no GMOs, antibiotics, or the other undesirable elements of factory-farmed meat. From sausages and burgers to flank steak, experts predict that alternatives like these could account for 10% of the global "meat" market by 2029.
5. The (Augmented) Realities of War
Military progress isn’t just about how much destruction a new bomb can cause—wartime innovations shaped the technological advancements of the 20th century. From radio to nuclear energy, no WWII means no internet, slower car developments, and a very different (likely still sepia-toned) world. The next frontier in military tech is augmented reality. Why? Because the U.S. military has just poured billions of dollars into its development. That’ll do the trick.
Augmented reality is like the more futuristic version of VR; elements of virtual reality are blended with our real-world surroundings. Picture those sleek visors on the helmets of soldiers in sci-fi movies or what Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator saw through his eyes—real-time data displayed right in your line of sight. Imagine Yelp reviews popping up as you pass by a café, the latest sports scores while you glance at a Dallas Cowboys billboard...you get the picture. Soon, it won’t just be text: maps, diagrams, and even media clips will appear as you walk around...in 3D.
The U.S. Armed Forces are working on this technology for their soldiers. But, of course, it's fine-tuned for the battlefield.
4. Lifting Made Easy
Not every breakthrough needs to be super high-tech. Take grafted and hybridized plants—they’re just gardening. On the other hand, digitized exoskeletons sound futuristic. But what about a simple harness that helps with lifting and prevents back pain? It's a clever product, but definitely not something out of *Battlestar Galactica*. Sometimes, the most straightforward innovations are the ones that truly change the game. Game changers that could help us reach the stars.
Okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration.
This harness, born from years of research by prestigious institutions like Harvard, aims to make back pain a thing of the past. It makes lifting heavy loads, up to 50 extra pounds, a breeze, without risking injury as long as you wear this figure-enhancing harness. It might not look like something Neo would sport, but any enhancement that improves human strength is a leap into the future.
No? Well, picture this device helping an astrophysicist with a chronic back problem, enabling them to finally overcome the pain and possibly unlock the secrets of warp travel. That’s what you’d call futuristic.
3. The Future Is Ours to Fix. Literally.
Let’s take a break from new inventions and high-tech advances to dive into something that might not seem as thrilling, but could make a big difference—customer service policies.
Okay, maybe not the most heart-racing topic, but a fresh policy set to become the norm in the tech industry could be a game changer. In late 2021, Apple made a groundbreaking announcement that left techno rebels and ‘right to repair’ advocates stunned. They basically declared, “You’re right, and we’re making it happen,” giving customers access to parts and tools that were previously off-limits, allowing them to repair their own devices.
At first glance, this might seem like just another PR stunt, but when you factor in the growing consolidation of the market, it becomes clear that a significant amount of control has shifted back to the consumer. Perhaps Big Tech realized that a disillusioned population with no options isn’t sustainable, or maybe they aren’t the villains we once thought. Whatever the reason, this move deserves more attention, especially given the potential implications. A Star Trek-like future feels a little more achievable with this change in motion.
2. From the Depths to the Heights?
Many of the technological advancements discussed here could have one of two outcomes—save humanity or bring about its downfall. It’s hard to find a positive spin on the rapidly developing field of 'deepfake' synthetic media. With the right tech skills, anyone can take your face from a photo, run it through an AI program, and place your likeness onto any piece of media they choose: 'Are you sure it wasn’t you throwing that Molotov cocktail into the orphanage, Ms. Jones? How about this video we uncovered?' It's a chilling thought.
However, it's not all bad. In 2019, David Beckham was tapped to help raise awareness about malaria through the organization Malaria Must Die. Instead of making the retired football star learn a slew of languages, deepfake technology was used to make it appear as though he was speaking in different tongues, with various actors voicing the message in their native languages. Pretty cool, right? Another fascinating example came from Samsung’s AI lab, which manipulated an image of the Mona Lisa to make her move and speak (real 'Harry Potter' vibes here, though you can’t blame them for that).
Beyond these fun, if somewhat frivolous, uses, deepfake technology is being employed by hospitals to create fake patients, helping to protect the privacy of real individuals. But is it worth it when malicious actors could slap your face on a criminal’s body or fabricate an embarrassing video of you? It's possible that this tech could plunge society into unprecedented levels of paranoia—what happens to our sense of reality when we can’t trust anything we see?
Time will tell, but for now, all of this seems (here’s that word from the last couple of years) rather dystopian.
1. Fusion. Finally. Maybe.
It seems fusion technology might be just around the corner. A very, very long corner. It's been decades since playful science journalists first started talking about mankind’s great leap forward in energy—fusion power. 'Just a few more years,' they said... back in the ’70s.
But recent advancements in the field now suggest that the fusion era may actually be on the horizon. The potential of fusion is mind-boggling—safer, cleaner, cheaper, and capable of massive energy output. Just 0.1g of deuterium and 0.3g of lithium could power an average American household for an entire year. And these elements are naturally occurring. And abundant. In late 2021, MIT, along with the fusion startup Commonwealth Fusion Systems, seemed to have overcome the final major obstacle in the race for fusion—creating the incredibly powerful magnets needed.
By using high-temperature superconductor tape, they succeeded in creating one of the most powerful magnets ever designed. With lower-than-expected power input and the type of magnetic field required for safe fusion generation. Their test demonstrated that the theory behind their concept worked, opening the door for fusion generators to become a reality. At last.
By 2025, the team hopes to introduce SPARC, the first fusion device capable of achieving net energy output. The goal is that this breakthrough will attract enough investment to make fusion the go-to energy source in the near future.
And the 'power'? It could very well be limitless.
