Sci/Tech

Every year, some 800 companies and inventors from around the world gather for "nano tech," billed as the world's largest nanotechnology product expo. I caught the action this year at the Big Site center in Tokyo. Here are my standout pics.

Talking to a number of students at a university of technology recently, I found their enthusiasm for new ideas remarkable. It extended well beyond just learning technical knowledge.

I consider myself a techno-optimist, but Watson's performance in Jeopardy's IBM Challenge has definitely exceeded my expectations. While I did predict Watson would win the competition, I didn't think it would be so dominant.

In a recent interview with USA TODAY, inventor and World Future Society member Ray Kurzweil discussed IBM's Watson computer, which is set to play former Jeopardy champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter on the popular game show. The match-up is being called the most significant public test of AI since world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to IBM's Deep Blue in 1997. It will take place February 14, 15, and 16th.

Nick Bilton of the New York Times recently did an experiment; he purchased a digital copy of WIRED on his iPad. While the magazine was downloading, he drove twelve blocks to his neighborhood magazine shop (Brooklyn), bought a paper copy of the same magazine, and drove home. The iPad version was still downloading.

I know, I know, you're shocked.

In my last post “6 Grand Technological Challenges for 2011 and Beyond” I summarized 6 important challenges that might impact at least one billion people’s lives over the next decade. Now, I’ve build up my preferred list of answers embracing a set of exponential technologies.

All futurism is speculation. It's time someone made some claims. I've picked developments I honestly consider plausible. Here are my 11 predictions for the world of 2030. I'm backing these claims up with previous writings. To access the relevant article, just click the title of each point in the original article on iLookForwardTo.com.