It goes without saying that without the scientist, there’s no future.
In Physics of the Future, Michio Kaku explains that the key to understading the future is to grasp the fundamental laws of nature and then apply them to the inventions, machines, and therapies that will redefine our civilization far into the future.
Today we have a family grasp of the four forces. The first one, gravity, is now described through Einstein’s theory of general relativity and the other three, electromagnetic force and two nuclear forces–the weak and strong–are described through the quantum theory, which allows us to decode the secrets of the subatomic world.
The quantum theory has given us the transitor, the laser, and the digital revolution that is the driving force behind modern society. Scientist were able to use the quantum theory to unlock the secret of the DNA molecule.The culmination of all these upheavals is the formation of a planetary civilization, what physicists call a type I civilization: Paperless office, peopleless city, cybertourists, cybershoppers, cyberstudents, picturephone, Internet.
But the reverse has happened because of the cave man/woman principle.
The lesson is that one medium never annihilates a previous one but coexists with it.
So that is the cave man Principle: we prefer to have both, but if given a choice we will chose thigh touch, like our cavermen ancestors
The author of Physics of the Future analyzes and predicts, grasping the four fundamental forces in nature, the future of the computer, the AI, medicine, nanotechnology, energy, space travel, wealth and humanity. As a digital immigrant, perhaps the future of the computer is more appealing to me.
No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars or sailed to un uncharted land or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.
~HELEN KELLER.
So what’s the future of the Internet?
1. Intelligent products.- Chips will be so cheap and will replace the bar code. Companies that do not make their products intelligent may find themselves driven out of business by their competitors.
In the coming decade, chips will be combined with supersensitive sensors,so that they can detect diseases, accidents, and emergencies and alert us before they get out of control.
2.Invisible computers.- The destiny of computers is to become invisible that is to disappear into the fabric of our lives, to be everywhere and nowhere, slowly and seamless by carrying out our wishes. They will, to a degree,recognize the human voice and face and converse in a formal language.
3. Digital home.-Imagine all the pictures and photographs that decorate our homes today. Now imagine each one being animated, moving, and connected to the internet.
Around 2020, the price of a chip may also drop to about a penny. Then we will have millions of chips distributed everywhere in our environtment, silently carrying out our orders. Ultimately the word computer itself will disappear from the English language.
In the future (Present to 2030), the Internet will be everywhere—in wall screens, furniture, on billboards, and even in our glasses and contact lenses. When we blink, we will go online.
One day we will be able to download any movie, song, Web site, or piece of information off the Internet into our contact lens. From the comfort of the beach, we will be able to teleconference to the office by blinking. By inserting some pattern-recognition software into these Internet glasses, they will also recognize objects and even some people’s faces (meeting/coktail party: identify strangers and know their backgrounds).
Michio Kaku says that it might alter the educational sytem, but I sense that with the proliferation of MOOC’s, the system will change sooner than later. A way to validate the efforts and not the results.
This may alter the educational system. Students taking a final exam will be able to silently scan the Internet via their contact lens for the answers to the questions. This means that educators will have to stress thinking and reasoning ability instead of roting memorization.
4. Digital contact lenses.- A contact lens with 3,600 pixels, each one no more than 10 micrometers thick.
Your glasses may also have a tiny video camera in the frame,so it can film your surroundings and then broadcast the images directly onto the Internet. People around the world may be able to share in your experiences as they happen.
In the near future, you will also be able to safely surf the Web via your contact lens while driving a car. Commuting to work won’t be such an agony chore because cars will drive themselves.
