5 Sci-Fi Ideas That Could Become Real Soon !!!!

April 8, 2010 by James Massoud in Science

Science-fiction over the years has offered us some mind-boggling inventions and seemlingly ludicrous theories as to the fates of our futures. However, as absurb as these ideas may come across in novels, television series or films, there is a certain level of curiosity in all of us – some more so than others. The question after that always lingers seems to be, what if? Well, ponder no more for here is a list of potential sci-fi ideas that could one day become reality.

1. Universal Translators

The Universal Translator first featured in Murray Leinster’s 1945 novella First Contact. Since that inception it has gone on to become a regular device commonly used among many other sci-fi stories – Doctor Who, Futurama, Star Trek, Stargate et al. The purpose of the device is to translate any language in a matter of moments. With our advancing technology (just watch the video above to see how far we’ve progressed) it won’t be too long before the device we see in sci-fi series and films becomes the latest accessory.

2. Dinosaurs

imgsource - Wikipedia

We’ve already cloned sheep, rodents, even sperm! So, one day, there may well be a possibility that dinosaurs will be resurrected. We may be some 20 years away from cloning all living creatures and granted the hardest part in bringing the dinosaur back from extinction will be finding a sample of DNA, but disregarding the possibility entirely would be plain ignorance. After all, a scientist from Brigham Young University claims to have successfully extracted the DNA of an 8 million year-old dinosaur. Michael Crichton and Steven Spielberg also showed us how it’s done in Jurassic Park so don’t bet against the idea just yet.

3. Cyborgs

imgsource - J (mtonic.com) Flickr

The phrase, which stands for cybernetic organism, was coined back in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and and Nathan Kline in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. Since the 60s, humans have held a particular fascination with cyborgs. The only thing preventing the existence of cyborg’s today is that scientists have yet been unable to build a machine that is advanced enough to handle the complexities of human interactions. Note the key word in that sentence is “yet”. There are cyborgs that have been created already with fully functioning sensory organs and have the ability of independent movement so with the advancement of biocomputing and nanotechnology, “complex” cyborgs will one day live among us.

4. Brain-TV

imgsource - tortuga767 (Flickr)

Direct Neural Access is a very real technology that is currently under development – FACT! Wired magazine claim that our brains could soon become the only controller needed to play video games, while other sources claim that TV could some day be directly beamed into our minds. The drive behind this is private viewing but one thing holding back the research at the moment is the moral use it would be put to. Pornography, surprisingly, is the main drive behind the development as well as the hindrance that is stalling it. Development is still in the very early stages and we may be another century away from this becoming a reality, which excludes many of us seeing it in our lifetime. But, it is definitely something that our future great-grandchildren may enjoy. We, on the otherhand, could soon be enjoying virtual gaming.

5. Personal Spacecraft

imgsource - Wikipedia

Most aircrafts can nowadays been flown and landed on autopilot. This bodes well for the trust required for humans to navigate personal aircrafts…to a certain extent. Obviously a licence is still needed! However, flying through space on autopilot is another level altogether, literally! GM have designed a self-driving car – the Opel Vectra. Should this go on to prove successful, and more importantly safe, then the invention of personalised spacecraft should only appear be a matter of a few light years away!