TECHNOLOGY

•The application of scientific knowledge

to the practical aims of human life or as it
is sometimes phrased, to the change and
manipulation of the human
environment.
 TECHNOLOGY AND THE
NATION'S FUTURE
• As the 20th century draws to a close, the technological
landscape is changing. The United States is now only
one of several technologically powerful nations. The end
of the Cold War has heightened the importance of
commercial technologies in maintaining both economic
and military security. New technologies depend
increasingly on scientific and engineering knowledge;
this interdependence strengthens the reciprocal links
between understanding and capability.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
• The 21st century has so far been an era of colossal
technological advances, but above all we found that these
advances all had communication at their core.
• Using wireless technologies that involved disruptive
hardware and software has allowed the human race to
connect with vast numbers of people, having a profound
impact on business, politics and culture. These advances
have transformed our lives entirely to a point at which it is
hard to imagine reverting.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
Bluetooth (2000)
• Bluetooth brought the concept of exchanging data in a
streamlined wireless way to the masses, creating personal area
networks with mobile devices.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
Skype (2003)
• Another feat of telecommunication in the 21st century and goliath
among technological advances, the Skype application software not
only made verbal communication possible via computers, perhaps
most importantly it ushered in the era of video chat.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
Facebook (2004)
• Linking the world with communication is becoming a
powerful theme through these top spot holders in terms
of technological advancements, and perhaps none have
pushed the envelope quite like Facebook has.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
IBM Watson (2010)
• Entering the world as a questions answering computing
system, Watson now has a prominent place in numerous
commercial use cases and has become one of the greatest
technological advances of the 21st century. It applies machine
learning and automated reasoning in the formation of its
responses, leveraging a vast archive of information.
 Top 5 technological advances of the
21st century
iPhone (2007)
• A product of the mighty Apple Inc, the first generation arrived
on the 29thof June 2007, last year the world celebrated a decade
and 11 generations of the device that has become world-leading
and among the greatest technological advances of the 21st
century.
 Global challenges
that technology could solve
• Carbon sequestration
Cutting greenhouse-gas emissions alone won’t be enough to prevent
sharp increases in global temperatures. We’ll also need to remove
vast amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which not only
would be incredibly expensive but would present us with the thorny
problem of what to do with all that CO2. A growing number of
startups are exploring ways of recycling carbon dioxide into products,
including synthetic fuels, polymers, carbon fiber, and concrete.
That’s promising, but what we’ll really need is a cheap way to
permanently store the billions of tons of carbon dioxide that we
might have to pull out of the atmosphere.
 Global challenges
that technology could solve
• Grid-scale energy storage
Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are becoming cheap
and more widely deployed, but they don’t generate electricity when
the sun’s not shining or wind isn’t blowing. That limits how much
power these sources can supply, and how quickly we can move away
from steady sources like coal and natural gas. The cost of building
enough batteries to back up entire grids for the days when renewable
generation flags would be astronomical. Various scientists and
startups are working to develop cheaper forms of grid-scale storage
that can last for longer periods, including flow batteries or tanks of
molten salt. Either way, we desperately need a cheaper and more
efficient way to store vast amounts of electricity.