The Global Agenda Council under the World Economic Forum recently announced ten cutting-edge technologies that are expected to impact the future of mankind in 2014, including the very popular wearable electronic devices and Brain-controlled computer technology products. Noubar Afeyan, the author of the report, pointed out: "Technology may have become the most iconic representative of the development and changes in the modern world.
Facing resource scarcity and global environmental changes and a range of other issues, positive technological breakthroughs can provide innovative solutions to the most pressing global challenges of our time. By highlighting the most important technological breakthroughs, the Global Agenda Council aims to raise awareness of these technologies , and hope to make its own contribution in bridging the gap between investment, regulation and public understanding."
1. Wearable technology adjusted according to the body
A new generation of Wearable devices will feature technology that adjusts to the body. These devices are extremely small, equipped with many sensors and a feedback system, and hide themselves under a strong functional appearance to make them better accepted by users. Such “invisible” devices include earbuds that detect heart rate, sensors hidden inside outerwear to track movement, temporary tattoos that track health signs, and tactile shoe soles that vibrate as reminders based on GPS pointing. The applications of these devices are also very wide: contact shoe soles are currently used to help blind people guide their eyes, and oncologists wearing Google Glass can view patients' medical records and other visual information through voice input during surgery.
2. Nanostructured carbide technology
The rapidly growing number of global automobiles has made automobile emissions a very serious environmental problem, thus improving the efficiency of transportation operations. It is an effective way to reduce emissions.
First of all, the use of nanostructured carbide technology can reduce the weight of cars by 10% or more. Lightweight cars require relatively less fuel, thereby improving transportation efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Secondly, the use of nanostructured carbide technology can improve passenger safety. In the event of a car accident, the steel plate using new technology can absorb the impact force and is not easy to break, thereby effectively protecting the passengers in the car. Finally, synthetic materials using this technology can also be recycled.
3. Seawater mining technology (obtaining metal substances from saltwater)
As freshwater resources shrink, desalination has become an alternative method to obtain freshwater. However, the desalination process has serious flaws. In addition to consuming a lot of energy, this process also produces a large amount of concentrated brine, and the concentrated brine discharged back into the seawater has a serious impact on the living environment of marine life.
The most promising way to solve this problem may be: we should not treat the concentrated brine produced after seawater desalination as waste, but treat it as a resource for refining precious metals. Concentrated brine contains precious metals such as lithium, magnesium, and uranium, as well as common metal elements such as sodium, calcium, and potassium.
4. Technology to store electricity on the grid
Electricity resources cannot be stored directly, and wind power generation and solar power generation cannot provide continuous power supply due to limitations of natural conditions. Although hydropower can solve the problem of continuous power supply, it has the disadvantages of high cost, environmental constraints and complete reliance on geological structures.
The application of a series of new technologies is expected to completely solve the problem of unable to store electricity. For example, a flow battery is a battery in which the positive and negative electrodes or a certain polar active material are liquid fluid redox couples. It can be like savingCoal stores liquid chemical energy just like natural gas. The newly invented graphene supercapacitor makes it possible for batteries to be quickly charged and discharged tens of thousands of times.
5. Nanowire lithium battery technology
Nanowire lithium batteries can complete the full charging process more quickly, and can also release 30% to 30% more energy than current lithium-ion batteries. 40% battery. As a result, this next-generation battery has the potential to revolutionize the electric vehicle market while also allowing electricity converted from the sun to enter millions of homes. Silicon-based anode cells are expected to be used in smartphones within the next two years.
6. Display technology that does not rely on screens
As electronic devices have become increasingly miniaturized, it is difficult for people to type a novel on the screen of a smartphone. Screenless display technology can project the full keyboard onto a larger surface for users to use. Screenless display technology can also be achieved by projecting images directly onto the human retina, which not only eliminates the need for bulky hardware devices, but also helps protect personal privacy.
Retina display technology has made very rapid progress in 2013, and seems destined to be widely deployed in the screenless display market. Many companies have made very significant breakthroughs in this field, including virtual reality headsets, bionic contact lenses, mobile phones for the elderly and partially blind, and holographic videos.
7. Human flora therapy
In the past few years, human flora has been a hot topic of research by scientists. Humans funded by the National Institutes of HealthA report released by the Human Microbiome Project in 2012 revealed that more than 10,000 microorganisms exist in the human ecosystem. On the one hand, a large number of flora play a very important role in human life: for example, intestinal flora can help people digest food and absorb important nutrients; but on the other hand, bacteria are almost everywhere in the human body Sometimes it can transform into virulent strains and cause illness or even death.
Now, researchers are turning their focus to the gut microbiota and its role in treating conditions such as infectious diseases, obesity, diabetes and enteritis. It is now well recognized that antibiotic therapy can disrupt the balance of intestinal flora, leading to complications such as life-threatening Clostridium difficile infections. On the other hand, a new generation of therapies composed of healthy intestinal flora is entering clinical trials and is expected to improve modern medical diagnosis and treatment. Breakthroughs in human microbiota technology will clearly open up new avenues for treating serious diseases and will improve the overall health of the human race.
8. RNA gene intervention therapy for cancer and infectious diseases
Protein synthesis has always been an important factor leading to most human diseases and disorders, and RNA gene intervention therapy has long been considered Believed to have the ability to treat conditions where traditional medical treatments cannot help. Over the past year, the biomedical field has once again become a focus for researchers. Before 2014, two RNA gene therapies had been officially approved. Drugs based on RNA gene intervention mechanisms could help treat genetic disorders, cancer and infectious diseases.
The new generation of RNA gene drugs can reduce the amount of natural protein synthesis and promote the production of optimized and therapeutic proteins in vivo. Several private companies aiming to develop RNA gene therapies have been announced in collaboration with large pharmaceutical companies and scientific research institutions. In the coming years, we hope that this area of ??medicine will quickly challenge the traditional pharmaceutical industry in treating difficult and difficult diseases.
9. Self-quantification analysis and prediction technology
Self-quantification technology has been around for many years. It can continuously collect people’s daily activity data to help people make better health and behavioral decisions. However, with the development of todays Internet of Things, self-quantification technology has played a role in a wider field.
Smartphones record massive amounts of data about people’s activities, including contacts (contact lists and social networking applications), callers (call records, message records and email records), frequently visited places (GPS location, Wi-Fi login history, and location-tagged photos) and activity history (application and acceleration data). Analytical and predictive technologies based on this data and specialized machine learning algorithms for people and their behavior can help us plan cities, pursue sustainable development, and improve medical diagnostics.
10. Brain-controlled computer technology
Brain-controlled computer technology is getting closer to practical applications step by step. Computers can use Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology to read and analyze signals sent directly from the brain. BCI has achieved clinical success. Quadriplegics and stroke victims are already able to use brainwaves to control robots that help them move their wheelchairs and even drink coffee. In addition, direct brain implants have helped completely blind patients regain partial vision.
Recent research focus has been on exploring the possibility of using BCI technology to achieve direct connection between different brains. Researchers at Duke University in the United States reported last year that they had successfully connected the brains of two mice through a network. Afterwards, the two rats from different countries were able to cooperate and complete simple tasks to earn rewards. Also last year, scientists at Harvard University stated that they had established a functional connection between the mouse brain and the human brain using non-invasive BCI technology.
Other research projects have been focusing on controlling the human brain or implanting memories directly from computers into the human brain. In the middle of last year, MIT researchers announced that they had successfully implanted a false memory into the brain of a mouse. Directly controlling human memory may have application prospects in treating trauma-stressed disorder. In the long term, information may be loaded into the human brain in the form of computer files. Of course, technological advances in this area have also raised many ethical controversies.
