Science fiction : 3 possible truths, 1 lie
We've seen it all in science fiction movies! Inserting yourself into the matrix, becoming half man, half robot, transporting to different destinations via transporting machines, body computer chips! But which one will stay science fiction, and which ones will become actual reality?
Inserting yourself into the matrix |
Totally possible
1) Computer chip implants
Something that you'd see in a sci-fi/ action movie, where computer chips are used to keep tabs on most wanted! However, their use in reality, is much less sinister. Computer chip implants are already being utilised in society. A quadriplegic man was able to control the movements of his arm since his accident, using a micro-chip implanted in a specific part of his brain which is involved in movement of the arm [1]. Signals are received from the brain- avoiding the injury, and then are transmitted to the muscles in his arm to credit movement!
President Obama has even deviated a plan to help improve the lives of US veterans and troops, by implanting them with a micro chip [2]. The chips are thought to help alleviate symptoms from illness, such as from post traumatic stress disorder.
2) Bionic body parts
Prosthetic hands have recently been developed which have the ability to "sense" touch [3]! All prosthetic limbs available are not equipped with the ability to touch; however thankfully the University of Chicago has designed a prosthetic limb which can do just that! It was tested with monkeys, and the results were commendable. Pretty soon, many people that use present prosthetic limbs should be able to experience tactility again with this breakthrough.
The prosthetics work by transmit signals to the brain to generate the feeling of touch!
3) Liquid hard drive
Researchers at the University of Michigan have created a hard drive which is suspended in nano-particles which stores data! In just one tablespoon of liquid, there could be up to 1 terrabyte of data [4]!
Imagine storing the last draft of your essay in a bottle of spring water!
Totally not possible
1) Teleporting
It happens in Star Trek, and you're seriously uncool if you don't agree with the fact that it's awesome! But it's highly unlikely we'd be taking advantage of teleportation in the future. You'd form a complete copy of yourself, if you were to engage in teleportation [5]. Every atom in your body would be copied to another destination, but the original you would be destroyed. It's also quite impossible we'd ever be able to generate a great amount of energy for a teleportation device. Teleporting a single human would be equal to the energy generated by the UK for a million years. Phwoar!
The future is promising!
Unfortunately we won't be able to teleport any time soon...but the future is definitely not dim! Especially not with the promised existence of bioiluminescent trees [6]! Leafy suburbs are hoped to be replaced with trees with glowing leaves, to help light up the streets and save money on energy costs. Also, our energy problem isn't soon to be a problem for long! Electricity has been generated from liquid water- the most abundant liquid on the planet [7]. Researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have found that water droplets gain electric charge when they 'jump' away from water-repellent surfaces! How...electrifying.
If you have any futuristic ideas you felt could have been added to this list, feel free to comment them down below!
If you have any futuristic ideas you felt could have been added to this list, feel free to comment them down below!
Thanks for reading!
Sources
1)http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/a-medical-first-quadriplegic-man-controls-arm-using-a-chip-implanted-in-his-brain-9561255.html
2)http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/08/27/new-obama-plan-calls-for-implanted-computer-chips-to-help-u-s-troops-heal/
3)http://wonderfulengineering.com/10-body-parts-that-can-be-replaced-now/
4)http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-07/28/liquid-hard-drives
5)http://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/teleportation2.htm
6)http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/bioluminscent-trees-could-light-our-streets
7)http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/getting-charge-out-water-droplets-0714
The biggest problems I have with teleportation: 1) imaging problems. You'd have to scan the object, burn away the scanned layer, scan it again, etc. Mapping individual atoms at such a distance as seen in star trek is incredibly sophisticated, not in line with other contemporary technology. 2) how does the teleporter distinguish between the environment and the person? This is just impossible, as there's no way to distinguish between atoms from the first or the latter, just because they are not different. Nitrogen atoms in the air, and in bodily amino-acids, for example. The machine will have to look for the person at a high-level, and then transport everything in the general area (especially when the people are moving). You would see pieces of sand and rock transported too, and if someone is at the boundary of such a transported area, that person would be cut in pieces. 3) in star trek the original person is not merely imaged, destroyed and copied. The atoms are somehow broken down in smaller particles and sent towards the teleportation machine. How on earth are those particles guided towards that machine? Again, how does a machine know that those particles are from the person, and not from the environment?
ReplyDeleteReally good points here, thank you for leaving a comment!
ReplyDeleteOn a quantum scale, I think a process called entanglement allows distinction between matter, which is basically the process of manipulating particular particles so that they have properties which 'entangle' them.
This allows the properties of one particle to present the properties of it's entangled partner; without actually observing the particle.
The particle they want to transport, is known as the source particle; which is to interact with the first entangled particle.
Upon this interaction, the first entangled particle of course, then affects it's 'partner' entangled particle -which is on the receiving end-, which can then be transported to the destination.
So the source particle has all of it's properties essentially transported to the receiver; some directly and some via the receivers entangled partner. The receiving ends entangled partner can the transform in the source particle.
So the information for the source particle is basically transmitted and received, but is a copy of itself.
Of course this is on the quantum level, but you can see how the distinction can occur! If this were to be developed to a macro scale, we might be able to jump that hurdle! If we had perhaps (hypothetically speaking) a web of matter (which behave as entanglement particles) we could interact when we are inside a transporter, and we could essentially interact with entanglement particles at another destination, from then which our properties could be sent to the receiving end.
I think the problem with transporting a human, or even a small protein, is there are so many variables to consider and factors to consider, it's definitely not as simple as 'teleporting' matter on a quantum scale!