# science fiction technology you see possible in the future and others not **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 19, 2015, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908 "2015-06-19T00:24:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/81 "2017-05-08T20:21:50Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I think “beamed energy” is possible – heck, we know it’s possible in some applications – and if it can be made powerful enough, it would answer your objection to hand-held laser guns and to flight packs. > > You see that city down there? That’s my fuel cell! While wireless power transmission is possible, holding the receiver of that much power in your hand, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/82 "2017-05-08T20:27:49Z")
I saw EmDrive mentioned in an earlier post on this thread; anyone been keeping up with that? I remember reading there were going to be some tests in space, but haven’t heard anything since. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/83 "2017-05-08T21:42:03Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > Molecular assemblers - you are badly misinformed on that point. They already exist on a large and practical scale. I was thinking the OP meant more along the lines of, Computer Earl Grey, Hot with honey… DING! Or steak potato and carrots please, etc. Sure i can assemble that easy, on any 15th century farm, but to have a machine do it in seconds out of generic raw materials seems pretty difficult and power consuming too? > [@](#): > > Jet pack - you are badly misinformed. Practical jetpacks now exist - it’s a high bypass turbofan jet engine pointing downward. But as you said, the realm of toy. Can’t carry enough fuel in a small easy to manage package for it to be a feasible means of individual transportation. At least with what we know of as fuels now, now off world in low to no gravity environments it might be feasible? > [@](#): > > Wormholes - no known way to make them. Simple, just line up the appropriate symbols in the chevrons. Teasing, i would not even want to guess the amount of raw power it would take to induce a 1 second wormhole from here to pluto. > [@](#): > > Teleportation of people - yet another thing you are badly misinformed on. It absolutely is possible to teleport people, even practical. I dunno, i would have to disagree. Move the body, perhaps. At least in theory. Move the person? the human being who lives in the flesh lump? I just can not see it. People are not logical and orderly and at times seem to defy everything. I dont see any computer system being remotely capable of trying to analyse being human and reassemble it. You can take a blob of flawed, broken, damaged and incorrect things and in spite of, or perhaps because of, wind up with an astonishing human being. We make no sense I think you would have better luck trying to induce mini wormholes? > [@](#): > > Star Trek tricorder - you could build a diagnostic instrument that small or smaller. It would release trillions of nanoscale robots that would crawl over or inside the object. Interesting idea actually, but that would be something other than a tricorder > [@](#): > > Hologram - > Holodeck - Those are neat ideas but not quite what is suggested in star trek. One walks into a room, that becomes an infinite room. The holograms are solid and opaque, they can hit you, you can hit them, you can climb them, anyone walking into the room while the program is running sees your program, with out any borg like implants. Things can be touched moved thrown and looked at from any angle, food and drink can apparently be consumed etc. In the spirit of the OP, i think as presented is within the realm of fantasy. > [@](#): > > Not sure what you mean by “star wars landspeeder not possible”. You could absolutely build a VTOL aircraft about that size that would fly on jet exhaust. It wouldn’t be very practical - fuel consumption would limit it’s range and make it cost a fortune to operate. But it would fly. Any starwars buff feel free to correct me. But if i remember right, the land speeder is a small anti gravitational generator for floating, coupled with some sort of old tech fuel burning compressor engine, like a small jet or turbine. The speeder hovers when parked and not running. Mind you i am sure a lot of that is conjecture simply based on what is visually presented, which does vary a bit. You could probably build your device using a couple small huey turbines running a floatation fan on a variable speed drive, and a couple ducted thrust fans, or something similar? Difference is your device would work, and be feasible aside from perhaps fuel capacity, the anti gravity speeder as presented, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/84 "2017-05-08T22:17:43Z")
> [@Habeed](#): > > The first problem to solve, even before worrying about how to get enough equipment into space to build a starship, is to solve the problem of human aging. Either figure out a series of genetic code changes so humans don’t age past young adulthood, or figure out a way to copy human brains to computers so they are basically immortal as long as one copy exists. Either way, your starship would arrive at the destination with the original crew who left on it. If aging isn’t a problem, you might have a way to put humans into a controlled coma so they don’t have to actually be bored for centuries. If you use computers, it’s trivial - just set the clock rate low enough that a few centuries long journey takes just a few minutes in perceptual time. This is actually the easy part. You have babies, either selective breeding, or artificial cloning. You create your own replacements. I do not think you will ever upload a human being into a computer. Too much about who and what a person is, is completely intangible. 2+2=4 except in bob where it =7 and in mary where it = 13.7 Too much about being human defies all logic. You could record all the memories you want, that does not equate copying the person themselves, i do not think it is that easy. > [@](#): > > The problem of aging - or uploading to computers - is orders of magnitude easier than the problem of building a starship. We’re probably centuries at the current rate of progress from being able to harness the antimatter you would need to fuel a starship engine with adequate performance. We’re probably mere decades from having AI or human uploading. I don’t think the drive is the limiting factor, designing a ship that will survive millennia in space and some how be a self sustaining self repairing environment, i think that is more of a hurdle than pushing the ship along. Space is a nasty environment, not exactly the void vacuum. It is a one way trip so the ship can go slower, they wont ever see anyone they know on earth again, and maybe not earth at all again. Here is a kicker. Any place we might go, we see it on earth as it was in the past, even the closest star at 4.2 light years could have actually suffered a calamity 4 years prior to launch. You would already be en route before you knew it had actually had some kind of disaster. The star 50 light years away you are journeying to, it may not be there, but you wont know it for quite a while. And i do not think there is any work around for that? ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/85 "2017-05-09T00:37:01Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Airplanes - still traveling at roughly the speeds that were available 50 years ago, with some improvements in carrying capacity at the upper ends of commercial aircraft sizes. (Heck, we don’t even have the Concorde flying anymore… ):(:(:(☹ Can not change the physical limitations, flying big planes very fast is expensive. Things like Fuel use increases a lot Stress to air frame increases Cost of plane increases Life of plane decreases Maintenance increases It is not an issue of we can not, more an issue is it isn’t cost effective for the speed gain > [@](#): > > Firearm technology has had minor tweaks and adjustments - but commonly guns are not particularly more accurate, powerful or less expensive than 50 years ago. Well, again, cost effectiveness. Accuracy is pretty good now More power comes at cost, you can not put a 30mm cannon round in a 30-06 receiver because the gun will blow up in your hands, so now the 30-06 resembles an M2 machine gun. Not too fun to hold up to your shoulder any more. And the cost goes up, and no one wants to spend that for what was a 30-06. I guess you could say it’s kind of like a hammer, it’s pretty much already perfected in its design, what exactly do you do to make a major improvement? And is it cost effective? > [@](#): > > Space – too costly for space mining or people living on the moon or mars. Costly and i do not know how one might land 6000 tons of XYZ ore except by doing a good impersonation of a meteor? Id also kind of not like to see the poor moon strip mined. > [@](#): > > Rocketry not really that much better than 50 years ago. In practical use, perhaps not. I think that is all about money > [@](#): > > Hardly any medical progress at all. That really depends a lot, i dont think we can make that as a blanket statement. Some areas perhaps, and yet others do advance. It is not for lack of trying though. > [@](#): > > No Nanodrones or flying drones as small as mosquitoes that can take pictures, record audio, and take DNA samples from you > [@](#): > > no Universal Translator Actually yes, we do have these. I do not know if they work perfectly, but yes we do have them. > [@](#): > > no Handheld ultrasound scanners [These qualify](http://www.cardiacdirect.com/pics/thumbnails/img_5182_150.jpg) no? > [@](#): > > no Handheld x-ray scanner Like [this](https://www.dentalplanet.com/cache/bmz_cache/2/28e5bb3968ac135f029607b50dac87c2.image.735x550.png)? > [@](#): > > no artificial food That is debatable. NO computer please assemble me the molecules of a steak medium rare, but we have a lot of artificial food products, i dont think they are very good for you. > [@](#): > > no invisibility cloak If we mean harry potters, nope, light does not like to pass through the human body. I know of no practical way to have light pass through or bend around something by using a piece of cloth. > [@](#): > > implants to let us breathe underwater Implants no, artificial gill devices, yes they do exist, at least on an experimental level > [@](#): > > no gigabit internet speeds For me, no ☹ If you live in google fiber territory, maybe so. It does exist, it just is not wide spread, very sadly. > [@](#): > > If the space elevator collapsed because of terrorist or natural disaster it would do large damage to larger part of the continent. Or would it fling off into space? > [@](#): > > No idea how to anchor it to ground. Gorilla Glue? Awe come on, you know you wanted to laugh? just a little? > [@](#): > > Would Be Susceptible to Dangerous Vibrations a cable movement and the potential for whipping action and vibrations.:(☹ And lack of resistance against buckling or bending will have a profound impact on the elevator’s stability > > Other problems to the space elevator are > > -Satellites and Space Junk > -Environmental Risks > -Meteoroids and micrometeorites > -Corrosion > -Radiation and resulting ionization Eh, it always struck me as within the realm of works in theory, if you remove real life from the equation. Myself, i am picturing this nightmare of a thing snaking around the sky, whipping all over as various forces play with it, while some poor slob tries to take up a container load full of cantalopes. Plus how do we go up and down? Can not use cables, the weight alone would kill it. So it has to climb the elevator itself, via clamped wheels, or a rack and gear affair or something? Seems kind of dicey? Reminds me of trying to climb a gym rope to the ceiling 30 feet up, while everyone at the bottom is yanking the damned rope all about ---
**Author:** ![Weisshund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba8739/32.png) [@Weisshund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weisshund)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/86 "2017-05-09T01:41:44Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > The Holodecks in ST would have to use inertial manipulation (which doesn’t exist in reality, but does exist in the ST universe) - to be able to move you without you knowing it, or make you feel like you’re moving, when you’re not. > > One of the STTNG episodes tried to explain how a holodeck environment could seem much larger than the actual space - but it was sort of a handwave. The biggest problem for apparent size is if two people enter the environment and walk away from each other - in order to convincingly reproduce this in a holodeck, you would have to: > [ul] > [li]Prevent them actually hitting the walls as they walk apart[/li][li]Make them feel exactly as if they were walking away[/li][li]Obscure the actual view of each individual from the other[/li][li]Replace the other individual with a virtualised ‘distant’ version [/li][li](so essentially, each individual in the holodeck needs their own completely discrete ‘bubble’ of VR - and the bubbles only need intersect when it is convenient for them to do so.[/li][/ul] > > So yeah, pretty nearly impossible as presented. We have more chance of doing this with conventional VR or a brain/computer VR interface (i.e. the matrix) I see the biggest problem of a working holo-deck as… Once you got people in them, you would never get them out, they would live and die in the thing. I am not quite sure i could blame them, if they worked as implied in star trek. Perfect friends, appear when you want, go home with out having to tell them. Perfect wife, and perfect girlfriend, who is also besties with wife and they like shopping for your birthday together. And your birthday comes once a month, last month they got you Girlfriend 2.0 who is now besties with Wife 1.0 and Girlfriend 1.0, and they NEVER get mad at you, for anything. Your job is what ever you feel like on a given day, in what ever era you feel like. If you can call that a job. Want to spend the week raiding from Kattegat? go right on ahead. Want to be a billion dollar lotto winner, Computer, run program ZZAD0974. Heck, i could get some proper chinese food even. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/87 "2017-05-09T02:22:03Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Well star trek or star wars really off the mark. Star Wars is a space opera, best described as Science _Fantasy_. It was never meant as a prediction of how the world would or could be. Star Trek gets a few things broadly right but is always going to lean in the direction of what makes better TV and what makes for better stories. For example: > [@sweat209](#): > > -star trek holodeck same thing why we don’t have holograms not only you need a holograms you need to be a mastery of hologram technology. > > other problem when you walk into a 10 feet by 10 feet holodeck room how do you make room appear to go on for ever? Blindfold yourself walk into your room and think you in a big forest!! In in less than a minute you walk into your wall and hit your heat on the wall. > > A moving floor or treadmill is not going to be any where close to walking on floor it would feel very strange. You’re right about these concerns, but the reality of course is that VR will likely just cut out the middleman and interface directly with your nervous system. But for the sake of TV, it’s just cleaner for the VR to be “out there” in the real world. If a main character gets hurt we know they’re really hurt, there are no issues with “levels” of reality (ala Inception) and so on. The TV show Westworld makes the same decision of making a virtual world that’s actually physically built. But in that case, it’s really propostrous to me – I can’t suspend my disbelief that they’ll ever be a time where it makes more sense to spend billions making and maintaining a single robot town than just a vivid VR of whatever towns you want. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/88 "2017-05-09T03:44:30Z")
History is a long list of people declaring something impossible being interrupted by people doing it. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/89 "2017-05-09T10:32:25Z")
There are some smartphones, medical devices for the public and medicals staff and star trek trek tricorder in the works but they still are very crude and have not replaced medical testing. You go to doctor office or ER and see doctor he or she will order blood work, urine sample may be even bowl sample!! There is no smartphones, medical devices or trek trek tricorder that can replace that today. If in future such thing can replace that I don’t know. There was program on TV called medical chip!! A very small medical chip like the size of credit card!!:eek::eek::eek: You poke your skin to test the blood on the spot!!:eek::eek::smack::smack::smack: It is very fast and gives read out on the spot. Very fast and cheap this medical chip!!:eek::eek::eek: The idea is medical chip is to give really fast medical read outs. Well with the medical system we have today the family doctor or ER staff have to order blood work and urine sample this well takes time before they get the information back. I was in hospital and see the ER doctor and had blood work and urine sample they order by the doctor and it took hour before the doctor got the results back. Well hour is fast for blood work and urine sample!! But in a medical emergency that is way too long. Even 30 minutes is way too long in a medical emergency. The goal of the medical chip is very small like a credit card is to lower cost and give very fast medical read outs. Well this medical chip will probably NOT replace urine sample and bowl sample!!:(:(☹ How good this medical chip is I’m not sure or what it will replace and how long before we get it or when it starts rolling out in hospitals and doctors office. Other thing I hear is color CT scans and color X-rays are on the way soon. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/90 "2017-05-09T10:56:33Z")
> [@Mijin](#): > > Star Wars is a space opera, best described as Science _Fantasy_. It was never meant as a prediction of how the world would or could be. > > Star Trek gets a few things broadly right but is always going to lean in the direction of what makes better TV and what makes for better stories. For example: > > You’re right about these concerns, but the reality of course is that VR will likely just cut out the middleman and interface directly with your nervous system. > > But for the sake of TV, it’s just cleaner for the VR to be “out there” in the real world. If a main character gets hurt we know they’re really hurt, there are no issues with “levels” of reality (ala Inception) and so on. > > The TV show Westworld makes the same decision of making a virtual world that’s actually physically built. But in that case, it’s really propostrous to me – I can’t suspend my disbelief that they’ll ever be a time where it makes more sense to spend billions making and maintaining a single robot town than just a vivid VR of whatever towns you want. VR are is what is going to change every thing on earth games, entertainment, travel, education, school, pleasure, learning, movies, porn so on!! But the technology is still very new. Next step over VR in the future is brain vs computer link where people nervous system is linked to a computer. May be even be able to put your to sleep and control your dreams!! A link all the way past the eye into the brain!! Yes sending pictures not to the eye but the brain!! Sending sound not to the ears but to the brain!! This would be amazing technology. These two technology seem more likely than the star trek Holodeck. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/91 "2017-05-09T13:38:48Z")
> [@drewder](#): > > History is a long list of people declaring something impossible being interrupted by people doing it. By that logic we should be expecting commercially viable perpetual motion machines providing free energy any day now. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/92 "2017-05-10T22:06:31Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > Next step over VR in the future is brain vs computer link where people nervous system is linked to a computer. May be even be able to put your to sleep and control your dreams!! A link all the way past the eye into the brain!! Yes sending pictures not to the eye but the brain!! Sending sound not to the ears but to the brain!! > > This would be amazing technology. Better Than Life in fact… ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/93 "2017-05-11T20:40:08Z")
Here some fringe science. Scientists managed to store information in a single atom.‬ ‪Optical Data 360TB Quartz Disc Storage - BTF‬ Dog cloning [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DmHYUvmiXQI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Science Behind Dog Cloning") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmHYUvmiXQI) ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2017, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/94 "2017-05-11T21:23:46Z")
People have made the communicator and mobile phone connection but I think it’s overstated, and we aren’t yet anywhere close to communicator technology. Mobile phones require a huge amount of close by infrastructure, in terms of cellular towers connected to switching sites and back haul networks. A communicator is a tiny device on your shirt that is powerful enough to communicate with a ship in orbit. Maybe a satellite phone is a better analogy, but even then I think there is quite a large leap in capabilities. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/95 "2017-05-14T01:49:02Z")
So what about military armor –\> powered suits –\> Robocop –\> giant anti-Kaiju mechas I think powered armor provides the best visuals in sci fi. I mean look at these babies: just some images of powered suits from bing So we already have load carrying assistance exoskeletons, and I just found this article about a 13’ exoskeleton of the type I’m interested in - where the guy sits inside the machine. > **[The futuristic tech that's coming quicker than you think](https://www.t3.com/news/the-futuristic-tech-thats-coming-quicker-than-you-think)** > > The future is (almost) here Unfortunately, I don’t think they’re going to get any bigger because of power and maneuverability problems , and also, we don’t really need them.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2017, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/96 "2017-05-14T16:13:45Z")
I’d like to see more “baby steps” taken toward powered armor, such as the warehouse forklift suit from Aliens. I can pretty easily believe in something like that, available today. But are there such things? Ultimately, does powered armor actually solve any existing tactical military problem? Is it a way of doing things that can’t be done better and more cheaply otherwise? At this point in time, armor-piercing tech is slightly ahead of armor tech, at least at the human-portable scale. Bummer for us bags of water… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/97 "2017-05-15T00:10:39Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I’d like to see more “baby steps” taken toward powered armor, such as the warehouse forklift suit from Aliens. I can pretty easily believe in something like that, available today. But are there such things? > > Ultimately, does powered armor actually solve any existing tactical military problem? Is it a way of doing things that can’t be done better and more cheaply otherwise? I can see some possible uses, that would probably be do-able with current technology. For example, all the building supply company trucks delivering lumber, pallet loads of cement blocks, shingles, etc. Currently, they often have a small crane built into the truck body that they use to unload. The operator uses hydraulic control levers to control the claw & move the crane. It seems to me that with current technology, a better control mechanism could be built: a sleeve & glove mechanism that the operator inserts his forearm & hand into, and sensors control the crane in tune with the movements of his arm & fingers. (With limit stops built in to prevent hitting the truck, etc.) I think a control like this would be easier to use than the current hydraulic controls (thus allowing less training for such workers). It could also be more accurate, thus less risk of damaging the goods when loading or unloading them. Possibly it could even be semi-portable; at the end of a 10-meter cable, so the operator could move around to get a good view when unloading. (Probably NOT wireless, to prevent the risk of some vandal hacking into it – imagine driving down the freeway next to one of these truck and some kid hacking into the control and picking up a nearby car…) ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/98 "2017-05-15T05:17:03Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > People have made the communicator and mobile phone connection but I think it’s overstated, and we aren’t yet anywhere close to communicator technology. Mobile phones require a huge amount of close by infrastructure, in terms of cellular towers connected to switching sites and back haul networks. A communicator is a tiny device on your shirt that is powerful enough to communicate with a ship in orbit. > > Maybe a satellite phone is a better analogy, but even then I think there is quite a large leap in capabilities. I don’t think that’s fair. I can take a communicator out of my pocket and speak to essentially anyone on earth. The fact that it’s bigger than the badge on picard’s shirt is a feature, not a bug; we prefer our phones to be bigger so they can support all of the zillions of other functions. And I think “powerful enough” is misleading in this context. If NASA wanted the ISS to be on the cellular network then they could have set that up. So yes my phone is powerful enough to communicate with someone in orbit, just by being on the network. Finally the implication that they don’t need to have cellphone towers on star trek. Firstly, it’s a TV show; it wouldn’t serve the plot to have them have to set up some kind of beacon every time they land on a planet. But they have had to do so on one or two episodes where being out of communication was a plot point. Does that now make the technologies equal? But secondly, why should I, as the user of the technology, care about the infrastructure supporting it? It would be like saying we don’t _really_ have trains that can go 400km/h, because they use magnetic levitation, and that’s not the way they were imagined in sci-fi\*. As a passenger on such a train, why would you care about that distinction? - This is just an analogy to illustrate a point. I’m sure there is probably sci fi that did correctly predict this technology. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/99 "2017-05-16T09:16:53Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > People have made the communicator and mobile phone connection but I think it’s overstated, and we aren’t yet anywhere close to communicator technology. Mobile phones require a huge amount of close by infrastructure, in terms of cellular towers connected to switching sites and back haul networks. A communicator is a tiny device on your shirt that is powerful enough to communicate with a ship in orbit. > > Maybe a satellite phone is a better analogy, but even then I think there is quite a large leap in capabilities. A cell phone is not made to communicate into space,:eek::eek::eek: it is made for land use only. You want to communicate in space you will need satellite phone that does not use cell towers but satellites. If in in future **IF** people have colonization of the moon, mars and other moons and planets the need for solar system communication will change. May be combo of tower sites, satellites, hubs and relay stations!! By that time cell phones will look very different and serve as solar system communication device. But in terms of star trek badge that is radio not a computer. A smartphone is radio and computer. Apple smartwatch is better than star trek badge. And many believe it matter of time before the Apple smartwatch can do e-mail, texting and make phone calls. No need to relay it to iPhone to do these things. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908/100 "2017-05-16T22:53:48Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > A cell phone is not made to communicate into space,:eek::eek::eek: The thing that grabbed people about the communicator vice cell phone was not the capability, it was simply that the communicator looked like a flip phone. It flips open and you can talk to people. That’s it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/science-fiction-technology-you-see-possible-in-the-future-and-others-not/722908.md?page=6)