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YOU CALL THIS THE FUTURE?

CHICAGO REVIEW PRESS

Contents

INTRODUCTION..................................................61.00 TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION..............................801:01 Jetpack................................................1001:02 Flying car.............................................1401:03 Teleportation and transporters.........................1801:04 Warp drives and antimatter engines.....................2001:05 Spaceships and shuttles................................2201:06 Space tourism..........................................2401:07 Terraforming...........................................2201:08 Maglev trains..........................................3001:09 Time travel............................................3401:10 Worm holes.............................................362.00 COMPUTERS, CYBORGS, AND ROBOTS.........................3802:01 Artificial intelligence................................4002:02 Robot pets.............................................4402:03 Humanoids and artificial people........................4602:04 Entertainment systems..................................4802:05 AI marketing...........................................5002:06 Pocket computers.......................................5202:07 Robot helper...........................................5402:08 Wetware and neurochips.................................5802:09 Cybernetics............................................6002:10 Cyborgs................................................643.00 COMMUNICATIONS.........................................6803:01 Communicators and cell phones..........................7003:02 Videophones............................................7203:03 Eyephones..............................................7403:04 Electronic books and paper.............................7803:05 Language translators...................................8003:06 Hypnopedia.............................................8203:07 Virtual conferencing...................................8403:08 Watch gadgets..........................................8603:09 Wireless access points.................................9003:10 Future Internet........................................944.00 WEAPONS AND SECURITY...................................9804:01 Retinal scanning.......................................10004:02 Biochips and artificial implants.......................10204:03 Probes and sensors.....................................10604:04 Invisibility and cloaking..............................10904:05 Force fields and shields...............................11304:06 Hacking and malware....................................11604:07 Spy cams and surveillance..............................11804:08 Tracking devices.......................................12104:09 Biological and chemical warfare........................12404:10 Future weapons.........................................1265.00 LIFE, HEALTH, AND SEX..................................12805:01 Telemedicine...........................................13005:02 Bionic body parts......................................13205:03 Sick bay...............................................13505:04 Cloning................................................13805:05 Mind control...........................................14205:06 Genetic engineering....................................14505:07 Virtual sex and future sex toys........................14805:08 Future clothing........................................15005:09 Future food............................................15205:10 Cryonics...............................................155INDEX.........................................................158

Chapter One

"Where do you want to go today?" may have been a popular advertising slogan in the 1990s, but the year 2000 saw IBM summing up the frustrations of millions with a commercial that asked, "Where are the flying cars? I was promised flying cars. I don't see any flying cars. Why?"

It's an excellent question. Where are the jetpacks, the flying cars, the transporters, and all the other advances that were meant to save us from the drudgery of our daily commute? Trapped in a line of slow-moving traffic, how can we not dream of alternatives? And how many man hours are lost in transit? How much extra pollution does road congestion kick up into the air we breathe?

While the potential for better means of travel has been evident for decades, jetpacks and flying cars symbolize the gap between our imagination and our ability to impose that imagination upon our world. And what about journeying beyond our world? Will our children and grandchildren vacation on other planets? Are the stars in fact our destination? And what about time travel?

So, let's put aside "Where do you want to go today?" and instead take a good look at "How are you going to get there?"

01:01

JETPACK

Imagine strapping on a piece of jet-powered luggage and, with the twitch of a joystick, being able to fly anywhere you like. No wonder the jetpack is one of the most popular icons of sci-fi: besides the joyriding thrill of traveling on demand in three dimensions, its practical implications would change cities into urban skyscapes whose inhabitants could conduct their lives off the ground, in a tier-to-tier existence unbounded by gravity.

SCIENTIFIC HISTORY

Military organizations around the world have long seen the potential of the jetpack: the U.S. military funded research by an engineer named Wendell Bell in the 1940s, and the Germans developed basic jetpack technology during World War II by strapping two pulse jet tubes of low thrust onto the body of a pilot. This device, known as the Himmelstrmer, was intended for use by German pioneers to cross minefields and bridgeless waters.

More recently, a company called Trek Aerospace has begun developing their own version with military and industrial uses in mind. However, the past 60 or 70 years haven't seen any substantial improvements in performance. Bell's original "rocket belt" used hydrogen peroxide gas as fuel, and could propel its pilot into the air for about 20 seconds. By the 1960s he had only increased flight time by 10 seconds.

The limited fuel capacity of a jetpack remains a barrier to its development even today. Millennium Jet's 2000 SoloTrek XFV-powered by a dual rotor, making it more of a personal helicopter than a jetpack-can hover only a few feet off the ground and suffered several accidents in testing. Trek Aerospace's Springtail EFV-4B uses a similar dual-rotor design that has improved stability and control, but can fly for no more than 30 seconds. Still, the potential uses of the jetpack-personal and commercial as well as military and industrial-encourage scientists to continue to work toward a viable prototype.

REALITY

The major problem with the jetpack is its limited flight time. All of the examples mentioned here use hydrogen peroxide as a propellant. When combined with a silver catalyst, hydrogen peroxide decomposes into a mixture of superheated steam and oxygen. The hot steam and gas mixture is led into one or more jet nozzles to produce a reaction mass, creating the acceleration that enables the jetpack to take off.

The great advantage of hydrogen peroxide is that, while the exhaust is very hot, it is still much...