Futurism, Future transportation, hybrid vehicles & futuristic design Join discussion...

A proposed city in South Korea, Gwanggyo, will feature hill-shaped buildings, with hedges planted on the terraces and roofs, to improve ventilation and reduce energy use. The design will be one of two centres envisioned for the future new town, a self sufficient city of 77,000 inhabitants located 35 km south of Seoul. Join discussion...

At the end of the year 2008 we will see a lot of new predictions for the upcoming years. Of course Extend Limits will also give it’s future predictions for 2009 and further. For now it’s IBM with five key developmens for the next five years. Developments which will change our lives according to IBM. Join discussion...

‘I’d put my money on the sun and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we don’t have to wait until oil and coal run out before we tackle that.’ Thomas Edison made that strong proclamation to Henry Ford in 1931. Edison’s confidence most likely stemmed from the fact that our sun is responsible for the propagation of life in addition to the vast majority of available energy on earth. (The most notable sub-surface exceptions being the energy potential of nuclear and geothermal which each come with their slew of challenges) Wind is a “by-product” of the sun, created by the diurnal (day & night) effect of warming and cooling. Fossil fuels are simply what their name suggests – the fossilized remains of living organisms. Coal was the flora that photosynthesized the sun’s power; oil, natural gas, tar sands (collectively petrochemicals) the fauna. In short, the sun is responsible for the life and lifestyles here on earth both directly and indirectly. Join discussion...

If you’re interested in how a specific future year may shape up, the Future Scanner offers a wealth of information to this end. A quick search through 2015 scans revealed a plethora of information about the expected state of cancer treatment, interfaces, artificial intelligence, robotics, the environment and much more. Take a look at the following results for a quick snapshot of 2015: Health of the General Population: Although it has been predicted that 75% of Americans will be overweight by then, what and how we’re eating might be very different from today. Check out these winning designs from the competition “Dining in 2015” as well as the potential for elegant designer fruit that could hit grocery stores by 2015. And though the future of fruit is exciting, the future of food prices may not be so, according to this prediction that cereal prices will rise by between 10% and 20% by 2015 due to supplies not matching future demands, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute. The most exciting prediction regarding health in 2015 is the likelihood that cancer may be well on its way to being cured. According to this Future Blogger post by futuretalk “Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, then director of the National Cancer Institute outlined his goal to eliminate suffering and death from cancer by 2015.” Gadgets and Gizmos: Lots of exciting technologies to look forward to in this year. Check out these awesome laptop prototypes as well as Nokia’s Nano-phone being developed with the 2015 goal in mind. Join discussion...

Technology promises radical change in relationships. We are in the midst of a sea of change, in which not only are many traditional relationships failing, but unexpected new arrangements are beginning to appear; gay marriages are becoming increasingly popular, and many people are consciously choosing to live alone. How does technology affect relationships? Telephones, cameras, and camcorders have long been instrumental in bringing people together. Today, many spend time chatting on the phone or the Internet – trying to develop or strengthen friendships. Now technology is entering a bold, but controversial new step. In the UK, University of Redding’s Kevin Warwick, and his wife Irena will soon link their emotions together with chip implants. Tiny silicon chips will enable the couple to “read” each other’s feelings wherever they are. Every feeling – positive and negative – will be shared. Join discussion...

Futurists and science-fiction writers speculate about a time when brain activity will merge with computers. Technology now exists that uses brain signals to control a cursor or prosthetic arm. How much further development of brain-machine interfaces might progress is still an imponderable. It is at least possible to conceive of inputting text and other high-level information into an area of the brain that helps to form new memories. But the technical hurdles to achieving this task probably require fundamental advances in understanding the way the brain functions. Join discussion...

This call to imagination is featured on the home page of the Progressive Automotive X-Prize website. While gasoline is clearly not yet a thing of the past, fuel prices, fierce competition in the automotive sector and growing awareness and concern about global warming have contributed to innovations and developments in hybrid vehicle design and manufacturing that may mark a beginning of the end. One leading example is Aptera Motors, a top prize contender in the ‘alternative’ category for the Automotive X-Prize. Aptera, has received around 4000 refundable deposits for its vehicles as of August 2008. The California based company expects to delivering first units to customers in December 2008. (The timing is perfect for an Asian showing at the Future of Transportation Forum held at UltraFuture Expo in Hong Kong, December 10-13.) Join discussion...

There is still a long way to go, but we are seeing significant progress in enabling technologies that could someday bring about the realization of high-performance nanomedicine. First, let's define the eventual goal. For that, we'll turn to Robert A. Freitas, author of Nanomedicine, volumes I and II. Join discussion...

Quietly in a number of laboratories, an astounding technology is developing that directly connects the human brain to a computer. It's like a sudden leap in human evolution - a leap that could one day help paralyzed people to walk again and amputees to move bionic limbs. Join discussion...