Comment Science has narrowed a bit (Score 1) 479
Looking at some of the science fiction of the pre-70s, it was full of possibility. Things could shrink and grow, turkeys could be formed in matter dispensers, radiation might give you powers, you could 'reverse your polarity' and become antimatter and, instead of just exploding like we know antimatter would now, we could throw lightning bolts (okay, I'll fess up - I got the Space:1999 Megaset for my birthday).
Besides all the "expired" science possibilities, there's a real gamble to be made trying to second-guess what physics will discover. We're finding all sorts of nifty quantum effects in quantum computing, but we are hardly much closer to understanding what it "really means" than Niehls Bohr. Care to guess whether MOND will actually come out on top? What the LHC will find in a year or two?
It seems like we're at the point where:
- Somebody's already patented it, feasible or not
- Somebody's already working on it, if it's technically feasible
- Somebody's already made it, but it's really expensive
- We know it will get there, it will just take a lot of time and money
- We're already jaded of hearing about it, if it's been going on for 30 years
- The idea's at a high risk of being based on faulty physics
- It would be great if battery power were portable and infinite, but right now, it's a pain
Apart from immortality, I don't think I have tons on my personal wish list right now that isn't merely a matter of money or waiting.
Does anyone still have a long "wouldn't it be cool if" list that's feasible given current science and human nature?