Introduction

Flying cars. Jetpacks. Rocket boots. Just some of the many predictions for future tech that the predictors and science fiction got slightly wrong. However, there are some predictions for the future that have indeed come to pass. So what are the ones that they got right, what are the ones they got horribly wrong and what are the ones that still could yet come to pass?

Our current approaches to producing solar energy are not practical on a commercial or industrial scale, and if it is to survive in the energy industry new methods must be utilized. The methods discussed in this article are alternative approaches and improvements to substantially boost the efficiency of solar cells, and if further developed, boost the efficiency of any power generation system that produces waste heat.

You’ve probably heard all of the hype about how AI is here with us already, giving us things like instant machine translation and self-driving cars. However, as a regular person, it can be difficult for you to visualize how all of this is affecting your regular life from one moment to the next. It might help to be given some examples of how machine learning and AI, in general, are being implemented in our everyday lives.

According to physicist Michio Kaku, the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) began with Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) in the 16th century. From Wikipedia:

"Imagine, being back in the late 70s, in the days where the home computer revolution was just starting to take off, except for one thing - Instead of Jobs and Gates starting it all in those home garages, it's you!"

Today, we judge about cybersecurity measures such as VPNs or firewalls as solutions to specifically protect our data traffic and privacy online. This is not to be underestimated – during the last decade or two much of our life has migrated online. Here fall our online financial transactions (online banking, shopping), our one to one communication (text/audio/video) and the constantly updated virtual images of ourselves in the social media circle, as well as many other aspects that present interest for marketers, governments, criminals, etc. People have resorted to VPN providers such as TorGuard to secure their online activities. They might be different in many aspects but virtually all of these offer one key security feature - encryption of all web traffic and hiding of the IP address.

Despite advances in medicine, access to medical care remains an obstacle for many. Cost, transportation, and even the availability of healthcare are all barriers preventing many from getting the care they need. But what if there was a device that could provide medical care almost anywhere on the planet or even off it?

My son Jarret loves sci fi! So I like to scour the internet for stuff from his favorite sci-fi movies that's in the works right now. Turns out companies and governments are actually hard at work trying to create the coolest futuristic armor inspired by films like Aliens, Iron Man, and Elysium.

You read it right, aCommerce. This is what comes after eCommerce and stands for Automated Commerce—companies using algorithms and artificial intelligence to gain more efficiency from both the side of the business and the consumer.

When you hear about cool and futuristic guns your first thoughts are probably about science fiction movies where these guns couldn't possibly exist. Well, you'd be surprised to know that some of these futuristic weapons do in fact exist. While gun control is a hotly debated argument in the United States, a vast majority of the weapons featured here are for military use only.