The Future Is Now, Part 1

Every day new things happen that bring our visions of the future to the present -- or are just damn crazy ideas that have to be told. Here are a few.

Human Flight

Some guys in europe have made progress on building Da Vinci's dream of human bird wings. In this video they manage to fly 100 meters. Some say it's a fake, but I sure hope it's real.

link

Sugar Shot

A group of amateur rocket builders are working on a rocket to sub-orbital space (100km) powered not by your usual high powered rocket fuel, but rather a cheap fuel based on sugar. Wish them luck.

Sugar Shot.org

Wooden Skyscraper

Steel and concrete are not the most eco-friendly of skyscraper building materials. Why not return to wood? Architect Michael Green wants to build a 30 story building in Vancouver. Modern fabrication techniques could make it possible.

Wooden Skyscraper @ Co-Design

Copter Madness

What happens when futuristic quad-copter technologies combines with hackers obsessed with avoiding law enforcement? Only one outcome is possible: flying web servers. Prototypes already exist.

link

The future is now, people. The future is now.

The Old Future

And for a reminder of how we built the previous future, The Verge has a great article up on the new book: The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation.

link

Talk to me about it on Twitter

Posted March 22nd, 2012

Tagged: future