For millennia, mankind has slowly but surely made discoveries that made it possible to make a decisive leap forward: wheel, sails, electricity. Today, science and technology almost every year offer us new opportunities in the field of telecommunications, medicine, energy and other fields.
Present to your attention Top 10 most promising technologies of our time according to the McKinsey Global Institute.
10. Renewable energy sources
In 12 years, solar and wind energy will account for about 16% of global energy supply. Over the past 13 years, energy generation from these sources has grown 19 times.
9. Genomics
In the near future, scientists will be able to modify human genes for medical purposes. Changing the genes of animals and plants will increase agricultural productivity. Genetic engineering will even make it possible to produce fuel based on microorganisms, as well as grow medicinal herbs with improved rates.
8. Cloud Information Technology
Ubiquitous network access to data and services will reduce the cost of IT services. Leading companies in the world whose business is connected with computers and the Internet are actively developing their cloud-based operating systems. Google recently launched a range of devices running Google Chrome OS. And Apple this autumn is preparing to launch a new OS, which will be fully focused on the "clouds".
7. Smart robots
At present, machines are already supplanting the labor of workers, and after a while, most likely, they will be able to supplant the "white-collar workers." In the next ten years, robots will penetrate the service sector, will select the places of office workers, teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers and financiers. According to some estimates, around 230 million people worldwide are engaged in mental work. Some of them may be left without work, others will be forced to compete fiercely with each other, as a result of which labor will become significantly cheaper.
6. Mobile Internet
In the next 10 years, 3.5 billion people will be connected to the Internet, of which 2 billion through mobile devices. This is a huge market, the development of which promises considerable profits to those companies that will be able to provide territories not previously covered by the World Wide Web with mobile Internet. In social terms, this will provide free access to information to those people who have never even had a computer.
5. Self-driving cars
Google’s unmanned vehicles drove a total of 500 thousand km, and at the same time got into only one accident, and even that was not their own fault. A new prototype from Volvo can itself find a free parking space and get on it without the help of a driver.
4. “Internet of things”
Sensors and various sensors built into the machines allow you to remotely control a variety of areas of life from the state of the house to treatment. According to experts, over the past 5 years, the number of devices connected to each other has increased 4 times. An example of this is the remote control of the treatment of various diseases or the "smart home" system.
3. New methods for the search and production of oil and gas
In the United States, gas production from shale deposits and oil from poorly permeable formations has already significantly changed the energy supply structure and led to a decrease in world gas prices. Although Gazprom analysts say that the shale market has not yet been formed.
2. Three-dimensional printing
The basis of the technology is the layered creation of a solid volumetric object. The material may be rubber, gypsum powder or plastic, depending on the technology used. The rapid creation of 3D layouts will significantly reduce the possibility of a consumer having aesthetic defects or low-quality products. The cost of a home 3D printer over the past 4 years has decreased by 10 times.
1. Robotics
Our Top-10 robotics closes. This, among other things, is about various electronic systems, such as exoskeletons, thanks to which you can increase the physical capabilities of a person. This, of course, is not a suit of Iron Man, but a significant relief in the lives of people with disabilities.