The cool thing about fab labs is the inventor wants to advance them enough so that a fab lab can make another fab lab out of raw materials (they currently cost about $50,000 each) by the 2020s that can make tons of different consumer products out of raw materials and design blueprints.
I’m too, have you noticed how in almost all big news there is a Salvadorean involved for good or for evil? Latest example are the Salvadorean rescue team that did go to Haiti and the Salvadorean accused of helping those missionaries illegally remove Haitian kids for adoption.
As for the subject at hand, I strongly predict that technology will give brutal blows to corruption in many countries. An early example also from Central America: GPS pointed the finger to the police as the murderers of several politicians of El Salvador when they did go to Guatemala.
As I’m doing a lot of research on micro and nanotechnology, good places to check for the inventions that will shape the future can be found at SmallTimes (Now called Electro-IQ)
There will be some cataclysm, disaster, war, technological breakthrough, social change and probablyt multiple of all which we have not taken into account into our predictions which will make them irrelevant.
Imagine what is fact in 2010 and then see if it looked even the remotest bit plausible in 1910?
Oh, let me take a shot. If I’m wrong, nobody will know. If I’m accurate… well, still, nobody will know.
… Many people will have direct linkages to computer networks and databases, with the information needed coming at a mere thought. Think of it as having an embedded computer (EC) linked directly to your brain.
… “Instant Knowledge” will be a reality. Need to know about the 100 Years War? “Download” the information into your EC. This won’t give you wisdom, but it’ll give you the data. What you do with it is still up to you.
… As more and more mathematical and scientific functions are done by computers, there will be an overall deemphasis on hard math and science in the schools (compared to today, where schools are solely (seemably) measured on their students math/science skills). The ability to interact with people will be more important and will be included in the standard curriculum.
… The US will still be a global superpower.
… Because of vast increases in storage, it will be possible to “remember” everything that happened to you (through your EC), and researchers will begin to seriously work on downloading personalities that, in effect, offer you immortality. There will be vast legal and ethical questions raised because of this.
… China will have serious difficulties as they struggle with a “peasant” population of over 250,000,000 people.
… Longevity will increase, but in fits and starts.
