The Future Looks Great, If We Survive You-Know-Who
Scanning news sites and print the other day I realized that just about every headline was about Trump. War. Elections. White House desecration. Trans bathrooms. Legal avalanche. Epstein. Etc. And I asked myself, is this news diet good for my mental and physical health?
The answer, of course, is “No.” So where should I turn for relief? Sports? Not if you live in DC, as I do, where the Washington Post has eliminated all semblance of things of interest to followers of local sports teams. Business? Who can follow business when he-who-should-not-be-named-here is driving stock market and business decisions up and down like his personal yo-yo.
I decided to look beyond the you-know-who horizon. To the future. Not the far future, but to the foreseeable, anytime now future. And I discovered some of it on the website of the World Economic Forum, which most of us know from its lavish annual meetings in Davos, Switzerland.
Emerging Technologies on the Horizon
It turns out that the World Economic Forum has a robust, permanent research arm, which together with the scientific publication Frontiers, produces an annual report titled “Top 10 Emerging Technologies.” And I found its 2025 report worth a look because it foretells the kind of world we all might yet see if we can survive Trump’s chaos.
Here are some of the revolutionary science and technology changes now in the development stage.
Structural Battery Composites
Research and actual testing is underway for batteries that could be built into the material of objects such as airplane wings, auto frames, and the like. No separate bulky separate components.The advantages? Less weight. Less bulk. Much greener. And much less dependence on rare-earth minerals.
Osmotic Power Systems
As my unscientific mind understands this, it involves high pressuring salt to make electricity. How? Forcing it through tidal, geothermal, solar, wind-powered and other screening devices Not only electricity. But it may be a solution to the inexpensive desalinization of water, which is increasingly vital with global warming.
Engineered Living Therapeutics
Otherwise known as synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Teaching our microbes, cells and fungi to manufacture custom drugs to treat whatever medical conditions that might threaten us. And to do it within our own bodies.
GLP-1s to treat Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s
This class of drugs successfully helps those with type 2 diabetes and in obesity management. Scientists now believe they also can be effective for treating such dreaded conditions as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. This class of drugs also has been shown to enhance brain cell longevity and energy regulation, which may improve cognitive and motor function. We could be on the verge of a major neurological disease game changer.
Where Breakthroughs Meet Big Money
This is just a partial report on innovative science and technology developments. What makes it more “now” and less science fiction is that the World Economic Forum report is published for the world’s leading corporate hierarchy and for the mega-rich on the hunt for ways to get richer. That’s getting close to moving from dream to reality.
There’s a world of great promise on the near horizon. We just need to make room politically and economically for it happen.
Knowing that makes me feel much better, even without the Washington Post sports page for escape.
Comments? Criticism? Contact Joe Rothstein at jrothstein@rothstein.net
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