Looking back on the tech trends, triumphs and tribulation of 2013, a few patterns emerge: Private projects took off even while privacy took a beating; robots and AI servants made great strides while their drone cousins stalked us with cameras and weapons; reality was simultaneously augmented and scrutinized, while 3-D-printing and private-sector space races seemingly brought the whole world into the realm of DIY.
Tragic events like the Sandy Hook Elementary mass shooting inspire horror and indignation. They also boost gun sales and energize campaigns demanding more comprehensive (or better-enforced) gun control. But as of this writing, the likelihood of legal reform following the events in Newtown, Conn., remains unclear.
In the U.S., the gun control debate involves deep-seated beliefs concerning constitutional law, individual rights, the proper role of the state and how to build the best and safest society. But it also encompasses an important practical question:
Do Countries with Stricter Gun Laws Experience Less Crime or Fewer Homicides?
Imagine a Mach-20 aircraft capable of flying coast to coast in less time than it takes a passenger to clear security; now imagine the jet lag to follow. If the idea still sounds appealing, bear in mind that the most recent attempt at such a plane flew right out of its own skin before ditching into the Pacific.
Welcome to the world of hypersonic flight.
Of course, that was a military weapons platform; contrary to what some aircraft manufacturers’ flacks would have us believe, passenger planes are likely to remain subsonic or supersonic for the foreseeable future – and for good reason.
Could You Commute From New York to Los Angeles in 12 Minutes?
Thomas Edison has long enjoyed the incandescent light of public admiration and textbook domination while Nikola Tesla, the scientist and inventor who pioneered the alternating current that truly powers the modern world, has unjustly languished as a footnote in scientific history. Farsighted, quirky, driven and brilliant, Tesla frequently leapfrogged ahead of his contemporaries to the next step, and the next.
Over the course of his long career, Tesla registered over 111 American patents and around 300 patents worldwide, including radio and alternating current. He designed the Niagara Falls power station that provided electricity to most of the northeastern United States. But his loyalty to his first loves, science and progress, cost him his fame, his fortune and, some argue, his sanity. These are just a few of the …
As anyone who’s played the ponies, visited Tomorrowland or flipped through an old issue of Popular Mechanics can tell you, predicting the future is no mean feat. Even when we get the broad strokes right, we often misgauge society’s responses. Scientists reveal, inventors dream, engineers build and marketers flog, but human nature has the final say.
Prediction is a sucker’s game, but we have to play: If we don’t predict, we can’t plan. In this article, I look at how the field of futurology developed – and how it works.
