5. DNA Computer
Imagine having an iPod capable of holding thousands of years of high definition video. A DNA computer would make such a device very possible. DNA is the substance that living organisms use to store genetic information. What makes DNA special is that it is extremely efficient when it comes to storing information in a limited space. Just one milligram of DNA is capable of holding all the printed material in the world. DNA computing is currently in its infancy, with prototypes such as MAYA-II only capable of showing the concept. If DNA computing is perfected, computers will become capable of holding amounts of information that are hard to imagine by today’s standard.
4. Permanent Moon Base
Ever since space colonization was first imagined, it was thought that the Moon would be first object to be colonized since it was closest to Earth. In 1969, when man first walked on the moon, a permanent colony suddenly appeared to be very achievable. However, for a variety of reasons, both economical and technical, the project was never truly attempted. However, NASA currently has plans to have one constructed by 2024. The ESA also has plans to construct a moon base by 2025. Japan and India also each have plans to have a base by 2030. The biggest barrier to a base is money. Many people within NASA, including Buzz Aldrin, have criticized the building of a moon base, saying that NASA should put more focus on different projects, like item number five.
3. Head Transplant
This bizarre surgery is bound to cause controversy in the near future. In a head transplant, the patient is decapitated, and the patient’s head is attached to a donor’s body so that blood circulates between the head and body. A head transplant would theoretically cure absolutely any disease that did not directly affect the head. However, unless a means of repairing the spinal cord is developed, the patient would be quadriplegic. Head transplants have been done with limited success on mice, dogs, and monkeys. The biggest problem of doing a head transplant is that it raises all sorts of ethical questions. For instance, if organ donors were in short supply, a head transplant would be considered wasteful as a donor’s body would only help one person. A greater fear is that if head transplants were combined with cloning, then people might murder their own clones to double their life spans.
2. Clean Energy
While many alternatives to fossil fuels have been investigated, there is still quite a way to go before mankind’s energy supply is completely renewable. As of today, about 85% of all energy comes from fossil fuels. The reason clean energy is considered to be important is because fossil fuels aren’t expected to last much longer, they pollute the environment, and they have led to tensions between nations. The reason clean energy is hard to come by is that we’ve spent the past 150 years dependent on oil, and it’s quite difficult to make the switch. Some have even suggested that the technology for producing vast amounts of clean energy already exists but is being suppressed by big oil companies. However, several European countries have produced considerable amounts of clean energy. Current methods of clean energy include wind, solar, geothermal, tidal, hydropower, nuclear, biofuel, and several
1. Cure for Cancer
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases of the modern era. Ever since the days of Hippocrates people have been searching for a cure. Cancer is similar to the common cold in that although there are many ways to treat it, modern medicine is still yet to come up with a cure. This is partially because like the common cold, there are many different types of cancer, and they are all slightly different. Unfortunately, with over seven million deaths per year, cancer is much more serious than the common cold. A wide assortment of drugs, chemicals, stem cells, genetically modified viruses, and even arsenic have all been proposed as cancer cures. However, number two on this list has quite a bit of promise.
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