Technologies that will change the World

Dr. V. Bhujanga Rao

The present day society bears witness to its own metamorphosis caused by information, communication, bio and nano technologies that are transforming the way people live, presenting both opportunities and threats to living. Rapid technological changes have been taking place in these elds, having profound implications for the way people would work, interact, educate and entertain themselves in the future. The internet revolution has caused a attening of all barriers leading to multiple spin-o technologies that allow easy, instant communication anywhere on the globe. Biotechnology is transforming agriculture, medical diagnosis, treatment, human and animal reproduction, and genetic theories beyond imagination. In addition, advances in cognitive and neurosciences are challenging our very thought processes. A stage is now set for convergence of all such technologies into one, a major challenge for the 21st century. Technology is not static. Scientists around the world are working on new technologies that could soon transform computing, medicine, manufacturing, transportation, and our energy infrastructure to a huge extent and change the way we would live. It is pertinent therefore to examine a few such revolutionary technologies. Wireless sensor networks A number of miniscule, low power sensors called motes are networked to form a wireless sensor network. Each mote in the network is equipped with a processor, computer memory, and a tiny radio transceiver working on the TinyOS platform. Initially devised for tracking wild animal activity, these networks are being used to monitor the environment, machinery and even human beings! Potential areas of application of these networks include trac, weather, seismic activity, troop movement, stresses on buildings and bridges-all on a far ner scale than has been possible before.

Injectable Tissue Engineering Recently, a novel medical treatment based on injectable tissue engineering has been proposed as an alternative to hip/joint replacement surgery. Every year, a number of patients undergo joint replacement surgery that is highly invasive, lending many patients to delay the surgery for as long as they can. As a remedy, scientists have developed a way to inject joints with specially designed mixtures of polymers, cells, and growth stimulators that solidify and form healthy tissue and cartilage. It is foreseen that in the future, this technology could be extended to tissues of the liver and the heart. The day is not far away when injectable tissue would replace major heart surgery! Nano Solar Cells The sun is the only energy source big enough to provide us an alternative to fossil fuels. Harnessing solar energy depends on silicon wafers that must be produced by the same exacting process used to make computer chips. The expense of the silicon wafers raises solar-power costs to as much as 10 times the price of fossil fuel generation-keeping it an energy source best suited for satellites and other niche applications. Researchers intend to use nanotechnology to produce a photovoltaic material from electrically conductive polymers that can be spread like plastic wrap or paint. Not only can this be integrated with other building materials, it is also likely to be cheaper making solar power a widely used electricity alternative for the future. Nanorod solar cells made of nanorod-polymer composites just 200 nanometers thick can be rolled out, ink-jet printed, or even painted onto surfaces. Even a poster sign on a bus could be a future solar collector! Mechatronics Mechatronics, the integration of familiar mechanical systems with latest electronic components and intelligent-software control is a new research area that would improve everything from fuel economy to performance of automobiles. It is foreseen that in the next ve to ten years, electromechanical actuators will replace hydraulic cylinders; wires will replace brake uid lines; and software will mediate between the drivers foot and the action that slows the car. Since lives would depend on such systems, extensive real time testing of software is being carried out to iron out aws and produce completely reliable systems. 2

Grid Computing Grid computing, in analogy to the electric grid is an open-source implementation of grid protocols that would link database, simulation and visualization tools and number-crunching power of the computers. Such protocols promise to give home and oce machines the ability to reach into cyberspace, nd resources wherever they may be, and assemble them online into whatever applications are needed. Grid computers around the world are projected to have unprecedented computing power and applications ranging from genetics to particle physics to earthquake engineering. The $88 million TeraGrid of the U.S. National Science Foundation will be one of the largest grids when completed. This general-purpose, distributed supercomputer will be capable of 21 trillion oating-point operations per second, making it one of the fastest computational systems on earth. Grid computing is experiencing an upsurge of support from industry heavyweights such as IBM, Sun Microsystems, and Microsoft. Molecular Imaging Researchers have developed a special digital camera to peer through the skin of a human body into a growing tumor. Using uorescent tags and calibrated lters, the radiologist actually sees the eects of the cancer on a molecular scale: destructive enzymes secreted by the tumor show up on computer screen as splotches of red, yellow, and green. In the future, such molecular imaging may lead to earlier detection of human disease, as well as more eective therapies. Molecular imaging, an amalgam of techniques that let researchers monitor genes, proteins, and other molecules at work in the body has seen an explosion due to advances in cell biology, biochemical agents, and computer analysis. Various research groups around the world are making joint eorts to use magnetic, nuclear, and optical imaging techniques to study the molecular interactions that underlie biological processes. Unlike x-ray, ultrasound, and other conventional techniques that give doctors only such anatomical clues as the size of a tumor, molecular imaging could help track the underlying causes of disease, paving the way for a disease-free future. Software Assurance An inescapable fact of modern life is the likely failure of computers, primarily due to software errors. When the software runs complex distributed systems such as those 3

that support air trac control or medical equipment, an error can be very expensive, and even cost lives. To help avoid such disasters, scientists are creating tools they hope will yield nearly error-free software. Scientists have developed new computer languages and programming tools for making software development more rigorous, i.e. to make software engineering more like an engineering discipline. Like civil engineers who build and test a model of a bridge before constructing the bridge itself, computer scientists agree that it is possible to prove software to be error free. Tools like this will take us slowly but surely to a place where computing systems would be more reliable than they are today. Quantum Cryptography Quantum cryptography is an exciting and upcoming area in the domain of computer security. This technology relying on quantum physics applicable at atomic dimensions is likely to be utilized for practical purposes. Conventional cryptographers develop strong digital locks to keep information from falling into the wrong hands. But even the strongest lock is useless if someone steals the key. With quantum cryptography it can be made certain that the key stays secure. Public-key encryption systems in use may be good enough today, but someone, someday, will nd a way to crack it. Only through quantum cryptography is there a guarantee that the coded messages sent today will remain secret forever. Smart clothing GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers are already being used in hand-held and in-car navigation devices. These use signals from satellites to pinpoint the users exact location, any time, anywhere. Similar systems could be incorporated into clothing as new materials are developed. For example, jackets and jeans with controls built in for an iPod are already available. Scientists have developed special materials that switch from electrical insulation to conduction in an instant when activated. This implies that keyboards, buttons and knobs can be made from these woven materials, worn and used. Electronics companies are also making light emitting textiles that can be used as home furnishings. Clothes, including caps, made from this kind of material could respond to changes in their surroundings and also transmit and receive radio signals. Clothes can also be tagged using Radio-frequency identication (RFID) tags, which broadcast information about the garment. 4

Drug delivery systems Drugs available currently can slow the rate of memory loss in initial stages of Alzheimers disease. The same drugs are also reported to improve long-term memory in healthy people too. Experts predict that cognition enhancers (drugs that help us to think better) like this will soon be commercially available. Very small subcutaneous implant sensors have already been developed to check blood sugar levels of diabetes patients. These sensors can trigger an alarm when the sugar levels are high. Researchers have also created a color-changing contact lens that detects high blood sugar levels. Soon it may be possible to link sensors to a system that would correct the problem by automatically administering the right amount of insulin. Smart implantable insulin pumps could be widely available in about ve years from now. In the future, the appearance of the eye could be used for the early diagnosis of diseases like Alzheimers and diabetes. Such assessments could be made by patients wherever they are sent electronically to their doctor. Technologies are also being developed which will make it possible for patients to use a lab-on-a-chip in their own home to carry out tests on their own blood, urine, sweat or tears and send the results straight to their doctor or a specialist in a hospital. This could enable quicker and reliable diagnosis, especially if the data is analyzed using new pattern recognition software being developed. Stem cells, a special kind of cell found in embryos and in our bones, can, with the right chemical instructions, become one of many dierent kinds of cells found in our bodies, including those found in the heart. A technique very similar to inkjet printing has already been developed to spray cells onto soft scaolding without damaging them. It may become possible in the future to grow hearts by spraying stem cells onto carefully moulded scaolding and giving them the signal that makes them become the cells of a new heart. Stem cells from human embryos are also a potential source for regenerative medicine and tissue replacement. A microchip has been invented that can send and receive signals from nerve cells - a rst step towards designing devices that combine electronic components directly with the brain. Though most of these technologies are still in nascent stage, it can be said that if implemented properly and realized practically, they hold great promise for a faster, closely knit, safer, disease-free world.