7 Emerging Technologies that Will Change the World
1. Graphene
What is Graphene?
Graphene's properties
Graphene is the thinnest material known to man at one atom thick, and also incredibly strong - about 200 times stronger than steel. On top of that, graphene is an excellent conductor of heat and electricity and has interesting light absorption abilities. It is truly a material that could change the world, with unlimited potential for integration in almost any industry.
For more information on graphene properties, click here
Potential applications
Graphene is an extremely diverse material, and can be combined with other elements (including gases and metals) to produce different materials with various superior properties. Researchers all over the world continue to constantly investigate and patent graphene to learn its various properties and possible applications, which include:
- batteries
- transistors
- computer chips
- energy generation
- supercapacitors
- DNA sequencing
- water filters
- antennas
- touchscreens (for LCD or OLED displays)
- solar cells
- Spintronics-related products
Graphene is an exciting material that is getting a lot of attention - especially since the 2010 Nobel prize in physics went to Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, who first isolated Graphene in 2004.
2. GPS III
Since its development in the 1960s, Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite navigation has become an essential tool for everything from military operations to the family road trip.
GPS is found everywhere, but few people understand it. When most people hear GPS, they think of their handheld device – they don’t always realize that every GPS device determines its precise position, navigation and timing information by receiving signals from a constellation of 24 or more satellites orbiting the earth 20,000 kilometers away. Without satellites, there would be no GPS devices.
THE NEXT GENERATION
With GPS III, the next generation of GPS satellites being designed and built by Lockheed Martin, signals will be three times more accurate than the current generation. What does that mean for users? Better accuracy anywhere in the world. For military users, the signals will be up to eight times more powerful, improving jamming resistance and availability for critical missions worldwide.
The new satellites will also be compatible with international global navigation satellite systems, which will allow users the ability to receive signals from any country’s satellites, maximizing their chances of receiving a strong and accurate signal, whether in a natural valley or an urban canyon.
GPS III will also boast a 15 year design life, twice as long as some of the current GPS satellites. They can even be launched two at once, making them less expensive to launch and maintain.
Perhaps most important, GPS III satellites will be harder to jam—either by accidental transmissions or by enemies. This gives military users assured access to GPS when and where it matter most.
The bottom line? Improved safety, signal integrity and unbelievable accuracy. “GPS has become essential to almost all aspects of modern life” said Lockheed Martin’s GPS III program manager Keoki Jackson. “GPS III will ensure the availability of this critical utility with enhanced performance to billions of users worldwide for decades to come.”
A New Way To Get To Space
These days, the materials used for 3D printing can be pretty much anything: plastic, metal, powder, concrete, liquid, even chocolate. Entire houses can now be 3D printed.
This has the potential to transform manufacturing. In short, 3D printing gives manufacturers the ability to make things that can’t easily be produced with traditional methods, to streamline the manufacturing process, and create highly personalized products (even completely unique one-offs), all while eliminating waste and reducing costs.
5. New energy solutions
Nuclear fusion is often touted as the clean and potentially inexhaustible energy solution for the future, but there’s a problem – maintaining a fusion reaction takes more energy than it produces! But now, thanks to advances in magnet technology, we may see a nuclear fusion reactor deliver a net power output by 2035.
Another exciting zero-carbon energy solution is green hydrogen (which is different from traditional "grey hydrogen" production). With green hydrogen, water is split into hydrogen and water, without creating any byproducts, through a process of electrolysis. Historically, this process took so much electricity; green hydrogen was basically unfeasible. But renewable electricity sources may change this. For example, as excess renewable electricity is becoming available on the grid, that excess energy could, in theory, be used to drive the electrolysis of water.
The key lesson from all these trends is we’re entering an era of continual and rapid evolution, where multiple tech trends combine and feed into each other to deliver huge changes. For businesses, this means the days of incremental tech upgrades are gone forever. Continual change is the way of the future.
6. Genomics
Genomics is the study of all of a person's genes (the genome), including interactions of those genes with each other and with the person's environment.
Genomics helps us understand evolution and protect our biological ecosystems. Genomics is altering a genome with unparalleled efficiency and precision. Genomics is fostering an appreciation for what our DNA means for our health, identities and culture.
8 Ways Genomics Influences Our World
- DNA Sequencing
- Human Genomic Variation
- Cancer Genomics
- Human Origins And Ancestry
- Rare Genetic Diseases
- Enhanced Forensics
- Microbes And Microbiomes
- Agriculture
7. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
What are the business benefits of RPA?
Robotic process automation streamlines workflows, which makes organizations more profitable, flexible, and responsive. It also increases employee satisfaction, engagement, and productivity by removing mundane tasks from their workdays.
RPA is noninvasive and can be rapidly implemented to accelerate digital transformation. And it’s ideal for automating workflows that involve legacy systems that lack APIs, virtual desktop infrastructures (VDIs), or database access.
- Accelerated transformation
- Major cost savings
- Greater resilience
- Higher accuracy
- Improved compliance
- Boosted productivity
- More value from personnel
- Happier employees
Why is RPA transformative?
RPA technology is changing how the world gets work done.
Software robots—instead of people—do repetitive and lower-value work, like logging into applications and systems, moving files and folders, extracting, copying, and inserting data, filling in forms, and completing routine analyses and reports. Advanced robots can even perform cognitive processes, like interpreting text, engaging in chats and conversations, understanding unstructured data, and applying advanced machine learning models to make complex decisions.
When robots do these types of repetitive, high-volume tasks, humans are freed to focus on the things they do best and enjoy more: innovating, collaborating, creating, and interacting with customers. Enterprises get a boost too: higher productivity, efficiency, and resilience. It’s no wonder that RPA is rewriting the story of work.
This is the story of work. It started a long time ago, on a Monday... As people got better at work, they built tools to work more efficiently, they even built computers to work smarter, but still they couldn't do enough work! The more work they did, the more work they created, and not the good kind. One day a very smart person figured out how to put the fun back in work, this is their story...