The February 2003 issue of MIT Technology Review has an excellent overview article entitled “10 Emerging Technologies That Will Change the World”. “These are not the latest crop of gadgets and gizmos: they are completely new technologies that could soon transform computing, medicine, manufacturing, transportation, and our energy infrastructure.” The article goes on to list four or five key researchers in each area, alas without any web linkages to their work. The links provided below have been (hastily) researched by Sci-Fi Today and should be considered the merest dipping-of-the-toe into the subject; no slight is intended to researchers mentioned in the MIT article and not mentioned by the links selected.
Anyway, the “ten emerging technologies” are: (1) Wireless Sensor Networks – short range radio links among numerous distributed intellegent agents; (2) Injectable Tissue Engineering – lab-grown alternatives to transplanted organs and tissues; (3) Nano Solar Cells – photovoltaic material that can be spread like plastic wrap or paint; (4) Mechatronics – the integration of familiar mechanical systems with new electronic components and intelligent-software control; (5) Grid Computing – a future in which the location of [computational] resources doesn’t really matter; (6) Molecular Imaging – a number of techniques that let researchers watch genes, proteins, and other molecules at work in the body; (7) Nanoimprint Lithography – how to etch nano patterns into silicon for future generations of high-performance microchips; (8) Software Assurance – creating tools to yield nearly error-free software; (9) Glycomics – new drugs based on sugars that could have an impact on health problems ranging from rheumatoid arthritis to the spread of cancer cells; and (10) Quantum Cryptography – transmitting information in such a way that any effort to eavesdrop will be detectable. At least a quick scanning of this article is highly recommended.