Technology Review magazine is responsible for publishing year after year a list of the developments and innovations that will impact the world in the coming years. And as I already made the spoiler in the title of this article, you will already know who was the special guest for this occasion and who, of course, served as curator of this edition. Yes, although you already know it: Bill Gates, and we are interested to know which were some of the innovations chosen by the billionaire!
According to Gates, all these inventions lead us to be more positive, because not only is inequality decreasing, but there is also progress in the treatment of chronic diseases. He further adds that:
“It is better to be born at this time, than at any other time.”
Innovations that will impact the world, here’s what we’ll see
Synthetic hamburger
Well, this is a topic we have already talked about, if you don’t know what it is about, read the article on lab-grown meat, it’s very interesting! It is estimated that a sample of animal tissue can be used to produce some 80,000 hamburgers. The idea is to solve the environmental problem of meat consumption and even more so with the increase of the world population.
However, producing them will only represent a 7% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Good idea, but we need more forceful action!
Digital assistants – is this one of the innovations that will impact the world?
Let’s see, it’s not an innovation that shocks us, because we already know Siri and Alexa, we know what they do, but we also know very well what they don’t do, that’s where the issue lies. Therefore, in the future, artificial intelligence techniques will significantly improve their functions.
In a very short time, people will be able to talk to these devices, take notes or find information, among many additional functions. Google Duplex, for example, can analyze which calls are unwanted and even make dinner reservations at a restaurant.
Prediction of prematurity
Annually, 15 million babies are born prematurely in the world, however, it is a condition difficult to predict, making it the most frequent cause of death in children under five years of age. For this reason, Stephen Quake, Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University, developed a blood test so that pregnant women can find out whether or not they are at risk. Best of all, it could be marketed for less than US$10.
Cancer vaccines
That’s right, in the very near future this vaccine will be commercialized. It would work by identifying genetic mutations in a tumor and will be able to awaken the immune system in order to identify them. It would be a personalized vaccine that would only fight tumor cells and not healthy ones. It is totally different from what chemotherapy does, which attacks all of them equally.
Which of the innovations that will impact the world are you most looking forward to?
Did you like this article? then you can read: Technological predictions for 2050: Interaction with robots, brain implants and others that will surprise you.
