Here in the 21st century, we like to pride ourselves on our innovation. Yet authors writing a century ago had many of the same problems we have today, and sometimes, they came up with the very solutions we now implement.
10Antidepressants In 1888, Edward Bellamy published the novelLooking Backward, a futuristic examination of the necessity of social reform. The rich, privileged main character is put into a state of suspended animation, thought dead after a house fire, and wakes 113 years later in a very different century. The novel mostly deals with socioeconomics, responding to the real class struggles of the authors day. Bellamy looked at the massive growth of cities and the reliance on industry, imagining what the world would look like if it continued in the same direction. The resulting economy should sound eerily familiar.Corporations grew larger and larger until they controlled all of the capital, which was then placed into a single centralized location. There is no longer the need for paper money or coins. Instead, each citizen is allotted a particular amount of credit in the massive, singular credit system at the beginning of each year. Instead of cash, people carry a card that they use for purchases, deducting the price from the credit they have available for the year.
8Trousers For Women Jules Verne is well known as a science fiction pioneer, credited with predicting countless inventions we now take for granted. One often overlooked one appeared in a short story first published in the magazineForum in 1889 called In The Year 2889. Verne talked about the future of journalism, and he was pretty spot-on. In Vernes day, newspapers were the publics source of information and news. In the future, he saw all of the worlds small newspapers absorbed into one giant news agency located in the same city as the worlds centralized government. He called it theEarth Chronicle. Rather than making people read the news in print format, Verne said that people were going to be able to listen to newsreaders recite the news via a device that wouldrelay the news instantly or save it until the person was ready to listen to it all at once. It would relay interviews with politicians, statesmen, and scientists, allowing everyone to keep abreast with the worlds happenings with minimal effort and maximum efficiency. The owner of the news agency is nothing short of American royalty, followed and worshiped as a king.
6The Taser In 1898, Mark Twain wrote a short story called From the London Times of 1904, and in it, he explored the use of something he called the telelectroscope. This limitless-distance telephone system connected people all over the globe, transmitting information instantly on video screens.
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Characters who use the network can call anywhere in the world, learn about different cultures, and watch people go about their daily lives. The main character, condemned to death for the murder of a man with whom he argued about the usefulness of the telelectroscope, uses the device to call all around the world during his confinement and learn about everything he thinks he will never get a chance to see. Just before his execution, his supposed victim appears alive and well on a news bulletin broadcast on the device.
4Skype And Video Chat converse with people in real-time, the Telephot also includes a language selection device that auto-translates each sides speech. That last bit is a technology were getting close to debuting today, with apartnership between Skype and Microsoft to make this century-old idea a reality.
3Androids As weve seen, science fiction predicted much of the technology that we use regularly today. It also came up with concepts that we largely still consider science fiction, which are surprisingly now becoming real. In 1868, Edward Elliss story The Huge Hunter speculated on a new use for steam powera massive mechanical man. The creation of Elliss brilliant but misshapen inventor Johnny Brainerd, the steam-driven man was made of shining black iron with a boiler set into its chest, a terrifying face, a whistle for a nose, and a top hat on its head. It was said to move like a normal, flesh-and-blood human being, and it wascontrolled by a driver who held reins much like those of a horse. When the stories about Johnny Brainerd and his creations were published, they werent seen as anything even remotely serious. They were nothing more than fanciful stories for kids. Today, robots that mimic humans are increasingly common. BEAR, theBattlefield Extraction-Assist Robot, has an upper body that combines human dexterity with machine strength.Actroid, meanwhile, has got to be one of the creepiest, realistic robotic creations yetso human that some people dont even realize its mechanical.
2Self-Aware Machines Robots themselves have been around for quite a while now, but only recently have scientists started successfully giving them their own consciousness. At Yale, scientists have designed a robot that canthink independently and figure out the basic ideas behind concepts such as mirrors. These robots are designed specifically to be able to learn on their own and are destined as independent companions for special-needs children. Cornell University has developed amulti-limbed robot that has not only successfully taught itself
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how to move but also can learn how to adapt to the loss of a limb or other changes that are made to its body. The idea of a self-aware robot was first developed in a play calledR.U.R. by Czech writer Karel Capek. (The play is also often credited for coining the phrase robot, as the Czech word for servitude is robota.) The play revolves around a young robot technician, who sees robot defect and begin to develop self-awareness and protest mindless work. She starts creating robots with the express purpose of helping them develop their consciousness. These sentient robots of course then decide that the human race must be destroyed.
1Jet Packs Jet packs were featured in many 1960s and 1970s science fiction stories, but the first appearance of the jet pack was in a 1928 edition of the magazineAmazing Stories. The cover story showed Captain Anthony Rogers, a World War I pilot who fought crime in the future with the aid of a jet pack strapped to his back. Later, he became better known as Buck Rogers and got his own comic series and movies. It didnt take long for those inspired by the stories to try making it reality. Thefirst patent for a jet pack (untested) was issued in 1930. While theyre not commonly found in everyones garage, working jet packs now exist and are gaining popularity as their practicality slowly increases. Researchers in New Zealand have been pioneering the use of personal jet packs, and after 30 years of research, the packs showincreased maneuverability, reduced weight, and tiny steps forward in overcoming the enormous fuel consumption needed to leave the ground. The Martin Aircraft Company has recently released their Martin Jet Pack, a modern variant for first responder use. This single-person, gasoline- and oil-powered jet pack has aflight time of about 30 minutes, can reach speeds of up to 56 kilometers (34 mi) per hour, and has a maximum height of 914 meters (3,000 ft). The company is also in the process of designing a jet pack for more personal, private use. Read more:http://listverse.com/2014/06/26/10-modern-ideas-predicted-by-science-fiction-a-centuryago/ 10 Modern Ideas Predicted By Science Fiction A Century Ago
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