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In most of the science fiction films the innovations in technology are described best, and the effects on humans are not that important. Even in the dossier Future Life, technology plays a major part. So here are the prospects for the next century written by a technicians few. Everybody can come up with his own thoughts about the effects on human life and on his own life.
THE GENE REVOLUTION
Scientists have started to decode the complete genetic system of humans. When they have finished their work in several years, there will be a complete map of mankind\'s genetic identity. We may improve our knowledge about cancer, AIDS and inherited diseases . Perhaps we can see the connection between body and mind.
The knowledge could be very dangerous, too. We could create perfect humans, stop people from growing old or clone people. Cloning and splicing are two major parts of genetic engineering. Splicing means that you put together parts of different genes. Results of this technology are animals that produce more wool or meat, do not catch certain diseases or give milk that contains important medical drugs.
SPACE STATIONS
FREEDOM
Freedom is the name of a $30 billion American and European project. It will be the first permanent space station and it will be launched in 1998. Separate sections will be sent five hundred kilometres into the orbit via series of 20 spaceshuttle flights. Freedom will weigh over two hundred tons and will have 5 living modules for 10 astronauts at a time. Astronauts will stay in the stations for several months. They will carry out scientific experiments and repair satellites and other spacecraft .
MOONBASES
Moonbases will be built mainly to carry out big scientific experiments, and as a starting point for longer journeys into the solar system and perhaps to find huge amounts of metals.
The base will be finished in 2010. It will be built for only about 30 scientists. To improve the working conditions, it will be necessary to have water and oxygen under a large roof. If these experiments show that humans can live on the moon, there could be lunar cities later. These are the same prospects which people had a hundred years ago. So let\'s see what really happens.
MARS: THE NEXT FRONTIER
The engineers think that it would cost about $700 billion to put an astronaut on Mars. Scientists hope that this most expensive journey of all times is going to take place in the next 25 years. They have got a plan of five stages:
1. A large petrol tanker leaves before the astronauts themselves. This craft goes into orbit around Mars once it arrives.
2. The second craft, with the astronauts, makes the journey starting at the space station \"Freedom\". It will last for about seven months. They will have to recycle about 70% of everything they use.
3. In the orbit of Mars the manned craft is refuelled by the petrol tanker.
4. A manned craft flies to Mars and stays there for about two weeks.
5. After that, they reenter orbit to the big craft, and fly back to earth via Freedom.
If this journey really takes place, humanity is ready to launch something like \"Star Trek\".
COMPUTERS
I do not want to speak too much about computers. We all know what they are able to do, and what they are used for. I just want to say a few words about fibre optics, and after that, a little bit about the next computer generation.
FIBRE OPTICS
These are small tubes of pure glass that were invented in the 1960s. They will replace the now used copper cables, because you can transmit more information at one time. For example, in one fibre optic you can send TV-pictures, phone calls and computer data at the same time.
The system works by transmitting information first in current and then into light. At the other end the light is transmitted back into the original form. The only problem in replacing the copper cables is the oldest problem of the world, money.
THINKING MACHINES
The next generation of computers will be very different from the computers nowadays. They will understand spoken instructions, be able to answer, and maybe be able to think. This is based on our brain that consists of complex neural networks. Computers will have electronic neural networks. They will not be able to work as perfectly as the human brain does, but these computers can do smaller parts of our thinking. They also will be able to learn without the help of humans.
ENERGY
POWER STATIONS
The problem is that our society depends on electricity. The question is how the energy should be produced in the future. Now, most of the energy is produced in coal, gas, oil and nuclear power stations. If we want to stop the pollution and make sure that we have energy in the future, we should use power stations like wind farms, wave machines or solar panels.
SUPERCONDUCTORS
They will be used to reduce the resistance in wires , which causes a big loss of energy. Scientists are working to find the best material, that has no resistance at the highest possible temperature. At the moment, this temperature is at about minus 170° centigrade, and is reached with superconductors made of ceramics. It is not too expensive to reach this temperature, so this technology has got a big future.
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