# What future innovation are you sad you'll never live to see? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716 "2014-07-09T16:03:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/1 "2014-07-09T16:03:58Z")
I’ve always been a big fan of Star Trek so I’m sad that I’ll probably never live long enough to see humanity terraform and colonize another planet. Imagining a whole planet full of mysteries like ours is just mind-blowingly astounding to me that if I could, I’d freeze myself until such time as we have a working habitat on some other planet. It may be that humans would do this first to the moon, then Mars, then maybe some intra-solar moons, but what I hope to see is a planet with actual plant life, climate like ours, or animals. To see how a totally alien animal evolved would be a dream! On the same vein, though this could happen tomorrow technically, I want to see real life sentient aliens. I’d probably be scared shitless, but I want to see aliens Also flying cars. We’ve been promised flying cars for hundred years in sci-fi, its time real sci delivered! :mad::mad: ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/2 "2014-07-09T16:26:45Z")
Lunar colonies. I’ve heard about the people who are trying to recruit colonists for a one-way trip to Mars, but even if we make the (generous) assumption that those plans are serious, we all know anyone who gets sent to Mars any time soon is not going to die from old age, if you get my drift. I figure, serious attempts at a lunar colony are at least a century away, with a Martian colony probably a few decades after that. ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/3 "2014-07-09T16:35:35Z")
Medical cures, such as a cure for cancer. Although I don’t have cancer, I think of people who might die the year before the cure is found. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/4 "2014-07-09T17:16:58Z")
Cure Alzhimers(sp) and cancer. Find out why some people are so violent and cure mental illness(but I’m not sure what normal is) ---
**Author:** ![MindsEye\_Watering](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindseye_watering/32/3619_2.png) [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/5 "2014-07-09T17:20:10Z")
Legal pot for Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/6 "2014-07-09T17:22:36Z")
Detachable penis. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/7 "2014-07-09T17:35:52Z")
> [@JohnGalt](#): > > Medical cures, such as a cure for cancer. Although I don’t have cancer, I think of people who might die the year before the cure is found. But they still won’t have a cure for baldness in the 24th century. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/8 "2014-07-09T18:32:58Z")
Sorry, guys, taken on balance, there is no future scenario that seems probable, that I have any burning desire to see played out. You will see 2050, and I saw 1950, and I wouldn’t trade places with any of you, nor would anybody else of my generation. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/9 "2014-07-09T19:09:45Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Lunar colonies. I’ve heard about the people who are trying to recruit colonists for a one-way trip to Mars, but even if we make the (generous) assumption that those plans are serious, we all know anyone who gets sent to Mars any time soon is not going to die from old age, if you get my drift. I figure, serious attempts at a lunar colony are at least a century away, with a Martian colony probably a few decades after that. As a teenager, I read a couple of books by [Gerard K O’Neill](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_K._O%27Neill) describing how colonies could be built at the L5 point using material gathered from the moon. I dreamed of living on one of these colonies. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/10 "2014-07-09T19:10:17Z")
Silent Velcro. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/11 "2014-07-09T19:15:25Z")
Immortality. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/12 "2014-07-09T19:31:35Z")
Nutritious, delicious calorie-free food. (I hope someone somewhere is working on this) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/13 "2014-07-09T19:42:57Z")
Affordable space travel. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/14 "2014-07-09T19:47:08Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Detachable penis. They’re all detachable. :eek: What you’re really waiting for the the _re_attachable penis. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/15 "2014-07-09T19:54:22Z")
I keep reading the thread title as “What **furniture** innovation . . .”. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/16 "2014-07-09T19:58:44Z")
> [@OneCentStamp](#): > > They’re all detachable. :eek: > > What you’re really waiting for the the _re_attachable penis. Maybe something magnetic, like Apple’s MacBook power cord. ---
**Author:** ![CheshireKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheshirekat/32/1207_2.png) [@CheshireKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheshireKat)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/17 "2014-07-09T20:22:20Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > Detachable penis. And $17 in your pocket at all times. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/18 "2014-07-09T23:37:43Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Sorry, guys, taken on balance, there is no future scenario that seems probable, that I have any burning desire to see played out. > > You will see 2050, and I saw 1950, and I wouldn’t trade places with any of you, nor would anybody else of my generation. I may see 2050. I was born in 1954, just barely, and my grandmother lived to be almost 108. I’m actually looking forward to 2026, the 250th anniversary of the USA. I had to spend most of 1976 out of the country, in Korea, and I really missed all the hoopla. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2014, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/19 "2014-07-09T23:45:49Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I may see 2050. I was born in 1954, just barely, and my grandmother lived to be almost 108. I’m actually looking forward to 2026, the 250th anniversary of the USA. I had to spend most of 1976 out of the country, in Korea, and I really missed all the hoopla. A new quarter issue, some sales, nothing much. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2014, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716/20 "2014-07-10T01:29:13Z")
Interstellar travel within a reasonable fraction of a human lifetime. Effective immortality. That’s really about the only thing that bothers me about dying, I have a near-pathological desire to know _how it all turns out_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-future-innovation-are-you-sad-youll-never-live-to-see/692716.md?page=2)