List of hypothetical technologies explained

Hypothetical technologies are technologies that do not exist yet, but that could exist in the future.[1] They are distinct from emerging technologies, which have achieved some developmental success. Emerging technologies as of 2018 include 3-D metal printing and artificial embryos.[2] Many hypothetical technologies have been the subject of science fiction.

The criteria for this list are that the technology:

  1. Must not exist yet
  2. Is credibly proposed to exist in the future (e.g. no perpetual motion machines)
  3. If the technology does not have an existing article (i.e. it is "redlinked"), a reference must be provided for it

Biology

Engineering and manufacturing

Computing and robotics

Megastructures

Nanotechnology

Transport

Minds and psychology

Physics

Nuclear energy and weaponry

Space

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Government Information Management: A Primer and Casebook. Andersen. David. Dawes. Sharon. Prentice Hall. 1991. 125.
  2. News: You'll want to keep an eye on these 10 breakthrough technologies this year. MIT Technology Review. 2018-05-17. en. 2018-05-16. https://web.archive.org/web/20180516162904/https://www.technologyreview.com/lists/technologies/2018/. live.
  3. News: On the horizon: An acne vaccine . Unknown . August 29, 2018 . sciencedaily.com . 2019-09-11 . en . 2019-12-19 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191219053736/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/08/180829115522.htm . live .
  4. News: "Anti-Evolution Drugs" Could Offer New Strategy against Antimicrobial Resistance Crisis. unknown. November 19, 2018. genengnews.com. 2019-04-29. en. 2019-01-11. https://web.archive.org/web/20190111044408/https://www.genengnews.com/news/anti-evolution-drugs-could-offer-new-strategy-against-antimicrobial-resistance-crisis/. live.
  5. News: Artificial gametes: new paths to parenthood?. AJ Newson. January 1, 2005. jme.bmj.com. 2019-07-13. en. 2019-07-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20190714024940/https://jme.bmj.com/content/31/3/184. live.
  6. News: Artificial Mitochondria Transfer: Current Challenges, Advances, and Future Applications . Andrés Caicedo . July 2, 2017 . hindawi.com . 2019-10-09 . en . 2019-10-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191010030958/https://www.hindawi.com/journals/sci/2017/7610414/ . live .
  7. Synthetic epigenetics—towards intelligent control of epigenetic states and cell identity . Tomasz P Jurkowski . March 4, 2015 . Clinical Epigenetics. 7 . 1 . 18 . en. 4347971 . 10.1186/s13148-015-0044-x . 25741388 . free .
  8. News: Universal antidote for snakebite: Experimental trial represents promising step toward . Unknown . May 28, 2014 . sciencedaily.com . 2019-09-11 . en . 2014-07-07 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140707065805/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/05/140528105256.htm . live .
  9. News: Zero-energy Bio Refrigerator cools your food with future gel . Yuriy Dmitriev . December 7, 2015 . inhabitat.com . 2019-11-07 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053302/https://inhabitat.com/zero-energy-bio-refrigerator-cools-your-food-with-future-gel/ . live .
  10. News: Can crab shells and trees replace plastics? . Natalie Parletta . July 26, 2018 . cosmosmagazine . 2019-10-15 . en . 2019-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191016022024/https://cosmosmagazine.com/biology/can-crab-shells-and-trees-replace-plastics . live .
  11. News: Electronics and telecommunications in Poland, issues and perspectives Part II: Science, Research, Development, Higher Education . Ryszard Romaniuk . June 1, 2010 . researchgate.net . 2019-09-24 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053304/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234054011 . live .
  12. News: Homeland Security Orders Modern Version of Jules Verne's Leyden Ball . Bill Christensen . August 19, 2005 . livescience.com . 2019-10-15 . en . 2019-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191016022024/https://www.livescience.com/395-homeland-security-orders-modern-version-jules-verne-leyden-ball.html . live .
  13. News: The Vertical Zoo: A wild greenery-wrapped tower that provides refuge for animalia. BuBa Arquitectos. February 15, 2015. inhabitat.com. 2019-11-07. en. 2022-06-13. https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053304/https://inhabitat.com/the-vertical-zoo-a-wild-greenery-wrapped-tower-that-provides-refuge-for-animalia/. live.
  14. News: Nanorobots: Future in dentistry . Neetha J. Shetty . 25. 2. 49–52. January 17, 2013 . ncbi.nlm.nih.go . en. 3723292. 23960556. 10.1016/j.sdentj.2012.12.002.
  15. News: S-money: Ultra-secure form of virtual money proposed . Cambridge University . May 7, 2019 . phys.org . 2019-09-24 . en . 2019-07-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190714111304/https://phys.org/news/2019-05-s-money-ultra-secure-virtual-money.html . live .
  16. News: Vertical Cities: Can Mega-Skyscrapers Solve Urban Population Overload? . Kayla Matthews . December 2, 2018 . planetizen.com . 2019-03-05 . en . 2019-01-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190123162437/https://www.planetizen.com/blogs/101788-vertical-cities-can-mega-skyscrapers-solve-urban-population-overload . live .
  17. News: Nanomatrix Skyscraper . Shahar Polachek . September 22, 2017 . evolo.us . 2019-10-09 . en . 2019-10-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191010031546/http://www.evolo.us/nanomatrix-skyscraper/ . live .
  18. News: Zettascale by 2035? China Thinks So . Tiffany Trader . December 6, 2018 . hpcwire.com . 2019-10-15 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053304/https://www.hpcwire.com/2018/12/06/zettascale-by-2035/ . live .
  19. News: Human Brain/Cloud Interface . 13. 112. Frontiers in Neurosci . March 29, 2019 . ncbi.nlm.nih.gov . en. 30983948. 6450227. 10.3389/fnins.2019.00112. free.
  20. News: Could We One Day Learn A Language By Popping A Pill? . Sara Gates . July 10, 2014 . huffpost.com . 2019-05-25 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053304/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/learn-language-pill-drugs-video_n_5574748?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAALZnwyNzhdopLHPOfQl3NFAZCvQsNmgtgbNQu-90jO0cb5zAFVETVjW3AZ04KX0gI974naXjA1N8AZkrE3RXwzFyr801T9te20kGmKb2vLclKIS--m_6s0CIGB88n--0rDfpX6dssrRqWvykQnNlqbFM0kIpLGsS62wEKUX1WzZp . live .
  21. News: Memory Editing Technology Will Give Us Perfect Recall and Let Us Alter Memories at Will . Rachel Riederer . February 20, 2017 . vice.com . 2019-09-24 . en . 2019-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190924070806/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/5355ed/memory-editing-technology-will-give-us-perfect-recall-and-let-us-alter-memories-at-will-v24n1 . live .
  22. Superintelligence: a space odyssey . Max Tegmark . August 29, 2017 . Financial Times . 2019-07-09 . en . 2019-07-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190710011046/https://www.ft.com/content/31176c28-8bea-11e7-9084-d0c17942ba93 . live .
  23. Monopolium: the key to monopoles . The European Physical Journal C . L.N. Epele . June 3, 2008 . 56 . 1 . 87–95 . en. 10.1140/epjc/s10052-008-0628-0 . hep-ph/0701133 . 2008EPJC...56...87E . 17443696 .
  24. News: The Promise of Plasmonics . Kristin Lewotsky . July 1, 2007 . spie.org . 2019-09-15 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053317/https://www.spie.org/news/spie-professional-magazine-archive/2007-july/the-promise-of-plasmonics?SSO=1 . live .
  25. News: Metamaterial 'Space-Time Cloak' Conceals Not Just Objects, But Entire Events . Clay Dillow . November 16, 2010 . Popsci.com . 2020-04-09 . en . 2020-12-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201216043641/https://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-11/metamaterial-space-time-cloak-doesnt-just-conceal-objects-entire-events/ . live .
  26. Xu . Guosheng . Lu . Zhiyuan . Chen . Dehong . Wan . Baonian . A promising approach to steady-state fusion: High-temperature superconducting strong-field stellarator with precise omnigenity . The Innovation . Elsevier BV . 5 . 1 . 2024 . 2666-6758 . 10.1016/j.xinn.2023.100537 . free . 100537. 10711230 .
  27. Web site: Gsponer . A. . Hurni . J. . The physical principles of thermonuclear explosives, inertial confinement fusion, and the quest for fourth generation nuclear weapons . Semantic Scholar . 2010 . 2024-10-27.
  28. Tajima . T. . Eliezer . S. . Kulsrud . R. M. . A new concept for muon catalyzed fusion reactor . AIP . 181 . 1988 . 0094-243X . 10.1063/1.37884 . 423–434.
  29. Fourth Generation Nuclear Weapons: Military effectiveness and collateral effects . Andre Gsponer . February 2, 2008 . en. physics/0510071.
  30. News: US military pioneers death ray bomb . David Adam . August 14, 2003 . The Guardian . 2019-05-22 . en . 2019-01-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190123114324/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/aug/14/usa.davidadam . live .
  31. Waite . Thornton . Dr. Borst's X-12: The Atomic Locomotive . Railroad History . Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) . 175 . 1996 . 00907847 . 43523576 . 37–55 . 2024-10-27.
  32. Web site: Gsponer . A. . Hurni . J. . The physical principles of thermonuclear explosives, inertial confinement fusion, and the quest for fourth generation nuclear weapons . Semantic Scholar . 2010 . 2024-10-27.
  33. Wu . Pan . Ma . Yunduo . Gao . Chuntian . Liu . Weihua . Shan . Jianqiang . Huang . Yanping . Wang . Junfeng . Zhang . Dan . Ran . Xu . A review of research and development of supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle technology in nuclear engineering applications . Nuclear Engineering and Design . Elsevier BV . 368 . 2020 . 0029-5493 . 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2020.110767 . free . 110767.
  34. Web site: Gsponer . A. . Hurni . J. . The physical principles of thermonuclear explosives, inertial confinement fusion, and the quest for fourth generation nuclear weapons . Semantic Scholar . 2010 . 2024-10-27.
  35. News: Creating a Universe in the Lab? The Idea Is No Joke . Zeeya Merali . June 19, 2017 . blogs.discovermagazine.com . 2019-09-17 . en . 2019-09-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190920075434/http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/crux/2017/06/19/build-a-universe-in-the-lab/ . live .
  36. News: The Challenge To Create The Space Drive . Marc G. Millis . July 16, 1996 . ntrs.nasa.gov . 2019-09-27 . en . 2019-09-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190928013615/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19990023236.pdf . live .
  37. News: Robert Zubrin has new propellantless space propulsion concept – Dipole Drive. Robert Zubrin. May 18, 2019. nextbigfuture.com. 2019-05-30. en. 2019-05-31. https://web.archive.org/web/20190531032301/https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2018/05/robert-zubrin-has-new-propellentless-space-propulsion-concept-dipole-drive.html. live.
  38. News: Why Warp Drives Aren't Just Science Fiction . Jillian Scharr . June 26, 2013 . Space.com . 2019-04-01 . en . 2019-04-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190402012950/https://www.space.com/21721-warp-drives-wormholes-ftl.html . live .
  39. The Halo Drive: fuel-free relativistic propulsion of large masses via recycled boomerang photons . David Kipping . March 11, 2019 . en. 1903.03423. gr-qc .
  40. PRIMEAU . G. . Muon catalysed nuclear fusion spaceship propulsion system concept . American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics . Reston, Virigina . 1991-06-24 . 10.2514/6.1991-2535 .
  41. News: Michio Kaku . March 15, 2011 . Doubleday. en.
  42. News: MIT's conceptualized Mars habitat makes use of 'native' silica on the alien planet . Dattatreya Mandal . October 19, 2015 . hexapolis.com . 2019-09-24 . en . 2019-09-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190924053507/https://www.hexapolis.com/2015/10/19/mits-conceptualized-mars-habitat-makes-use-of-native-silica-on-the-alien-planet/ . live .
  43. News: The photonic railway . Young Bae . January 1, 2015 . researchgate.net . 2019-07-19 . en . 2022-06-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220613053305/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298090729_The_photonic_railway . live .
  44. News: Plasma bubble could protect astronauts on Mars trip . July 17, 2006 . newscientist.com . 2019-10-10 . en . 2019-10-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191011034630/https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9567-plasma-bubble-could-protect-astronauts-on-mars-trip/ . live .
  45. News: Transiting Quasites as a Possible Technosignature . David Kipping . July 10, 2019 . iopscience.iop.org . 3 . 7 . 91 . en. 10.3847/2515-5172/ab2fdb . free .
  46. News: Water-Powered Spaceship Could Make Mars Trip on the Cheap . Mike Wall . March 25, 2011 . Space.com . 2019-10-15 . en . 2019-10-16 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191016022025/https://www.space.com/11230-water-powered-spaceship-mars-solar-system.html . live .
  47. The "Terrascope": On the Possibility of Using the Earth as an Atmospheric Lens . David Kipping . Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific . August 1, 2019 . 131 . 1005 . 114503 . 10.1088/1538-3873/ab33c0 . 1908.00490 . 2019PASP..131k4503K . 199064594 .
  48. News: Thermonuclear Micro-Bomb Propulsion for Fast Interplanetary Missions by Friedwardt Winterberg . Brian Wang . March 19, 2013 . nextbigfuture.com . 2019-09-24 . en . 2019-09-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190925040508/https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2013/03/thermonuclear-micro-bomb-propulsion-for.html . live .

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