Even More Future Inventions
While we cannot accurately predict future technology, we can identify some of the things whose development would be useful and beneficial. It will be down to human ingenuity and creativity to determine if viable versions can be produced. Given the commercial implications, however, it is reasonable to suppose that many of them might happen. Here is my third list:
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11. A plant which has been genetically adapted or bred to mop up super-large amounts of CO2. If CO2 is being churned out faster than the eco-system can process it, some extra help of this type to tip the balance would be an asset, especially if the plant could be engineered to grow in places unsuitable for food crops.
12. A de-alcoholizer taken orally as a tablet, liquid or spray which will act rapidly to remove alcohol from the bloodstream, instead of leaving it to be processed in the usual way. This could help people sober up rapidly, lowering their risk of accidents on the way home. It might eliminate morning-after hangovers, and prevent the adverse health effects of processing alcohol via the liver.
13. A new small-scale power source which does not use fossil fuels or put out harmful emissions. Cold fusion would have been ideal, had it been real. What is needed is a technology to give people some independence from large-scale power production and transmission. Perhaps something on a domestic scale can be developed.
14. Membranes to extract heavy metals from water. Osmotic technology has much going for it, and it is possible that membranes could be used for osmotic mining. They could be put in the oceans to collect gold and other elements present in small quantities in seawater. When toxic spills occur, they could extract the lead and mercury and other toxins. It takes creative minds to develop the technology, but as with all these inventions, there would almost certainly be a substantial financial reward to be gained from it.
15. An extra choice on the TV remote to replace the figure performing sign language in the bottom part of the screen by text for those who need it, and to remove it altogether for those who do not. The majority of people who have hearing difficulties are elderly, and while very few old people know sign language, nearly all of them can read. Some people find the rhythmic off-centre motion of the sign language figure to be disturbing. Since the two pictures are superimposed, it should be easy to devise a way to remove one of them for those who do not need it.