For decades, or even centuries, science fiction has taunted us with fantastic and marvelous technologies that we couldn’t hope to ever possess. But as we move into the future, and our society grows ever more advanced, some of these seemingly far-fetched ideas have become a reality. Here are a few of these amazing advancements, and what they could mean for future science research.
Universal Translators
Every space-ward science fiction novel has run into the same problem when it comes to alien life: how would we understand them? Some authors, like Douglas Adams, solve the problem with some unlikely animal like the Babble fish who can translate brain waves, but the majority of these stories go the technological route with a universal translator. But language is such a complex and misunderstood phenomenon, it’s hard to believe that we could ever write a technology smart enough to turn the unintelligible into English.
But Google believed it, and in 2010 the internet giant came out with Google Goggles—a phone application that uses the in-phone camera to translate written text. It recognizes the selected text, identifies the language, translates it, and then the translation appears on the screen of your phone, in plain English. What’s more, the technology works in real time, with very little lag. While this may not be as powerful as the universal translator, especially as it’s restricted to the written word, it’s a step in a previously unimaginable direction.
Suspended Animation
Space travel is the holy grail of science fiction, with everyone striving to come up with newer, better ideas for how to get out into the stars. But one of the biggest problems faced by space travel is the sheer amount of time it takes to get anywhere—travel to Proxima Centauri, our nearest neighbor star, takes longer than the lifespan of the humans traveling there. The solution? Suspended animation: putting people to sleep so that their bodies can be stored indefinitely. But this sort of fanciful thinking is just imagination, right?
Of course, if it were only imagination, it wouldn’t be on this list. Cellular biologist Mark Roth grew interested in the idea of suspended imagination when he started hearing stories about skiers freezing to death on mountains, only to be thawed and revived at the hospital with no harm done. With a little research and some dumb luck, he soon discovered that hydrogen sulfide could be used to decrease the need for oxygen, which in combination with cold resulted in hibernation. He has successfully suspended mice and zebrafish embryos, and hopes to develop the technology for use on humans. While the space travel aspect doesn’t come into it, suspended animation could be used to freeze critically ill patients, thus buying doctors enough time to heal them.
Growing Human Body Parts
No futuristic society is complete without this gem of a technology—the ability to grow replacement organs and limbs in a laboratory, rather than having to harvest them from deceased donors. Of course, it’s no surprise that we have the ability to replace organs—we’ve been doing that for decades—but actually growing them is more recent and far less common place. Nevertheless, as Anthony Atala’s lab demonstrates, it is entirely possible to grow an entire human organ from just a DNA sample. Because these organs are grown from the patient’s own cells, they won’t be rejected by the patient’s immune system. But to make it truly science fiction-worthy, you have to take it a step farther.
Which is exactly what Atala did. 3D printing technology—building objects from the base up, in a variety of different materials, using a digital rendering as a guideline—is still relatively new, and quite a ways from being commercially viable. Nevertheless, Atala combined the revolutionary idea with his organ research, and engineered a printer that could theoretically print human organs, which he demonstrated by printing a human kidney. While it is still very much under development and we aren’t likely to see it implemented for several years, the proof of concept is more than astounding. If the technology works, it could eliminate the organ shortages currently plaguing medical facilities. Instead of having to join a wait list for a donor, patients could just have a new organ printed off for them.
Nano Bots
As technology increases, gadgets get smaller—it’s actually a law in the minds of most computer scientists, known as Moore’s Law. But how small can they get? If you believe science fiction, they will get so small that they can even go into your body and perform medical procedures. Of course, this theory is supported by the ever-shrinking gadgets and gizmos we tote around, but small enough to go inside of your body? That’s just crazy talk.
But not according to IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology in Singapore. These two organizations teamed up to develop the first ever nanomedicine—a tiny robot that can detect the Staph virus, hunt it down and kill it, without harming any healthy cells. Essentially, it works by smashing into the infected cells and bursting their membrane walls. Because the attack is physical, bacteria would not be able to adapt to it and become resistant the way it has with antibiotics, and the nanos are biodegradable so there’s nothing to worry about afterward. When fully developed, the nanomedicine could potentially show up in anti-bacterial soaps, deodorants and sanitizers, as well as in regular clinical use.
Mega Computer
What science fiction novel would be complete without an all-knowing computer to run the show—or at least the ship—all while talking in a calm, calculated computer voice? Of course, everyone knows that with the internet information is more available than ever, so we’re already living in the world of the mega computer, except that it’s actually a bunch of different computers. Still, the internet is confined to your computer, and you have to sort through all of the information yourself—hardly the glamorous life depicted in the books.
That’s where Qwiki comes in. Still under development, this remarkable program can compile and organize information from sources all across the internet and present it in a clear, neat video. Eventually, the program will be able to keep track of your schedule, your whereabouts, or even remind you when you have dinner dates. The program is still in early development, but there’s nothing to stop this technology from turning into a mega computer than runs our lives.
There are lots of other cool, seemingly fictional technologies that aren’t covered in this article. If you’re interested, take a look at regeneration, military robots, prostheses and even synthetic life. It seems the bizarre and wonderful world of the future is almost here.
