• Question: Would you say that in the not so distant future we will very advanced technology, (flying cars,robot servants etc.)?

    Asked by Giller_98 to Colin, John, Kevin, Shikha, Triona on 9 Nov 2014. This question was also asked by mnormanly.
    • Photo: Kevin Motherway

      Kevin Motherway answered on 9 Nov 2014:

      I sure hope so, but I don’t think it’s a matter of scientific creativity, but the finances that bring these inventions to the masses. In the late 1960s people thought we’d be living on the moon in 20 years (1980) and we’d all be flying to work on jet packs. Where’s my jet pack? It’s perfectly feasible as an invention and was shown off during the opening ceremony of the 1984 Olympics in LA when a guy flew over the whole crowd on a jet pack. 1984!!! But as a product it would never sell so it never received the funding to get to market.

      But technology has made extraordinary leaps in the last few decades and will continue to do so but only if they make economic sense and will make money. Things like iPads and smartphones have really developed because they are so marketable and make a LOT of money.

      Inventions that may provide huge scientific advances but won’t have a clear business model to make money have a harder time. One of the best examples is that the U.S. lags being the Europeans in Particle Science with US scientists looking on enviously at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. Will it ever make money ? Doubtful. But it’s will help us uncover the mysteries of the early universe and where we came from. Thankfully the respect for science is far higher in Europe than in the US and not everything has to make money to be a worthwhile pursuit.

      To Ireland’s shame we are not involved with CERN even though many Irish scientists work there.
      Ireland has a Nobel Prizewinner in physics: Ernest Walton from Dungarvan won it it with John Cockcroft in 1951 for splitting the atom and it’s a shame that today Irelands particle physicists can’t participate with Irish government backing at CERN. If we are to an inventions like flying cars, robots etc we have to invest in all science, not just what we think will yield useful inventions or products. After all a scientist called Tim Berners-Lee a working at CERN came up with a handy file sharing protocol now known as the World Wide Web (he so important my iPad just auto-corrected his name that I spelled wrong!). Not sure if I answered your question but thanks for asking it!

    • Photo: Colin Johnston

      Colin Johnston answered on 10 Nov 2014:

      Yes, unless we’re really stupid or unlucky! (By that I mean a total ecological collapse, or nuclear war or big asteroid strike would set us back a lot.)

      Technology has improved for millenia and the rate of improvement has hugely increased. My grandparents were all born before 1910, the technological changes they saw in their lifetimes was incredible. I imagine this will continue.

      Oddly, I don’t think we’ll ever have flying cars for everyone as the technology used in flying vehicles and the training needed to fly (compare getting a pilot’s licence with getting a driving licence) or maintain one is hugely greater than that for ground vehicles (aeroplanes and helicopters need hours of maintainence between flights).

    • Photo: Shikha Sharma

      Shikha Sharma answered on 13 Nov 2014:

      Hi Giller_98,
      Mankind has already traveled a long path in technological advancement and we shall go far ahead as we bring newer technology in various aspect of our life. Currently, we are going through era of Internet of Things” (IoT) where internet is enabling us every basic service (e.g. healthcare, communication, retail, education, knowledge, information etc. etc.) we use in our life and making it much simpler and seamless. However, adoption of new technology depends on how economically and effectively we use the technology. We use robots where we need to do work very fast with high accuracy e.g. using robots in critical medical operation or we use robots where we can not reach. e.g sending robots to other planets for gathering more information. However using robots as personal servant does not make sense at this point of time as it would be un-necessary a costly affair with no additional value.

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