Lets take a look at some of the disruptive technologies in the reading 'You'll want one of these'
Super-vision
Wouldn't it be great to have x-ray vision?
As a mum I can see how handy this would be. To be able to look staraight through the walls and spy on what mischief my girls were up to and for later on, in their teenage years, when they start inviting boys home...
But alas it is something that has yet to be invented.
But the next best thing has been. Engineers at Cambridge Consultants, in the UK, announced, in 2006, that they had built what they called a Prism 200 which was a briefcase-sized system that could detect people through a brick wall by firing off pulses of ultrawide-band radar and listening for returning echoes.
How does one use it?
By standing with your back to the wall while the machine scans, using ultra-wideband radio frequencies, then you look at the display to see what is going on.
To watch a quick youtube clip on a Prism 200, click here.
Who can use it?
It is expected that it will be used to law enforcement agencies, emergency services or soldiers in high-risk and hostile situations.
Disappearing act
Cloak of Invisability. If you have ever watched Harry Potter you know what the Cloak of Invisibity is and to be truthful we have all thought about what we could do if we could actually own one right?
But is it all just fiction or is the Cloak of Invisibity a reality?
Apparently it is something of a reality.
How does it work?
By steering electromagnetic waves around an object it disappears. So far the only way to do that is with metamaterials which are made up of electronic components which are designed to interact with light and direct it in a controllable fashion.
Dr. Susumu Tachi, from Keio University, has come up with their version of the invisiblity cloak - a retro-reflective projection technology which uses a computer, a video camera and projector to shine background images onto the front of a subject wearing specialised clothing, creating the illusion of invisibility. you can watch their youtube clip here.
The way they do it is not exactly what I imagine when I think about using an invisibility cloak as I always imagined myself being invisible to others not just on camera.
In the US, at the start of the year, researchers had made a breakthrough with being able to make an 18cm cylinder invisible by using plasmonic metamaterials.
"When light strikes an object, it rebounds off its surface towards another direction, just like throwing a tennis ball against a wall. The reason we see objects is because light rays bounce off materials towards our eyes and our eyes are able to process the information.
Due to their unique properties, plasmonic metamaterials have the opposite scattering effect to everyday materials.
When the scattered fields from the cloak and the object interfere, they cancel each other out and the overall effect is transparency and invisibility at all angles of observation." (Daily Mail, 2012)
But it can only be invisible to microwave scanners.
I am sure that the Cloak of Invisibility will be here in the future and researchers are getting closer but will be here for my lifetime?
Jet packs/Rocket belts
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to just put on your jet pack and fly to work, not having to worry about traffic?
Well it seems this could be a reality. There are already a few companies that have invented and sell them.
There is the Martin Jetpack which is the said to be the worlds first practical jetpack.
"is the result of inspiration and many years of development work by Glenn Martin and an enthusiastic team of engineers and other experts. It uses sophisticated composites and a highly efficient propulsion system to achieve the goal of personal flight, with many safety features including a ballistic parachute." (The Martin Jetpack, n.d.)
And there is the JetLev which is powered by a 200 hp engine that pumps water through a 10-meter hose at 1,000 gallons per minute, generating more than 420 lbs. of thrust. It is on sale for $100,000.
For $250,000, you can buy a Tam rocket Belt which goes more than 60 mph but only lasts for 30 seconds.
For $155,000, you can buy the Jet Pack H202 that goes up to 70mph but it only lasts for 33 seconds.
It seems they may still be in the developement stage.
But will they become the transportation of the future?
Daily Mail Reporter (January 26th, 2012). Breakthrough in bid to create 'invisibility cloak' as 3D object is made to vanish for first time. Retrieved August 21st, 2012 from
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2091792/Invisibility-cloak-breakthrough-3D-object-vanish-time.html
Martin Jetpack (n.d.). Retrieved august 21st, 2012 from http://martinjetpack.com/
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