by Jude Coyle

Created on: October 19, 2009

When I was little, we talked about how by the year 2000, we would walk out the door of our ultra modern homes, open a briefcase and out would pop our own personal helicopter. We would jump in, and tell the computer which space age style building to take us to. How cool would that be? So George Jetson! We talked about Star Trek, too, and how in a few hundred years, we should be wandering through the galaxy, meeting new species and establishing alliances. Now that would be even cooler.

We're no closer to exploring space like Captain Kirk did in 1967 then we are to flying our own helicopters. It is amazing, though, what came out of those programs. They say that whoever created the technology for cell phones took Kirk's communicator into consideration. For that matter it has been said that MRI technology was styled after Dr. McCoy's diagnostic beds in the Enterprise's sick bay.

Without getting carried away, and without the help of a show like Star Trek, it's easy to imagine what the future will hold for this century because so much of our technology is still in its infancy. It is merely a matter of expanding the current applications.

One of our biggest challenges is energy. I don't think drilling will provided us with a solution. Instead I can see wind and solar farms servicing a city the size of Chicago, that is once T. Boone Pickens figures out how to charge consumers for it.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley has expressed his interest in green technology. A few years ago he described how several Downtown buildings had gardens on the roofs. Daley encouraged this practice as it better insulates the buildings and does not reflect heat back into the atmosphere. We could produce more oxygen while using up some of the carbon dioxide causing global warming, and have a source of fresh flowers and produce besides.

With wireless technology beginning to make an indentation, the day will come when we no longer have live wires either strung from pole to pole, or buried underground. This should improve connectivity and take a lot of stress off of aging infrastructure. It will look better, too.

Cars using solid fuel cells and solar batteries should increase mileage. We have GPS now and only have to type in an address for quick directions. I see that becoming obsolete. Instead we would type an address into an onboard computure system, and let the vehicle drive us there. Once the computers know where to direct the vehicle, sensors in the roadway would control the distance between

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