Science Technology

What Science Technology has Achieved

Remember how cool stuff was mentioned in all those sci-fi movies? Teleportation, laser beams, flying cars and so on, all have been done to some extent today. It is amazing how far humanity has come, and such a shame that we focus so much energy on weapons instead of useful things. Let's look at some of the things we have achieved from the films:

Teleportation

This is the technique of moving something (or someone) through space in an instant without actually having it travel physically over there. In 2001 Eric W. Davis was commissioned to write a study about teleportation and in fact he separated five means of teleportation. Teleporting has been achieved, in 2002 they managed to teleport a laser beam and in 2004 an atom. These are pretty basic but open the way to larger scale experiments. Further along the road there are some moral issues too. While teleporting ice cream and chips is probably okay for everyone, teleporting a human may not be as this involves actually destroying someone and reconstructing him. This opens both endless opportunity and endless moral debate.

Flying Cars

This is a part of sci-fi that is slowly becoming a reality. A flying car is a vehicle that can legally travel both on land and in the air. The problem is that today almost all models are modular, i.e., you leave the flying bits at the airport, you can't just decide to take off on 6th avenue. The only real flying car available is the The LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1, but to make up for the lack of competition this one is extra cool. It is the only one that can convert to flying mode with the touch of a button, just like in Sci-Fi. It does require both a pilot's and a driver's license to drive, but that's to be expected. To find a runaround to this problem they are working on an automatic navigation system that will eliminate the need for pilot's licenses, but I think that's a long way away though.

Communication

Dick Tracy speaking into his watch? Phones have long been able to fit inside a watch, the reason they aren't usually as small as they give you video, music playback, PIM features and so on (also a thing from Sci-fi). Nokia has a Bluetooth. smooth armband that atmospherically changes color when you have an incoming call and can even show you the sender, or SMS you got.

Peaceful Weapons

Thank goodness people are pouring more and more money into this. The US has spent a lot developing weapons that do no extensive harm, and no physical harm whatsoever, but incapacitate people for a little while. The problem with all these weapons is that they do cause pain and other effects if only temporarily. This is a problem when for torture they decide to leave them on. Aside from this fact to use as riot control they are great. The Active Denial System is an energy weapon that works by heating up the skin. It only effects external organs so it is safe, when used it heats the skin and feels like an unbearable burning, but once out of the range temperature returns and no harm is done. The Pulsed Energy Projectile or PEP is a laser weapon that causes a shockwave that temporarily incapacitates a person and this involves a painful sensation too.