The Parker Solar Probe uses cutting-edge thermal engineering to protect its instruments from the scorching heat of the Sun’s corona, allowing it to fly directly through it. This will help scientists better understand the Sun and its effect on Earth, including space weather which can change satellite orbits or shorten their lifetimes.
10 Mind-Controlled Prosthetics
Despite centuries of work towards the creation of artificial limbs, creating a prosthetic that works in concert with a user’s thoughts has remained difficult. One of the biggest obstacles is finding a strong, stable nerve signal to feed into the prosthesis. Some research groups go all the way to the source, tapping into brain activity, but this is invasive and high-risk.
Current technologies either rely on sensors grafted onto the skin or require a complicated sequence of muscle contractions to move the limb. This leads to unnatural, frustrating motions and a steep learning curve for users.
Engineers at Carnegie Mellon are working to develop a more intuitive prosthetic arm that can be controlled by thought. Osseointegrated electrodes send bio-electrical signals to the embedded computer in the arm, which then deciphers them and turns them into mechanical movements of the prosthetic. In trials so far, study participants have been able to pick up blocks with a pincer grasp; move their thumbs in continuous motion rather than having to choose between two positions; lift spherically shaped objects and even play rock, paper, scissors.
9 Burj Khalifa
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The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, standing at almost a kilometer from tip-to-tip. The structure boasts 160 floors and incorporates a variety of innovative sustainability features to reduce its environmental footprint.
The design of the building combines cultural influences and cutting-edge engineering technology to achieve a high-performance structure. For example, the 'wings' on the sides of the tower, inspired by the Hymenocallis flower (Spider Lily), re-configure as the building rises to minimize the effect of wind on the structure.
Another key innovation is the use of recycled water to supply air conditioning, reduce energy usage and provide irrigation for landscaping. The tower also uses a unique system of smart lighting that provides optimal control and energy efficiency.
The Burj Khalifa was built using a new type of concrete that is up to 5 times stronger than traditional steel, and it uses a special cement mixture designed to resist twisting forces. It was also built in record time, thanks to the innovative construction techniques employed and extensive use of modern machinery.
8 Floating Cities
While the idea of a floating city may sound futuristic, it has been gaining popularity as a solution to the world’s land crisis. These ocean-based suburbs would be built on a series of floatable platforms and could provide a sustainable living for a growing population.
These self-sufficient cities would be powered by solar panels, which will help them reduce their carbon footprint and create a clean energy source. They will also be able to reuse and recycle waste, making them a perfect example of the circular economy.
Floating cities will also be able to move away from natural disasters, like hurricanes or tsunamis, before they reach their locations. This will help to protect residents and reduce the damage caused by these events. These sea-based communities would also benefit from the fact that they don’t disrupt the natural habitats of marine life and won’t require the construction of artificial islands, which destroy lands and disrupt local ecosystems.
7 Nanobots
Nanotechnology focuses on engineering technology that is around one to 100 nanometers in size. In this field, scientists are experimenting with microscopically small devices that are able to perform tasks on the atomic and molecular level. Nanorobots are one example of this, being capable of building anything they're programmed to fashion from raw materials.
Scientists have also found ways to power these tiny machines. One of these involves using radioactive elements that emit atomic power when they decay, which the nanobots can leverage for locomotion. Other external power solutions include piezoelectric membranes and magnetic fields.
Though still largely hypothetical, nanorobots hold a number of promises for both medical and industrial applications. They could be used as specifically-programmed warriors to combat cancer cells and viruses, or more simply as a way of scanning the body for problems. It's not hard to imagine a future in which people scuba dive without tanks or respirators, thanks to a swarm of nanoparticles that can transport oxygen molecules into the bloodstream.
6 Invisibility Cloak
Since Star Trek and Harry Potter introduced the idea of invisibility cloaks to the world, scientists have been working on making them a reality. Although progress has been made, there are still many obstacles to overcome before we can create a real-life invisibility cloak. But with the recent advancement of metalenses and nanofin technology, a true cloak may be closer than ever before.
Engineers have developed metamaterials that can bend light around a target object, effectively hiding it from view. This technology could be used to cloak military vehicles or even people, though it would require multiple layers of the material in order to fully hide them.
A more realistic version of the cloak would use a complex network of tiny antennas to cancel out electromagnetic waves that hit the target area. A similar technology was used by a team from the University of Rochester to cloak red light, which covers the visible spectrum.
5 - 4D Objects
The concept of 4D objects was first introduced by MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits in 2013. His TED Talk focused on how smart materials and computer software could create structures that move and morph automatically, just like the pinecone.
To achieve that, a mix of active, animated, so-called'smart materials' - those that change shape in response to a stimuli - and passive materials must be combined. Examples of these include synthetic cellulose composites and hydrogels that grow when wet, shape memory polymers that respond to heat, electroactive polymers that react to electricity and liquid crystal elastomers that respond to light.
But if we can make objects that are intrinsically multifunctional, then they might also help to tackle one of humanity's greatest challenges - our growing reliance on dwindling material resources. For example, 4D adaptive clothing that reacts to your sweat would let you switch from a light summer dress to a warm winter jacket - and perhaps even help you save on energy costs too.
4 Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is one of the most significant engineering achievements in recent history. It is now widely used in many fields, including medicine, space exploration, business analytics, and more. AI uses graphical processing units and machine learning algorithms to mimic human intelligence, which allows it to understand context and learn from its mistakes.
In 1950, Alan Turing published a paper proposing a test for machines to prove that they have “intelligence”. In 1956, Allen Newell and Herbert Simon developed the first AI program, Logic Theorist, which verified 38 of 52 mathematical theorems.
Other notable achievements include the IBM computer Deep Blue beating world chess champion Gary Kasparov in 1997, the natural language processing engine BERT from Google that reduces barriers to communication, and the robot Sophia who can recognize faces, communicate, and turn backflip 60 feet in the air! In addition, e-commerce and streaming services use AI to provide personalized recommendations.
3 Mind Reading
Mind Reading is the ability to infer the thoughts, feelings and intentions of others based on their behavior and observable cues. Psychologically, we learn to read the minds of those around us through our attachment relationships in early childhood, which act as a safe space for us to explore and express our own thoughts, emotions, and needs.
Although it may seem like mind-reading is a supernatural skill, this trick relies on psychology, and is actually quite easy to perform! By using well-crafted questions and subtle body language, you can influence the way a person answers. This is a great mind-reading trick for beginners.
The mentalist hands you a piece of paper with a crystal ball drawn on it and asks you to write any number inside the ball. He then tears up the paper without looking at it, and gives you back the exact same number you wrote on it in a very creative way that appears as though he read your mind.
This is a fun and simple mind-reading trick for beginners that uses a very popular trick in hypnosis. The mentalist writes down his prediction for what card you’re going to choose on a piece of paper and then burns it. He then rubs the ashes from the burned paper onto his arm and shows you an image of what you were thinking of choosing in his mind!
This is a great mind-reading trick to use at parties and events. When you are talking to people, subtly start drawing diamond shapes with your hands. Then, ask them to imagine any card and they will always guess three diamonds!
2 Parker Solar Probe
1 Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is intended to recreate conditions that existed just 10-12 seconds after the Big Bang, and could reveal new particles, including the hypothesized Higgs boson and a whole host of others predicted by supersymmetry.
The LHC is a 27-kilometre ring of high-energy, superconducting magnets that boosts protons to near light-speed before allowing them to 'collision' with each other. The resulting'splashes' of particles are then observed by detectors, such as ATLAS and CMS. Each one of these gigantic, five-story buildings is custom-built to do a specific job, enabling physicists to look into the heart of matter at its most elemental level.
The technology developed for the LHC pushes the boundaries of engineering in many different fields, from cryogenics and ultra-high vacuums to particle tracking and radiation monitoring. These technologies will become the seeds for future high-tech industries. They also help to provide valuable insights into fundamental physics and the Universe itself.
