10 Inventions That Will Change The World

We are living in an age of unprecedented technological advancements. Each day, rapid progress is being made in fields that have the potential of transforming our lives forever. As a futurist, my job is to look ahead and spot these key trends. So, let's explore 10 of the most mind-blowing emerging technologies poised to change and transform our business and society in the coming decades. Artificial Intelligence and Robotics The holy grail of AI research has always been general AI. This all-encompassing hive mind is self-aware and commands intelligence equal to a person's. Although scientists are still a few years away from an AI like that, we have had tremendous success with narrow AIs. Those have already started to have a significant impact on our world. For example, narrow AI is already being used daily to power systems like spam filters, Google Maps and virtual assistants such as Siri. Humanity has also successfully managed to pair AI with robotics, another field that has seen a boom in development over the last decade. As scientists progress with sensors and actuator technologies, we can create ever more realistic and practical robots to perform human tasks. These robots with AI are being used in various settings such as manufacturing, healthcare and retail. With technologies like fully self-driving cars and humanoid robots on the horizon, this decade will be crucial for AI and robotics technologies. With the right investments, these technologies have the potential to change our world in ways we can't even imagine. 5G and Internet of Things, or IoT This may not sound very mind-blowing to you. Still, the next generation of cellular network technology, or 5G for short, has the potential to revolutionize the world. The difference between 4G, which most of us currently use, and 5G will be exponential. 5G networks may ultimately be 100 times faster than 4G, allowing many more devices to connect, reducing latency to practically zero and providing more reliable signals. Combine that with the Internet of Things, and the possibilities are limitless. IoT is a term used for anything that takes the Internet beyond our computers. IoT will be the keystone technology for futuristic settings such as smart cities, robot-driven agriculture, and self-driving highway systems. And 5G is expected to be the connectivity backbone of that future. One of the biggest bottlenecks of the current IoT system is bandwidth and latency. A 5G network solves both the problems, so with proper implementation, IoT has the potential to flourish once 5G becomes ubiquitous, allowing us to live in a totally connected world where physical and digital systems are seamlessly integrated with the Internet. SATELLITE CONSTELLATIONS A few years ago, Elon Musk's SpaceX launched the first batch of 60 satellites as part of their Starlink project. Today, there is a constellation of over 2,000 satellites already up in the low-Earth orbit, with a plan of inserting 40,000 to 50,000 more in the coming years. This may sound like a crazy idea, but it's not without its merits. Currently, the Internet travels through undersea optical fiber cables that crisscross the world's oceans, and you can find out more about that in this video I did about it. Unfortunately, this leads to many transmission inefficiencies, as delivery is reliant on physical wires. This is also why it is impossible to provide every square inch of the planet with Internet connectivity. There are various spots on the Earth currently where you cannot get Internet access. Satellite constellations are an ideal solution to these two problems. Imagine a giant canopy of satellites covering the entirety of Earth, beaming down the Internet even in the remotest of places. This universal access to the Internet will have profound effects on our society, especially in the developing world as information becomes readily available. SELF-HEALING CONCRETE Shifting to the world of construction, self-healing concrete is an emerging technology that has the potential to totally alter the way we build infrastructure. This new type of concrete can automatically repair itself when cracks appear. The key ingredient of this special concrete is yeast. When mixed with regular cement, the yeast goes into a dormant state. However, once the concrete cracks and water seeps in, the yeast becomes active again and produces calcium carbonate. This process fills up the gaps and prevents further damage. This is a massive development, as it would mean that roads, buildings, and other concrete structures will be able to last much longer without the need for constant maintenance, making our buildings safer and allowing us to a lot of time and effort that can be redirected towards other developments. The technology is currently in its developmental stages, but it might soon become a standard construction material worldwide. GRAPHENE Graphene is a material that has often been hailed as the wonder material of the 21st century, and for a good reason too. Graphene is an allotrope of carbon, meaning it's made up of only carbon atoms. But unlike other allotropes such as charcoal or diamond, graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice. This makes it the thinnest material in the world. But don't be fooled by its delicate appearance. Graphene is considered the world's thinnest, strongest, and most conductive material for electricity and heat. It is also one of the lightest and most flexible materials ever discovered. All these properties make it a very attractive material for several industries, with potential applications in electronics, energy storage, and construction. Since its discovery in 2004, graphene has been the subject of intense research, with many different applications being developed currently. These applications include water filtration, desalination, ultra-fast charging batteries, heat sinks for electronic devices, aerospace materials, wearables, and even artificial muscles. The scope of graphene-based products is virtually limitless, and scientists have only just begun to scratch the surface. FLOATING FARMS The world's population is projected to reach 9 billion by 2050. This means that we'll need to produce 70% more food than we do today just to keep up with demand. But as our population continues to grow, the amount of arable land per person is shrinking. This presents a real challenge for feeding the world's growing population in the future. But one potential solution to this problem is the concept of floating farms. Floating farms are a type of agriculture conducted on platforms or barges that float on water. This type of farming has several advantages over traditional methods. It doesn't require large tracts of land for starters, which is increasingly becoming a scarce resource. It also allows farmers to take advantage of otherwise unused space, such as lakes, reservoirs, and oceans. In addition, floating farms are less susceptible to drought and can even purify water by filtering out pollutants. The concept of floating farms is still in its infancy. Still, if successful, it can forever change the way that humans farm and solve the global food crisis. HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS Hydrogen fuel cells are a type of energy storage device that converts the chemical energy of hydrogen into electricity. One of the main advantages of hydrogen fuel cells is that they're highly efficient and energy-dense. In fact, they're twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine running on fossil fuels. In addition, the byproduct of a hydrogen fuel cell is essentially water instead of toxic gases, making them a very environmentally friendly option. In comparison, hydrogen fuel cells are significantly more efficient than their EV counterparts because they are free from the constraints of lithium-ion batteries. Industry experts believe that hydrogen fuel cells could be used to power everything from cars and trucks to homes and businesses in the future. This will have a significant impact on reducing greenhouse emissions and fulfilling global decarbonization goals. BLOCKCHAIN By blockchain, I don't mean cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, but the technology behind these currencies. Blockchain has become one of the most exciting technologies in recent years because of its potential to revolutionize several industries. Blockchain is a distributed database that allows for secure, transparent, and tamper-proof transactions at its core. Unlike traditional, centralized records, a blockchain is decentralized. The permanent record is not stored in one location, but exists on nodes spread across the system. This makes it an ideal platform for many applications, such as smart contracts, supply chain management, voting systems, banking, and healthcare. The list is literally endless. The fact that blockchain is still in its early stages means that the full extent of its potential is still unknown. But as technology continues to develop, we will begin to see it having a profound impact on how we live and work. NATURAL LANGUAGE PROCESSING Natural language processing is a branch of artificial intelligence that deals with the interaction between computers and humans using natural language. NLP is used to build applications that can understand human language and respond in a natural way for humans. If this sounds easy, it is not. We humans can use language easily because our brains are adjusted by millions of years of evolution. But it is challenging to teach a computer how to hold a fluent conversation, recognizing gestures, context, and cultural cues – all things that we humans use to express meaning and ideas. NLP is still in its early days, but it has come a long way in recent years. Currently, one of the most exciting applications of NLP is chatbots. Chatbots are computer programs that mimic human conversation. They are commonly used to simulate a human's conversation in online customer service. In the future, NLP will become increasingly important, as humans rely more and artificial intelligence to help them with their day-to-day tasks. QUANTUM COMPUTING Quantum computing is the exploitation of collective properties of quantum states, such as superposition and entanglement, to perform computation. In simple terms, quantum computing can solve problems faster and more accurately than even modern supercomputers. If you're still confused, check out the video I did on Google's latest quantum computer achievement. While this technology is still in its nascent stages, we can expect quantum computing to be the backbone of most of the emerging technologies of the future. First, it could make big data more manageable. It could cut costly and complex development times of various new technologies through speedy simulations. Finally, it may make impossible-to-solve problems manageable, such as those faced in AI or natural language processing. The potential implications of quantum computing are mind-boggling. With the ability to solve complex problems that classical computers can't, it has the potential to revolutionize almost every industry, from healthcare and finance to cybersecurity and logistics. For more awesome content, click a card on your screen, and I'll see you in the next video.