Do some of the near-future developments predicted on these pages seem outlandishly improbable? Perhaps they do, although an influential report from the RAND Corporation seems to lend credence to the ideas contained on this website. REPORT
Moreover, we are already accomplishing things that appeared impossible just a few years ago. MORE
Consider these examples:
Human embryos have been successfully implanted and grown in artificial wombs. (The experiments were halted after a few days to avoid violating in-vitro fertilization regulations.)
German scientists are making steady progress toward being able to grow a complete new bladder from a person's own tissue to replace one lost to cancer or other medical conditions.
A leading plastic surgeon says we have reached the point where we can seriously consider making a full face transplant for someone who has been severely disfigured. MORE
Researchers in Israel have fashioned a "bio-computer" out of DNA that is capable of handling a billion operations-per-second with 99.8 percent accuracy. Reuters reports that these bio-computers are so minute that "a trillion of them could fit in a test tube."
IBM has built a video screen whose images appear so true-to-life that "the human eye finds [the video images] indistinguishable from the real thing."
In England, University of Reading Professor Kevin Warwick has implanted microchips in his body to remotely monitor and control his physical motions. During Warwick's Project Cyborg experiments, computers were able to remotely monitor his movements and open doors at his approach.
Engineers at the U.S. Sandia National Labs have built a remote-controlled spy robot equipped with a TV scanner, microphone and a chemical micro-sensor. The robot weighs one ounce and is smaller than a dime. Lab scientists predict that the micro-bot could prove invaluable in protecting "US military and economic interests."
In Australia, researchers in quantum optics say they have "teleported" a radio-signal message in a laser beam, using the same kind of principles that enabled Star Trek's Scotty to beam up Captain Kirk. MORE
U.S. scientists have built a machine that, when released into the environment, powers itself by feeding on the bodies of snails and other living creatures.
In April 2001, scientists built a robotic fish that was guided by the brain of an eel. The Washington Post heralded the grotesque achievement with the headline: "Scientists Start to Fuse Tissue and Technology in Machines."
In February 2001, MIT researchers successfully tested a robotic fish controlled by a microprocessor and powered by the muscle tissues stripped from a frog.
Finally, take a look at the "Best Inventions of 2002", as compiled by Time Magazine.
- When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong.