Google Glass is a smart glasses from the search giant. They became available back in mid-2014. The only reason this technology still hasn't become popular is the price. If you want to buy smart glasses from Google, you have to spend $ 1,500.

But don't discount smart glasses. Once upon a time Cell Phones too, not everyone could afford. Titans like Microsoft and Sony are working on their devices. This means that in the near future you will be able to watch videos of cats during your morning run.

2. Smart Data

Automation is one of the main tasks that are solved modern technologies... While most of the processes are automatic these days, there are a few things that we have to do manually. For example, add information to the contact list on the phone. You probably won't have to do this yourself soon.

RelateIQ is already working on technology that will create a contact based on information about your current contact list, mailbox, messages. In the end, all you need to do is give the name of the person. All information will appear on your phone.

3. Wearable electronics

Smart glasses and watches are devices that connect us to the outside world. But there are also technologies that connect us to our body. They are developed by large scientific institutions, corporations and small companies. We are talking about headphones that measure heart rate, lenses that track blood sugar levels, and with NFC technology.

As soon as developers can make such gadgets available, the market will be filled with various implants that will read important information in real time and display it on the same smart glasses.

4. Smart home

This technology has already become a reality. Refrigerators tell you which foods are running low, and the oven can be controlled using your smartphone.

In the future, the oven will learn to reheat food while you drive home, and the refrigerator will order the food itself. At this time, you will be able to focus on more important matters.

5. Virtual reality

The Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and PlayStation VR are all-new gaming experiences. Of course, science fiction writers have been flirting with the topic for a long time, but who seriously thought about it?

Game publishers and developers are spending multi-million dollar budgets to bring us new VR experiences. VR devices have room to grow: they are cumbersome and wired, but a start has been made. Soon we will be able to go anywhere in the world without leaving home.

6. Holographic images

Remember the holographic interfaces in Star Wars and Minority Report? Now this technology no longer seems to be something fantastic.

The scope of holographic projections is not limited to games and media. Imagine contact lenses that project an image onto the retina of the eye. People with vision problems will be able to see better without surgery.

7. Neurointerface

The semblance of a neurointerface has existed for a long time and is successfully used in medicine. Quadriplegics - people with complete paralysis of the body - talk using a neurointerface using a computer.

Of course, the technology is far from perfect. However, with the development of neurotechnology, a paralyzed person will be able to return to society and live a full life.

Food delivery using a one-stop service

The globalization of the Internet has reached incredible proportions. You can get access to the Internet almost anywhere in the world, and if the large-scale project of Elon Musk is successful, the Internet will be available everywhere.

Unsurprisingly, services like Uber are popping up. This is a taxi that you can call in almost any country using mobile application... More recently, Uber has also taken up food delivery. There will be even more universal services soon.

9. Digital distribution

The world is changing rapidly. Some 15 years ago, we could not have imagined that we would no longer have to keep stacks of discs with music, films and games at home. Steam and online cinemas have replaced our shopping trip. Instead of a new album of your favorite band, it's easier to buy a subscription to music service for a similar price and get access to the entire discography.

Of course, digital distribution has not reached its climax, and many continue to use physical media, but such people are becoming less and less.

10. Robots

Robotics has made great strides over the past 10 years. Of course, more than a dozen years will pass before the appearance of terminators, but machines capable of shouldering heavy and monotonous work on their titanium shoulders will appear in the near future. For example, thanks to Boston Dynamics.

Solar panels are an environmentally friendly source of renewable energy

In the next 30 years, almost certainly, we will completely switch from fossil energy sources to renewable ones. Oil and gas will eventually run out, but solar and wind energy will not. Besides, solar panels much more environmentally friendly.

Constantly growing volumes of Internet traffic set the pace of development mobile networks... Messengers, video calls, 4K video and streaming services require new data transfer technologies, so the emergence of 5G Internet is inevitable in the near future.

14. Artificial intelligence

It’s just a matter of time before it becomes complete. This will be a turning point in the development of human civilization, after which the world will change forever.

In fact, artificial intelligence no longer seems to be something out of reach, especially with the rapid pace of development of neural networks. Machine learning has already reached high level and is capable of many things, including writing scripts, books and songs.

Of course, programs do not work as well as we would like, but the neural network is a great example of our moving in the right direction.

15. Graphene

In 2004, the first graphene sheet was released. Since then, scientists have been trying to find a way to mass produce the material.

Graphene is a versatile material with exceptional properties. It can be used in almost all areas of our life. High-speed data transfer, water filters and even an unbreakable smartphone body are all graphene. When the production of this material is put on stream, another industrial revolution awaits us.

Technology

The world is improving every day, inventing and discovering something new, and without these achievements we would not have made it that far.

Scientists, researchers, developers and designers from all over the world are trying to implement what will make our life easier and more interesting.

Here are some technologies the future that take our lives to a completely different level.

New technologies of the future

1. Biocoolers

A Russian designer has come up with a concept for a refrigerator called the "Bio Robot Refrigerator" that chills food using biopolymer gel... It has no shelves, compartments or doors - you just stick food into the gel.

The idea was proposed by Yuri Dmitriev for the competition Electrolux Design Lab. The refrigerator uses only 8 percent of the home's energy for the control panel and does not need any energy to actually cool it down.

Refrigerator biopolymer gel uses light generated at a cold temperature to preserve food. The gel itself is odorless and non-sticky, and the refrigerator can be wall or ceiling mounted.

2. Super-fast 5G Internet from drones with solar panels

Google working on drones for solar panels distributing superfast Internet in a project called Project skybender... In theory drones will provide Internet services 40 times faster than 4G networks, allowing you to transfer gigabytes of data per second.

The project provides for the use of millimeter waves to provide service, since the existing spectrum for transmission mobile communications too full.

However, these waves have a shorter range than mobile signal 4G. Google is working on this problem, and if all the technical problems can be solved, the Internet of unprecedented speed may soon appear.

3.5D disks for eternal storage of terabytes of data

Researchers have created a 5D disc that records data in 5 dimensions that persist for billions of years. He can store 360 terabytes of data and can withstand temperatures up to 1000 degrees.

The files on the disk are made of three layers of nanodots. The five dimensions of the disc refer to the size and orientation of the points, as well as their position within the three dimensions. When light passes through the disc, the dots change the polarization of the light, which is read by the microscope and polarizer.

The Southampton team that is developing the disc was able to burn the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Newton's Optics, Magna Carta and the Bible to the disc. In a few years, such a disk will no longer be an experiment, but will become the norm for data storage.

4. Injection of oxygen particles

Scientists at Boston Children's Hospital have developed oxygenated microparticles that can be injected into the bloodstream allowing you to live even if you cannot breathe.

Microparticles are composed of a single layer of lipid capsules that surround a small oxygen bubble. The 2-4 micrometer capsules are suspended in a liquid that controls their size, as larger bubbles can be dangerous.

When injected, the capsules impinge on red blood cells and transfer oxygen. Thanks to this method, 70 percent of the oxygen was introduced into the blood.

5. Underwater transport tunnels

Norway plans to build the world's first underwater floating bridges at a depth of 30 meters under water with large pipes wide enough for two lanes.

Given the difficulties of moving around the terrain, Norway decided to work on the creation of underwater bridges. The project, which has already spent $ 25 billion, is expected to be completed in 2035.

There are other factors to consider, such as the effects of wind, waves and strong currents on the bridge.

6. Bioluminescent trees

The development team decided to create bioluminescent trees using an enzyme found in some jellyfish and fireflies.

These trees will be able to illuminate the streets and help passers-by see better at night. A small version of the project has already been developed in the form of a plant glowing in the dark. The next step will be the trees that illuminate the streets.

7. Roll-up TVs

LG has developed a prototype a TV that can be rolled up like a roll of paper.

The TV uses polymer-based LED technology to reduce the thickness of the screen.

Besides LG, other major electronics manufacturers such as Samsung, Sony and Mitsubishi are working to make screens more flexible and portable.

Technological developments in the future

8. Bionic lens for lightRxhuman vision

Canadian doctor is going to conduct clinical testing "bionic lenses" that improve 100% vision by 3 times with an 8 minute painless surgery.

The new lens will be available by 2017, enhancing the natural lens of the eye. During the operation, a syringe inserts a lens with saline into the eye, and after 10 seconds, the folded lens is straightened and positioned over the natural lens, completely correcting vision.

9. Spray clothes

Spanish designer Manel Torres invented the world's first spray garment. You can apply the spray to any part of the body and then remove it, rinse it off and wear it again.

The spray is made from special fibers mixed with polymers that give the fabrics elasticity and durability. This technology will allow designers to create unique garments with original designs.

10. Portraits derived from DNA

Student Heather Duy-Hagborg creates 3D portraits from DNA found on cigarette butts and chewing gum outside.

She inserts the DNA sequences into computer program, which creates the appearance of a person from the sample. Typically, this process will give away a 25-year-old version of the person. The model is then printed in full size 3D portraits.

11. Shopping in virtual reality

One of these stores was opened at the railway station in South Korea, where you can make an order by taking a photo of the barcode and your purchases will be delivered home.

Store chain Homeplus installed six door-screens with life-size images of shelves with goods that you would buy in a supermarket. Each item has a barcode underneath that can be scanned and sent using the app.

You can place an order at the station on your way to work and the goods will be delivered to your home in the evening.

12. Unmanned vehicles

Expected that by 2020 there will be about 10 million self-driving cars, which will reduce the number of deaths by 2,500 between 2014 and 2030.

Many car manufacturers have already started implementing some automatic driving features in their vehicles.

There are also many companies trying to develop technologies for self-driving cars, such as Google, which announced a prototype self-driving car. A fully autonomous vehicle is expected by 2019.

13. The city under the dome

Construction is underway in Dubai shopping center called "Mall of the World", covered with a retractable dome which controls the climate inside and provides air conditioning.

The complex will occupy an area of ​​4.46 km2 and will include a large beauty and health center, a cultural and entertainment area, hotels with 20 thousand rooms and much more. It will be the largest shopping mall with an indoor theme park.

14. Artificial leaves that convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into fuel

Scientists have developed new solar cells that convert carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into fuel using the sun.

While there have been many attempts to convert carbon dioxide into something useful, a real method has been developed for the first time. Unlike other technologies that require precious metals such as silver, this method uses a tungsten-based material that is 20 times cheaper and 1,000 times faster.

These solar cells use carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce syngas, a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide that can be directly burned or converted into hydrocarbon fuels.

Technologies of the near future

15. Plasma force field that protects cars from accidents and collisions

Boeing has patented a method to create a plasma field by rapidly heating air to quickly absorb shock waves.

The force field can be generated using lasers or microwave radiation. The plasma created is air heated to a higher temperature than the surrounding air, with a different density and composition. The company believes it will be able to reflect and absorb the energy generated by the explosion, protecting those inside the field.

If the technology can be implemented, it will be a revolutionary development in the military field.

16. Floating cities

A floating ecopolis, named Lilypad, was proposed by architect Vincent Callebaut for future climate refugees as a lasting solution to sea level rise. The city can accommodate 50,000 people using renewable energy sources.

The field of information technology is an environment in which changes are occurring at a rapid pace. Technology changes, new software and programming languages ​​appear, and therefore IT specialists need to constantly adapt to new working conditions. But what will the situation in this area look like in a few years, will it remain so in demand?

A life modern man so closely associated with information technology that the future seems impossible without their existence. Nevertheless, futurists point out that some professions in the IT field will lose their relevance, but at the same time new professions will appear.

A Russian venture capital company, the Russian Association for Electronic Communications and the PRUFFI recruiting agency conducted an analytical study “Human Resources in IT and Innovation”. The experts identified areas in IT, in which new specialists will appear. Among them:

• computational linguistics and artificial intelligence;
• robotics and software for robots;
• 3D design and printing;
• supplemented and a virtual reality;
• cloud technologies;
• IT in education;
• Smart cities;
• bioinformatics and IT in medicine;
• informatics in statistics (data science);
• "Internet of things".

Indeed, in the future, information technology will become closely intertwined with many other activities. In addition, among IT specialists there are those who are proficient in several areas at once, for example, programming and 3D design. Such generalists are especially in demand in the regions and small start-ups. But it is worth noting that some employers prefer to hire, on the contrary, highly specialized specialists.

Sergey Erokhin, Dean of the Faculty Information technologies MTUCI:

- The main direction of the development of IT services in the Russian Federation and around the world is the implementation and distribution of cloud services. The abbreviations SaaS, PaaS and IaaS, which were exotic last year, are now familiar to almost every IT specialist. Companies purchase their own servers and software less and less and more and more use the rental of appropriate products. Another persistent trend is the use of the BYOD (Bring your own devices) concept, when company employees use their own devices (usually Cell phones, tablets, etc.) to solve production problems. If earlier users were content with only reading mail with mobile devices, now software manufacturers are releasing special versions of application packages designed to work from mobile devices via unsecured Internet channels.

Veronika Gedgafova, HR Director of Mail.Ru Group:

- From the point of view of the further development of professions in the IT market, two important trends can be noted. On the one hand, the need for highly specialized personnel (for example, developers for specific platforms) continues to grow. On the other hand, there is an obvious general orientation towards the development of cross-platform products and, at the same time, the demand for “generalist” specialists who are equally well versed in different areas. For example, in addition to a narrow specialization related to programming in a particular language, a person must have knowledge in mobile platforms and desktop applications. Therefore, the price will include specialists who are able to quickly rebuild, ready to learn new things and constantly expand their own horizons.

Grigory Bakunov, Director of Technology Dissemination at Yandex:

- The line between designers and programmers is gradually blurring. This is due, on the one hand, to the "maturation" of web design, and on the other, to the simplification of programming. At the same time, with the increase in the number of quality web products, it becomes more difficult to stand out from the crowd. Today it is not enough to create a beautiful product; modern specialists strive to create a unique user experience, and for this it is necessary to combine the knowledge and skills of a designer and a programmer.

Researchers predict a good future for web development, one of the youngest spheres of activity. Skillful website design specialists will be extremely popular among employers, since it is not easy to depend on web designers appearance resource, but also whether Internet users want to visit it next time. And the work of web-programmers completely determines the usability of the site. Web development has already taken a solid position today, and web developers themselves are among the most demanded in the labor market.

A good future awaits the development of applications for mobile devices. The main goal here is to achieve the highest number of app downloads and get into the top of the app store.

The IT sphere as a whole is one of the most promising areas of activity. But, as we can see, some areas are developing more actively here than others. This will become the reason for the emergence of new professions in the future, which means that there will be even more jobs for IT specialists who are ready to constantly develop and expand their professional skills.

Duelist neural networks. Artificial embryos. Artificial intelligence in the cloud. What other technologies did the MIT Technology Review identify as critical in 2018?
The collection of technologies that can change the world of the future has been collected annually since 2001. People often ask what is a "breakthrough" in technology? The answer to this question will not always be obvious, because some technologies have not yet become widespread, while others are not commercially viable. However, all of them in one way or another will have an impact on our lives.
This year, a new AI technique called GAN is giving machines the imagination; artificial embryos, despite the fears of skeptics, are reconsidering the creation of life and open a huge window for research into the first moments of human life; a pilot plant in the center of the Texas petrochemical industry is trying to create completely clean electricity from natural gas - probably the main source of energy of the future. Go.

Metal 3D printing

Although 3D printing has been around for quite some time, it has remained largely in the hobbyist and designer's realm, producing one-off prototypes. And printing an object from anything other than plastic - like metal - was expensive and excruciatingly slow.
However, it is now becoming cheap and simple enough to become a potentially practical way to manufacture parts. If it is widely accepted, it could change the way we make many mass-produced products (sorry for the tautology).
In the short term, manufacturers would not need to keep a large inventory - they could just print out an item, some kind of spare part for an aging car, if someone needed it.
In the long term, large factories producing a small assortment of parts in large quantities could be replaced by smaller factories, but with a larger assortment to suit changing customer needs.
3D printing allows for the creation of lightweight and durable parts, as well as the reproduction of complex shapes that would be impossible to create using traditional metal processing methods. Also, more attention could be paid to the microstructure of metals. In 2017, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory said they had developed a 3D printing method to create stainless steel parts that are twice as strong as traditional ones.
Also in 2017, 3D printing company Markforged, a small startup located near Boston, unveiled the first 3D metal printer for just $ 100,000.
Another Boston-based startup, Desktop Metal, began shipping its first metal prototyping machines in December 2017. He plans to start selling larger machines specifically for manufacturers that will work 100 times faster than old metal printing methods.
Printing metal parts also becomes easier. Desktop Metal now offers software that creates 3D print-ready designs. Users give the program the specifications of the object they want to print, and the software produces computer model suitable for printing.
General Electric, which has long advocated 3D printing in its aviation products, is working on a test version of its new metal printer that is fast enough to produce large parts. The company plans to start selling this device as early as 2018.

Artificial embryos

In a breakthrough that could change the way we think about the creation of life, embryologists at the University of Cambridge in the UK have grown realistic-looking mouse embryos using only stem cells. No eggs. No sperm. They just took cells from other embryos.
Scientists carefully placed the cells in three-dimensional forests and watched, fascinated, as they began to communicate and line up in a well-defined form of a mouse embryo a few days old.
“We know that stem cells have magical powers and enormous potential. We did not think that they would be able to organize themselves so beautifully or even ideally, ”said the leading group of scientists Magdalena Zernika-Götz.
Zernica-Götz says her "synthetic" embryos probably couldn't have developed into mice. Nevertheless, this is a hint that we may soon see mammals born without an egg at all.
However, Zernik-Götz does not set such a goal. She wants to study how the cells of the early embryo begin to assume their assigned roles. The next step is to create an artificial embryo from human stem cells. This work is being done at the University of Michigan and Rockefeller University.
Synthetic human embryos would be a boon for scientists, as they would allow all events to be observed at an early stage of fetal development. And since such embryos emerge from stem cells that are easy to manipulate, laboratories could use a full range of tools, such as gene editing, to examine them as they grow.
Artificial embryos, however, make one ask ethical questions. What if they become indistinguishable from the real ones? How long can they be grown in the laboratory before they start to feel pain? We need to address these issues before the science race gets too far.

A city with feelings

A variety of smart city schemes have faced delays, cancellations, impossible plans, or high costs. New project in Toronto, called Quayside, should change this already established pattern of things by reimagining the urban environment from the ground up and building it around the latest digital technologies.
Sidewalk Labs, which is owned by Alphabet and is based in New York, is partnering with the Canadian government on this high-tech project for the Toronto industrial waterfront.
One of the goals of the project is to base design, policy and technology decisions on information from a vast network of sensors that collect data on everything from air quality to noise levels and human activities.
According to the plan, all transport should be shared and independent. Robots will scurry underground, performing routine work such as delivering mail. Sidewalk Labs says it will open access to software and the systems it builds so that other companies can build services on top of them, like people build apps for mobile phones.
The company intends to keep a close watch on public infrastructure, and this, of course, raises questions about privacy and data. However, Sidewalk Labs believes that joint work local government and free community will get rid of these experiences.
“We're trying to make Quayside not only ambitious but also humble enough,” says Rith Aggarwala, Urban Planning Manager at Sidewalk Labs. This humility can help Quayside avoid the pitfalls that have thwarted past smart city initiatives.

AI for everyone

Artificial intelligence has so far been the toy of big tech companies - Amazon, Baidu, Google, Microsoft, and a few startups. For many other companies, AI systems are too expensive and complex to fully implement.
Solution? Tools machine learning, built on a cloud basis, which will bring AI to a wider audience. On the this moment Amazon dominates cloud AI with its AWS. Google is competing with it with TensorFlow, an open source AI library that can be used to build other machine learning software. Google recently announced Cloud AutoML, a set of pre-trained systems that make AI easier to use.
Microsoft, which has its own cloud platform Azure, is teaming up with Amazon to create Gluon, an open source deep learning library. Gluon will help in the construction of neural networks - essential technology AI that roughly simulates the learning process in the human head - they will be as easy to make as smartphone apps.
It is not clear which of these companies will become the leader in the field of cloud services offering AI services. But it bodes well for the winner of a huge business opportunity. Especially if the AI ​​revolution hits different parts of the global economy.
Currently, AI is used mostly in the technology field, where it improves the performance of old and creates new products and services. But other businesses and industries also want to take advantage of artificial intelligence. Segments such as medicine, manufacturing, energy are easily transformed if fully implemented Newest technologies in the field of artificial intelligence.
Most companies do not yet know how to use cloud AI. Therefore, Amazon and Google are setting up consulting services. As soon as AI becomes available to everyone, a revolution will begin.

Duelist neural networks

Artificial intelligence has learned to identify objects very well: show it a million images, and it will be able to find a pedestrian crossing the street with enviable accuracy. But AI is bad at creating images of pedestrians themselves. If he were capable of this, he would weave tapestries of realistic but artificial images of pedestrians in different decorations. Self-driving cars could use this information for training without ever driving on the road.
The problem is that creating something new takes imagination. And for the time being this remains the prerogative of a person.
Ian Goodfellow proposed such a solution in 2014. An approach known as a generative adversarial network, or GAN, takes two neural networks - the simplified mathematical models of the human brain that underlie modern machine learning - and pit them against each other in a digital cat and mouse game.
Both neural networks train on the same dataset. One neural network - a generator - creates variations of images that it has already seen - for example, an image of a pedestrian with a third hand. The second - the discriminator - must determine whether the example she considered will be similar to the snapshot she saw, or a fake produced by the generator - that is, can a three-armed person be real?
Over time, the generator will learn to create so much good images that the discriminator will not be able to distinguish the fake from the original. In this way, the generator learns to recognize and then create realistic images of pedestrians.
This technology has become one of the most promising advances in AI in the past decade.
GANs have been used to create aurally realistic speech and photorealistic fake images. In one example, NVIDIA scientists tasked the GAN to create hundreds of trustworthy faces of non-existent people. Another group was able to make quite convincing fake images, similar to the work of Van Gogh. GANs can transform images in different ways - turn a sunny road into a snowy one, horses into zebras.
The results are not always perfect. But as images or sounds come out realistic, some experts believe that neural networks are beginning to understand the inner structure of the world. Perhaps imagination is born in them.

Headphones "Babylonian fish"

In the cult science fiction classic, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, you could stick a yellow Babylonian fish in your ear and get an instant translation. In real the google world presents a workaround: a pair of Pixel Buds for $ 159. They work with Pixel smartphones and Google.Translate, providing almost instant translation.
One person puts on the earpiece and the other holds the phone. The person wearing the earphone speaks their own language - for example, English - and the app translates and plays the loud translation on the phone. The person holding the phone answers; this answer is translated and played in headphones.
Google Translate can already support conversation, and its iOS and Android apps allow two users to have a conversation by automatically detecting the languages ​​in use and translating them. However, background noise makes it difficult for the app to understand what people are saying, and it also has difficulty detecting when people start talking and when they stop.
Pixel Buds solve these problems because the wearer presses and holds their finger on the right earbud while talking. The combination of interaction between the phone and the speakers allows for eye contact since there is no need to be distracted by the phone.
Pixel Buds look odd and don't fit well in your ears. They are also difficult to set up using your phone. But the hardware problem is the least of all. The main thing is the concept. And the fish is not needed.

Zero Emission Natural Gas

The world is probably stuck on natural gas as one of the main sources of electricity in the future. Cheap and affordable, natural gas energy currently provides up to 30% of electricity in the United States and up to 22% of the world's electricity. Although it is cleaner than coal, its carbon footprint is still substantial.
An experimental power plant near Houston in the center of the US oil and refinery industry is testing technology that could make clean energy from natural gas a reality. The 50-megawatt company Net Power believes it can generate power as inexpensively as conventional natural gas plants and, importantly, capture all of the carbon dioxide that is emitted from the process.
If so, the world will be producing carbon-free energy from fossil fuels at a good price. Such gas stations could be turned on and off based on demand, avoiding the need to supply renewable energy sources. Net Power brings together several energy companies including 8 Rivers Capital, Exelon Generation and CB&I. The company has already started initial testing and will provide results in the coming months.
The plant uses carbon dioxide released by burning natural gas at high pressure and temperature, using supercritical CO2 as the "working fluid" that drives a special turbine. Most of the carbon dioxide can be processed continuously; the rest will be easy and simple to capture.
A key part of the cost reduction depends on the sale of carbon dioxide. Today, its main use is to extract oil from oil wells. This is a limited market and certainly not the most environmentally friendly. But Net Power plans to eventually see increased demand for carbon dioxide in cement, plastics and other carbon-based materials.
Net Power technologies will not solve all the problems with natural gas, especially in terms of production. But as long as we use natural gas, we can try to make it as clean as possible. Of all the technologies that are being developed in the field of clean energy, Net Power technology is one of the most important.

Perfect online immunity

True privacy and privacy on the Internet can be made possible by a new tool that, for example, can prove that you are 18 years old without disclosing your date of birth, or that you have bank account have enough money without disclosing your account balance. This limits the risk of identity theft.
What is this tool? A cryptographic protocol called zero-knowledge proof. Although researchers have been developing it for a long time, there has been a lot of interest in it in the past year, thanks to the growth of the cryptocurrency market.
Most of practical application Zero-knowledge proof was done by the Zcash team, a digital currency that emerged in late 2016. The Zcash developers used the zk-SNARK method, allowing users to make anonymous transactions.
In Bitcoin and most other public blockchains, this would not be possible, since transactions are visible to everyone. Although these transactions are theoretically anonymous, they can be combined with other data to identify users. Vitalik Buterin, creator of Ethereum, the second most popular blockchain network in the world, described zk-SNARK as "a completely revolutionary technology."
Banks could use it in payment systems without disclosing personal data of customers. Last year, JPMorgan Chase added zk-SNARK to its own payment system based on blockchain.
And yet, despite all the advantages, zk-SNARK is a complex and slow algorithm. However, alternatives are being actively developed and will one day replace existing options.

Genetic prediction

One day, all newborn babies will receive a DNA test card. It will describe the chances of getting a heart attack or cancer, getting hooked on cigarettes or becoming a child prodigy.
The science that made this possible came about unexpectedly, thanks to powerful genetic research. Some of them were attended by over a million people. It turned out that the most common diseases and abnormalities, as well as personality traits like intelligence, are the result of the work of one or more genes, which ended up in the right place or in the wrong place at the right time. Using data from large genetic studies, scientists create "polygenic risk assessments."
While the new DNA tests provide probabilities rather than diagnoses, they can be of great help to healthcare providers. For example, a woman with an increased risk of breast cancer will have more mammograms and more frequent visits to her doctor.
Pharmaceutical companies can also use risk assessments to create preventative drugs for diseases like Alzheimer's and heart attacks. By gathering volunteers who are most likely to get sick, they will be able to more accurately determine the quality of drug work.
And yet the forecasts are far from ideal. In addition, polygenic assessments are also questionable, since they predict traits, and not just the possibility of disease. For example, now they are 10 percent likely to predict the IQ of a person. But how will parents and caregivers use this information?

Quantum Leap in Materials

The prospect of powerful new quantum computers is full of uncertainties. They will be able to perform calculations unattainable with the power of modern machines, but we have not yet fully realized what can be done with such power.
One possible application: precise molecular design.
Chemists are already dreaming of creating new proteins for more effective drugs, new electrolytes for best batteries, compounds that can directly convert sunlight into liquid fuels, and more efficient solar cells.
We don't have this, because molecules are incredibly difficult to model on a classical computer. Try to simulate the behavior of electrons in a relatively simple molecule, and you run into difficulties that go far beyond the capabilities of modern computers.
But quantum computers can do that because instead of digital bits representing zeros and ones, they use “qubits,” which are quantum systems in themselves. Recently, IBM scientists used a seven-qubit quantum computer to simulate a small molecule of three atoms. Very soon, accurate modeling of larger and more interesting molecules, as well as better quantum algorithms, will become possible.

The Emerging Technologies List contains some of the most outstanding current events, advances and innovations in various areas of modern technology. New technologies are technical innovations that represent progressive changes within the area of ​​competitive advantage. There are different opinions on the feasibility, significance, status and economic viability of various new technologies. On many new technologies and their consequences for society, there is constant socio-political discussions.

There are a lot of promising technologies of the XXI century, further we will consider three examples from different fields of activity.

Agriculture

1) Agricultural robot or agrobot - a robot used for agricultural purposes.

The main field of application of robots in agriculture is the harvesting period. Fruit picking robots, autonomous driving tractor / sprayer, and sheep shearing robots are all designed to replace human labor. The agriculture industry lags behind other industries in the use of robots because the types of work associated with agriculture are not "straightforward" and many of the repetitive tasks are not exactly the same every time. In most cases, many factors (such as the size and color of the fruit being harvested) must be considered before starting the task. The robots can be used for other crop production tasks such as pruning, weeding / plowing, irrigation and monitoring.

2) Genetically modified food is food derived from genetically modified organisms (GMOs) - plants, animals or microorganisms. Products that are obtained using genetically modified organisms or that contain at least one component obtained from products containing GMOs can also be considered genetically modified, depending on the legislation of the country. Genetically modified organisms acquire some new properties due to the transfer of individual genes into the genome, theoretically, from any organism (in the case of transgenesis) or from the genome of related species (cisgenesis).

3) Test-tube meat, also known as cultured meat or artificial meat, is meat that has never been part of a living, complete animal. Several modern research projects are trying to experimentally grow meat in vitro, although so far it has not come to the production of cultured meat for public consumption. The first step is likely to produce minced meat, and the long-term goal is to grow full-fledged cultured muscle tissue. Potentially, the muscle tissue of any animal can be grown in vitro.

Biotechnology and healthcare

1) Genetic engineering (genetic engineering) - a set of techniques, methods and technologies for producing recombinant RNA and DNA, isolating genes from the body (cells), manipulating genes and introducing them into other organisms.

Genetic engineering is not a science in a broad sense, but it is a tool of biotechnology, using the methods of biological sciences such as molecular and cell biology, cytology, genetics, microbiology, virology.

2) Growing organs is a promising bioengineering technology, the purpose of which is to create various full-fledged viable biological organs for humans. So far, the technology has not been applied to humans, but there are active developments and experiments in this area. According to the director of the Shumakov Federal Scientific Center for Transplantology and Artificial Organs, Professor Sergei Gauthier, organ cultivation will become available in 10-15 years.

3) Implants (German Implantat) - a class of medical devices used for implantation into the body either as prostheses (substitutes for missing human organs), or as an identifier (for example, a chip with information about a pet, implanted under the skin). Dental implants - a type of implants for implantation in the bone of the upper and lower jaw, which are used as a basis for attaching removable and fixed dental prostheses. There is also the implantation of capsules with pharmacological content, such as the Norplant contraceptive capsule containing hormonal contraceptives.

Energy

1) Biofuel - fuel from plant or animal raw materials, from the products of vital activity of organisms or organic industrial waste.

Distinguishes between liquid biofuels (for internal combustion engines, for example, ethanol, methanol, biodiesel), solid biofuels (firewood, briquettes, fuel pellets, wood chips, straw, husks) and gaseous (synthesis gas, biogas, hydrogen)

2) Ionistor (ultracapacitor, double-layer electrochemical capacitor, EDLC, Electric double-layer capacitor) - an electrochemical device, a capacitor with an organic or inorganic electrolyte, "plates" in which serves as a double electric layer at the interface between the electrode and the electrolyte. Functionally, it is a hybrid of a capacitor and a chemical current source.

3) Nanoantenna (nantenna) is a device for converting solar energy into electric current, built on the principle of a rectifying antenna, but operating not in the radio range, but in the optical wavelength range of electromagnetic radiation. The idea of ​​using antennas to harvest solar energy was first proposed by Robert Bailey in 1972.

Information Technology

1) Artificial intelligence (AI, English Artificial intelligence, AI) - the science and technology of creating intelligent machines, especially intelligent computer programs. AI is related to the similar goal of using computers to understand human intelligence, but is not necessarily limited to biologically plausible methods.

2) Machine translation - the process of translating texts (written, and ideally oral) from one natural language to another using a special computer program. The direction of scientific research related to the construction of such systems is also called.

3) Bulk optical memory is a kind of computer memory, in which information can be written and read in three-dimensional space (and not in the usual two-dimensional plane as, for example, in CDs).

This method of storing information can potentially allow recording on discs comparable in size to CDs, on the order of a terabyte of data. Reading and writing files is achieved by laser focusing in volume. However, since the data structure is volumetric, the laser beam must pass through other data points to reach the area where it needs to be read or written. Thus, a kind of non-linearity is required so that this data does not interfere with reaching the desired point.