Science futures

Groundbreaking developments are likely to come from converging scientific disciplines: biotechnology, nanotechnology and advanced materials, safety and security technologies, robotics, neuroscience and ICT.

Inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil argues that we will see more scientific and technological change in the next 30 years than we have in the last four centuries. Indeed, by 2040, we are likely to have quantum computing - computers potentially trillions of times faster than today. By 2030, we can expect artificial intelligence to match the human brain. In the next decade, we could develop complex organs patches that could repair damaged pieces of the heart or other organs. Within the next five years, Toyota expects to put human-assisting robots on the market. In a few months we are likely to herald the creation of artificial life in the form of an organism. These developments may well surpass the revolutions in IT and genetics: is Kurzweil being too conservative?

This is part of Outsights 21 Drivers for the 21st Century &trade;, a future-orientated scan of the 21 key forces shaping this century.

Links

 * Quantum Computing Breakthroughs
 * Computers 'to match human brains by 2030'
 * Toyota's new robot can play the violin, help the aged
 * The penultimate step towards the creation of artificial life has just been announced
 * Outsights