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10 Futuristic Technologies That Will Never Exist
1. Lightsabers
Aside from the sheer impracticality of this weapon — and not to mention how hazardous it would be to wave one of these around — the Star Wars lightsaber will almost certainly never come to be. The first engineering challenge would be in figuring out a way to stop the beam of light about two feet from the source. Light simply does not work in this way, unless there's something to obstruct or absorb it.
2. Human Teleportation
3. Time machine
Well, according to physicist Michio Kaku, we would need to extract the energy of an entire star or black hole — easier said than done. And then there's the challenge of stabilizing the wormhole and ensuring that the aperture (or wormhole entry point) remains open for the return journey (one way trip into the past, anyone?).
4. Faster than light travel
Unlike time travel, which at least has some (reasonably) viable science behind it, the suggestion that we'll eventually be able to travel faster than the speed of light (FTL) is a clear and present violation of Einsteinian physics.
5. Generation ships
A fundamental problem with this vision, however, is the tremendous scale involved for what should be a rather lean-and-mean expedition. Any ship carrying colonists to another planet would have to be extremely sensitive to resource and material constraints, thus making suspended animation a much more reasonable solution for a large group of colonists.
6. Gravitational shielding
7. Personal force fields
8. Reanimation from cryonic suspension
9. Continuity of consciousness after uploading
10. Infinite data processing
There is not the slightest indication that [nuclear energy] will ever be obtainable. It would mean that the atom would have to be shattered at will. - Albert Einstein, 1932.
Reanimation from cryonic suspension
Originally posted by g146541
Look at all of the tech we do have that 1000, 100, or even 10 years ago many would have never thought of.
Originally posted by FortAnthem
Just look at the original Star Trek series. Their "future tech" looks absolutely low-tech by today's standards.
Originally posted by FortAnthem
Originally posted by g146541
Look at all of the tech we do have that 1000, 100, or even 10 years ago many would have never thought of.
Just look at the original Star Trek series. Their "future tech" looks absolutely low-tech by today's standards.
1. Lightsabers
Aside from the sheer impracticality of this weapon — and not to mention how hazardous it would be to wave one of these around — the Star Wars lightsaber will almost certainly never come to be. The first engineering challenge would be in figuring out a way to stop the beam of light about two feet from the source. Light simply does not work in this way, unless there's something to obstruct or absorb it.
4. Faster than light travel
Unlike time travel, which at least has some (reasonably) viable science behind it, the suggestion that we'll eventually be able to travel faster than the speed of light (FTL) is a clear and present violation of Einsteinian physics.
Originally posted by FortAnthem
1. Lightsabers
Aside from the sheer impracticality of this weapon — and not to mention how hazardous it would be to wave one of these around — the Star Wars lightsaber will almost certainly never come to be. The first engineering challenge would be in figuring out a way to stop the beam of light about two feet from the source. Light simply does not work in this way, unless there's something to obstruct or absorb it.
2. Human Teleportation
3. Time machine
Well, according to physicist Michio Kaku, we would need to extract the energy of an entire star or black hole — easier said than done. And then there's the challenge of stabilizing the wormhole and ensuring that the aperture (or wormhole entry point) remains open for the return journey (one way trip into the past, anyone?).
4. Faster than light travel
Unlike time travel, which at least has some (reasonably) viable science behind it, the suggestion that we'll eventually be able to travel faster than the speed of light (FTL) is a clear and present violation of Einsteinian physics.
5. Generation ships
A fundamental problem with this vision, however, is the tremendous scale involved for what should be a rather lean-and-mean expedition. Any ship carrying colonists to another planet would have to be extremely sensitive to resource and material constraints, thus making suspended animation a much more reasonable solution for a large group of colonists.
6. Gravitational shielding
7. Personal force fields
8. Reanimation from cryonic suspension
9. Continuity of consciousness after uploading
10. Infinite data processing
IO9
"If you can imagine it, you can create it. If you dream it, you can become it." ~William Arthur Ward