Wednesday, January 06, 2021

Future Thoughts



There are many forecast about how our future will evolve ... some realistic, some questionable, some loopy. Here are my loopy thoughts on what the future might offer:


- Demise of Hydrocarbon Economy: It is estimated that there are at least 200 years of oil and gas supplies still in the ground. So, eventually we will need to wean ourelves off of these sources of energy. However, assuming that we will do this in the next few decades seems optimistic ... and uneconomic.


- Cryptocurrencies: Until recently only governments have issued currencies. Their national banks’ managing of their currencies give them enormous influence and control over trade balances, exchange rates, interest rates, economic growth and criminal fraud exposure. Cryptocurrencies threaten to remove these government prerogatives. Therefore, most national governments eventually should and likely will take steps to nullify these alternative currency threats.


- Quantum Computers: Currently computers use binary arithmetic (bits). Quantum computers use much more powerful qubits which have many more states and can be “entangled” with other qubits. There are different quantum computer models ... most of which are supposed to be able to solve very complex problems, such as decryption solutions far faster than classical computers. Such power likely would seriously jeopardize the security mechanisms of cryptocurrencies and even their “mining” algorithms.


- 5G Communications: This technology is line-of-sight only (see image above). This creates enormous complications for its roll out, maintenance and utility. Yes, it offers enormous bandwidth that brings great benefit for real-time downloads and control (such as for autonomous vehicles).


- Autonomous Vehicles: There are almost an infinite number of circumstances that fully-automonous vehicles need to navigate ... often requiring 5G communication which can easily, because of dead spots, go off the air. Therefore, although having great potential, this blogger believes that viable fully-automonous vehicles seem a long way off.


- Factory-made Replacement Organs: This technology has been successfully demonstrated in animals. However, for a variety of safety, technological and bureaucratic reason, its transfer to humans has been slow-going. Eventually, your blogger believes, this technology will prevail ... maybe 5 years?


STAND UP FOR AMERICA!


No comments: