What Technology Advance Would Most Improve The World We Live In Today?

[Blackhatjack]

Technology is not always the answer to real world problems(and money does not fix all problems either).

However, with the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 opening later this week, new technological advances are being showcased for the upcoming year.

Put on your thinking cap and consider the most pressing problems we face in the world today.

What 'new' technology could be developed that would address those problems.

To get the ball rolling, here is my submission...

A lack of major advances in the common battery continue to hold up technological advancement of all kinds. Even a 15% improvement in the operational life of batteries would have an immediate positive impact on the environment and the economy.

[endless october]

1. hydrogen technology for transportation.

it's a ways off.

[Blackhatjack]

3. The fuel distribution system for a hydrogen economy seems to be a major problem...

... although I believe it is Norway that has built a billion dollar distribution system for hydrogen that follows the main highways in that country.

Could be a good test run for such a project.

[lapfog_1]

17. Unfortunately, Hydrogen is not a fuel source

but an energy carrier.

We'd be better off developing Ultra Capacitors.

We need better clean electricity generation technology.

Thorium nukes, wind, solar, wave, etc.

[harun]

30. You're basically saying we need better ways to convert energy

from the effects of the Sun into what we can use.

Dinosaur oil isn't an energy source either. (Not that you said that, but is usually implied by people who seem to bring up every time Hydrogen is mentioned: "Not a source !!!"). To use dinosaur oil you still need to have all the organic material sit in the ground for eons. It is still relying on the effects of the sun (+ time, + pressure, + accessible location, etc.).

Better batteries still seems a superior effort. With that you get batteries in cars, a focus on better power plants, which leads to focusing on what you ended up with: wind, solar, wave, etc.)

[Blackhatjack]

34. IF you have a super efficient method of storing all energy collected ....

... even inefficient collectors would add up to usable amounts of electricity.

[lapfog_1]

46. Well, sort of...

What I'm saying is that Hydrogen is not (currently) a fuel source on earth. It's an energy storage or carrier. Oil, natural gas, coal, are also energy carriers, but the energy is already stored in them from millions of years ago (as you say, sunlight). Hydrogen is a bit different as there are few areas of naturally occurring free hydrogen. Mostly when people talk hydrogen, they think of water and electrolysis, or natural gas (which would release as a waste product, CO2). Electrolysis takes energy, and lots of it, to produce free hydrogen. That fact, along with the cost of containment, the cost of conversion back to electricity via fuel cells, and the rare materials that make up current generation fuel cells, makes hydrogen less attractive as an energy carrier than, say, batteries or ultra capacitors.

I would rather our infrastructure go all electric, with money spent on ultra capacitors when the need for "off grid" power is required (a disconnect from an electric production facility). Safely containing KWhrs of electricity is easier than containing (never mind safely) hydrogen gas, and conversion to electricity is not required. Re-charging is still an issue. But we really haven't concentrated on ultra capacitors all that much when compared to the research dollars that went into fuel cells (starting with NASA for more than 40 years).

As for power sources, there is the capturing the sun's power (solar, wind, wave), the power of a massive body orbiting close the earth (tidal power), the power of earth internal processes (geothermal), and nuclear power ( fusion, fission). If I could wave a magic wand, I'd have fusion to generate and totally reusable ultra capacitors for storage. But fusion, for as much as we've spent on it, still seems far away... However, there have been a number of posts here about Thorium fission reactors (much safer and, apparently, with radioactive waste products which are a) much smaller by volume, and b) have half lives that are fractions of the current fission reactors produce. Instead of safe storage for thousands of years, it appears from the literature that we'd only have to safely store the waste for mere decades or a century or two. And there isn't that much waste product to begin with. As a stop gap for the next hundred years (until fusion), I say let's go with Thorium nukes and as much renewables as possible for generation.

Eventually, should our species last that long, we will mine the very stars themselves for free hydrogen (or interstellar space). But that's a long ways off and we may never need it.

[hunter]

2. Any power source cleaner and less expensive than coal...

If we weren't such clueless apes we'd already have laws banning the use of coal for power generation, but here we are.

[Confusious]

8. Honestly

We're like dogs stuck in the doggy door. We can't back out, we have no way of going forward, at least right now.

[hobbit709]

4. Working fusion power

[SunriseStorm]

6. Roger This Recommendation

eom

[Blackhatjack]

9. Has a working prototype of a fusion reactor already been created?

But the duration of the fusion reaction and the durability of the infrastructure were the problems I recall.

[Confusious]

12. In the 90's

They reached breakeven. But the amount of power needed was enormous and they only got out what they put in.

[TheWraith]

21. There is one.

The creator, who was a very VERY famous nuclear physicist before his death in 2007, was completely confident that when scaled up it would work like a charm.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywell

[Occulus]

51. Ah yes, the IEC fusion reactor, conceptualized by the late, great Robert Bussard

I haven't heard anything on this recently (a few months), but www.talk-polywell.org is the forum the head of the lab, Dr. Nebel, posts on. There are a lot of knowledgeable people there, and the discussions tend to get a little.... technical. Additionally, one of the posters there, a one M. Simon, has a blog that follows IEC fusion developments.

Prior to his death, Dr. Bussard gave a talk for Google employees; his talk lasted over an hour, with a Q&A at the end, IIRC. It was a very impressive, though also very technical, talk, and convinced me that there's at least something to the idea.

The link to the lab doing the work is here.

[TheWraith]

56. Last I heard, they got another interim contract from the Navy.

Not enough to build the full scale plant they wanted, but to continue their work, upgrade WB-7, and demonstrate their newest improved techniques.

[Occulus]

57. They did.

There were specific research goals the Navy wanted them to achieve. That alone is very good news.

The Navy wants to develop this to use on carriers and submarines. Anything that will eliminate the possibility of nuclear material being released in a combat situation is something we should at least look into, and the Polywell project, if successful, will enable the Navy to ditch nuclear power completely. A nifty side effect is the end of the 'oil power' era, and a clean replacement for nuclear energy worldwide.

I think we all can live with that....

[Confusious]

5. Superconducter

In a few ways I've imagined, others I probably can't.

Within 20 years, the world wouldn't be the same.

[Blackhatjack]

11. Are you thinking of 'room temperature' superconductors?

Since super cooled materials are used in most superconductors today.

[Confusious]

13. Yes room temperature

most are cooled today by liquid helium and nitrogen, which takes a lot of power to make and massive and expensive ways to contain.


Oh, and BTW, every thing else people are mentioning here would be possible with a room temperature superconductor.

except the teenage pill.

[CoffeeCat]

7. A machine that...

...vaporized psychopaths.

They're taking over the world, like termites infesting a log cabin.

If they were gone, we'd have peace, less dysfunction, less corruption and a lot less suffering.

[Vincardog]

10. A Simple Cheap way to convert sea water to fresh water

[Blackhatjack]

15. That was my second choice since the world only has 1% freshwater and....

... millions of people would be saved each year if there was a way to provide 'clean water', which would ward off so many diseases that are especially deadly to children and the elderly.

[Vincardog]

35. Not to mention how much more food we could grow

[Cronus Protagonist]

14. A pill that would allow me to live forever, with teenage quality bones, organs and skin

If that pill can also make my penis larger, all the better.

[Don Caballero]

16. A pill given at birth that would allow only one child born to a person

[Xithras]

49. I say zero. Opt-In birthing only.

A simple shot given to females at birth that shuts down their ability to ovulate. This would be matched to a second shot that could trigger ovulation and be given any time a female wanted to become pregnant.

I do not support any laws that limit the number of pregnancies a woman wants to carry. Even the Duggar lady has a right to have all of those kids. What I want to eliminate are all of the accidental and unplanned pregnancies. That, alone, would severely slash population growth, improve economic prospects for the severely impoverished, eliminate teen pregnancy, etc., etc.

The world would be a better place if women only became pregnant when they wanted to.

[Don Caballero]

50. One child policies would help reverse climate change

Less carbon polluters=less climate change.

[Xithras]

52. Opt-In without limits would be just as effective, and less controversial.

I think that, if women had to make a conscious decision to become impregnated, that most women would only have one or two children anyway. There are a minority who would have more, but they'd be statistically insignificant and would be more than outweighed by the people who chose to have none.

Besides, China has already demonstrated why mandatory one child policies don't work. Women will simply abort a child if it isn't the sex they would like, leading to severe gender imbalances.

[liberal N proud]

18. Zinc Air Batteries introduced at last years CES

Energizer Zinc Air Prismatic Battery
At this year's Consumer Electronics Show, St. Louis-based Energizer announced that they would be releasing Zinc Air (Zn-O2) Prismatic batteries. The Zinc Air Prismatic battery is based off of a new innovative portable power design that enables device designers to design smaller, lighter and thinner devices using a primary battery (non-rechargeable battery) solution. When compared with lithium ion rechargeable batteries, they offer much lower cost for the OEMs (targeting $0.50 for initial OEM pricing), a similar form factor design, and they eliminate the need for charge circuitry and a charging device. They also last up to three times (3X) longer in runtime when compared to similar sized batteries. It is also said to be safer for the environment since it is environmentally benign. While Legit Reviews' main focus is computer hardware it would be silly to ignore such a major advancement as every motherboard uses a battery as well as many of our portable devices that we all use daily

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/887/1/

[Blackhatjack]

19. This might not sound significant but it could alter the climate change problem significantly...

... a technology breakthrough that allows trees to mature at twice the current rate.

And of course, if there were a way to make it more valuable for countries with rainforests to preserve their trees rather than cut them down, that would be a tremendous step forward in the right direction.

[TheWraith]

20. The Polywell fusion reactor is a good choice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polywell

Abundant clean energy.

My second choice would probably be the practical mass production of fullerenes: stronger than steel, harder than diamond, more conductive than copper, they have a ridiculously high number of applications.

[The2ndWheel]

22. The world? None.

The process that we call civilization which allows our species to privatize the profits of the world and socialize the costs to the world? Pick an advance out of a hat I guess.

[Blackhatjack]

26. At the basic level, everyone needs clean water, food, shelter, and healthcare....

Third World Countries struggle with the provision of the first 3 I mentioned, and millions die worldwide for want of basic healthcare that costs very little to provide in developed countries.

Surely we have a Benjamin Franklin out there. You will recall he refused to patent his lightning rods because he believed that it was more important to make sure it was freely available to those who needed it that to make a profit off of it.

[The2ndWheel]

44. Not that kind of profit

The type of profit I was talking about was the ability to extract more resources from the environment. We privatize the resources of the environment, for the direct and narrow benefit of a single species, and socialize the costs of doing so to the rest of life.

"Surely we have a Benjamin Franklin out there. You will recall he refused to patent his lightning rods because he believed that it was more important to make sure it was freely available to those who needed it that to make a profit off of it."

Again, you're talking human to human relations. The profit there would be, as a species, we harnessed the power of what the lightning rod gave us the ability to do. The costs of that are then transferred to the rest of the environment, as it gives our species the ability to do more things, at a cheaper price.

Think of each species as a corporation, and the planet as a government. The planet tries to regulate each species, as the government tries to regulate each corporation. Humans are the Exxon, the Wal-Mart, the Monsanto, of species. Humans don't like ecological limits, the same way those corporations don't like taxes.

[zipplewrath]

23. High temp materials

I mean VERY high temperature tolerant materials that could be used in all heat engines, including fusion. Most heat engines, from your car to the steam turbines that generate electricity, are limited by the temperature that their materials can tolerate. The hotter a heat engine runs, the more efficient it is. Some heat engines could double their efficiency if they could run at the hottest temperatures their fuel would support.

[Blackhatjack]

27. There is excellent research going on to solve this problem using nanotechnology...

... and by solving it for issue, it could have wide application to lots of other problems to be overcome.

[zipplewrath]

37. We're due

I've been suspicious that we're on the cusp of a major break through in materials technology. We haven't had a big one in several decades. Carbon fiber technology was probably the last big one. So much materials research has gone into silicon that it has sucked the lifes blood out of other research. Nano has had much promise for a while, but has yet to really take off. Personally I've guessed that "living" materials might be the next big break. Basically materials that "self repair", potentially with the application of energy. Cracks and corrosion could be eliminated through such processes. None of that however will probably do much for high temp materials, although one never knows.

[harun]

24. Agree with the OP. It all comes down to the batteries. A superior

battery means batteries go in cars instead of fuel tanks. Then we worry about a better power plant, etc.

But the battery is crucial.

[Blackhatjack]

28. Efficient storage and usage of electricity would solve so many problems...

... and the creation of a new power grid must take into consideration that improvements in storage capacity would solve a lot of distribution loss problems.

[BR_Parkway]

25. Elimination of the gene that causes conservatism - once we got rid

of that obstacle, much progress could be made in pretty much all other areas

[doodadem]

29. Replicators

A la' Star Trek. Convert inert matter to anything you need--food, building materials, energy, etc. No more need for money. No more need for the endless and vicious pursuit of money. End world poverty and hunger. End wars.

The benefits are endless...

[Blackhatjack]

31. Years ago I recall it said the internet would affect the world propulation the most because...

Even the poorest countries there are lots of resources, and the provision of knowledge and information to the poorest countries would invaluable in allowing them to solve many of their own problems.

I dismissed it at the time, but it is turning out to be quite prescient.

[krabigirl]

32. Teleportation :) So none of us have to fly..

[guitar man]

33. Flying Cars

I want my flying car dammit! :grr:



:D

[bergie321]

38. Or at least

hoverboards.

[HughBeaumont]

40. I'd totally be OK with hoverboards.

Baby steps . . .

[guitar man]

47. that wouldn't be bad either

or lifelike andriod sex partners :P

[AngryAmish]

36. Artificial meat

It would be hugely disruptive but a boon to both the environment and mankind.

Ever been to India or other meat-poor regions. Ever notice how wee the people are? Imagine if those same folks got a filet or lamb chops every day growing up. Not only for their bodies, but malnutrition stunts IQ.

Also, a lot of grazing and farmland could revert to wilderness. No more mass trawling of the sea.

Finally, we would not be subjected to disgusting vegan food.

[HopeHoops]

39. A time machine to send wingnuts back to 1954 - where they are still living.

At least they are in their minds and attitudes.

[EFerrari]

42. I think an Asshole Magnet would be more efficient.

[HopeHoops]

43. Yeah, but it would fill up so quickly? Where would you dispose of them all?

No, "Texas" isn't an answer. They're already full.

[EFerrari]

45. That's a good question. I can't think of anywhere that deserves them.

Maybe someone will sell us an island.

[Blackhatjack]

41. Often an increase in efficiency in creation leads to economic savings that have the biggest impact..

If necessaries can be produced cheaper then they automatically become more available to the third world populations, assuming that corruption does not short circuit the process.

[Blackhatjack]

48. ANYONE have a technology that has NOT already been mentioned? Something new?

When I was a child the Government was pouring $$ into the NASA space program which eventually led to landing a man on the moon. I recall that the technologies necessary to make that happen had not yet been invented, and the project scientists working under a deadline came up with the technological breakthroughs to make it happen. OF course subsequently the advances made their way to the consumer market.

Present the necessity and the creation of the technology often follows.

Recently, when the Collider was built in Europe, there had to be massive computer storage systems constructed to record and share the scientific data --on a scale far beyond anything previously constructed.

Ask the right question and the brightest minds can come up the with solution. But First, the question must be asked...

[bik0]

72. Here's some - Steorn, Blacklight, Joule, Cerametec & SunCatalytix

EEStor Ultracapacitors...
http://bariumtitanate.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJnCsBBqecM

Steorn Orbo...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NENGzWn1ZI
http://www.steorn.com/orbo/

Blacklight Power...
http://green.venturebeat.com/2008/05/30/blacklight-power-claims-nearly-free-energy-from-water-is-this-for-real/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ymlc8nk7Mdk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bomq8S0ynQ

Joule Biotech...
http://joulebio.com/news/2009/joule-reports-breakthrough-renewable-diesel-production
http://cleantech.com/news/4758/joule-biotech-comes-out-stealth-new
http://green.venturebeat.com/2009/07/27/joule-biotech-squeezes-liquid-fuel-out-of-sunlight/

Ceramatec...
http://solar.coolerplanet.com/News/8070901-ceramatec-develops-24-hour-solar-energy-storage-battery.aspx
http://www.heraldextra.com/news/article_b0372fd8-3f3c-11de-ac77-001cc4c002e0.html
http://powerandcontrol.blogspot.com/2009/08/warm-sodium-battery.html

SunCatalytix...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7ok8cOJbmo
http://www.suncatalytix.com/
http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/daniel-nocera/

[Blackhatjack]

74. THANKS! I am making my way thru the links... which do you think would be most earth changing? n/t

[bik0]

78. Suncatalytix and Ceramatec are the real deal

The jury is still out on EEStor, Steorn and Blacklight Power.

Blacklight Power has signed up several utility companies to license it's technology which has been validated by the Engineering Dept of Rowan University. Their technology has the most potential to become a paradigm shift for grid energy production - replacing coal, hydro, nat gas and nuclear power plants. It's basically extracting energy from water.

EEStor is also a game changer. Their ultracapicators would replace batteries of all types - allowing more energy storage in a smaller, lighter package. Cheaper to produce and charges in minutes vs. hours with lithium ion. Lockheed Martin owns 10% and has the license for military applications. Kliener, Perkins Caufield is also an investor - one of the largest venture capital firms in the world (they backed Google).

Steorn is regarded as a bit of a joke but if their technology is proven it would be game over for oil dependence. Their claims are probably the most "far out".

[NoPasaran]

53. A blanket with sleeves

You could stay warm while still leaving your hands free to read a book or operate the TV remote.

[Liberal_in_LA]

73. ...worn backwards!

[Blackhatjack]

54. The transfer from oil to green technology will spur new technology....

And in the process there ought to be discoveries that would have far reaching positive changes for millions of people.

[Electric Monk]

55. The consensus (and I concur) seems to be clean cheap (& hopefully portable) energy

With that, it'd make so many other things, like converting salt water to fresh water on a large scale, for example, much more feasible.

[ConsAreLiars]

58. Anything that vaporised all those who stole more more than .1% of

the value produced by those slaves they control. Might lead to a somewhat less evil variant of capitalism and supra-national corporatism. Regulation that works a little, at least.

[Taitertots]

59. A condom that feels as good or better than regular sex

A device to convert tailpipe and smoke stack CO2 into diamonds and tanks of oxygen.

[omega minimo]

63. they have that

it's called "monogamy"

[Taitertots]

64. It is good to know you married a virgin, as a virgin

It should be obvious no one is going to do that. That you even suggest it is laughable.


Even if you are married and you don't want children.
Condoms-No
Surgery-No
Pills-No
Vaginal Inserts-No

[omega minimo]

69. It's good to know

you don't have a sense of humor. :eyes:

[omega minimo]

60. Buddhism

[Taitertots]

65. Why should everyone believe something that is more than likely wrong

Wouldn't it be better to know the actual answers to life's great questions?

It would be like posting just "Christianity", we would be just as well off convincing ourselves to be Zoroastrians.

[LanternWaste]

70. Or any philosophy, or any art, or any piece of literature...

"It would be like posting just "Christianity..."

Or any philosophy, or any art, or any piece of literature-- as they are all man made constructs which appear no where but our own imaginations yet the vast majo4rity of us base our lives on one or more of them...

[omega minimo]

71. Buddhism is not "belief" or religion

"Wouldn't it be better to know the actual answers to life's great questions?"

And it provides ways to seek truth without being either.

Which is why this is false statement:

"It would be like posting just "Christianity", we would be just as well off convincing ourselves to be Zoroastrians."

[omega minimo]

61. UnRec for politicians

[sendero]

62. Any form of cheap sustainable..

... energy. Because energy is at the root of most of our problems.

[Ohio Joe]

66. Faster then light travel - nt

[H2O Man]

67. extinction

[Odin2005]

68. Nuclear Fusion.

[Blackhatjack]

75. I am going to throw another nominee out there ... remote robotic surgery/remote physician services

With advances in the use of optical surgical instruments, and the assistance of MRIs and robotic surgical assistants, there could very well be remote surgery done in third world countries where a surgeon trained in the procedure did not reside within a 10,000 miles of the patient.

And there is no reason that a physician specialist here in the US could not remotely examine and diagnose patients in third world countries.

[ShamelessHussy]

76. free energy

.

[Stevenmarc]

77. The Easy Button