Amazing technology is all around us. From the silicon chips that power your smartphone to the sophisticated software that you use to browse the internet, technology has continued to advance at an incredibly fast rate. Sadly, many of us don’t get to see that technology in action until it trickles down into consumer devices. For instance, 3D printing has existed for several decades but has only recently been available to the public in the form of home-based 3D printers.
But this is just how technology advances. It’s given a practical or industrial use before some clever entrepreneur decides to water it down or condense it into a cheap package for us to use at home. Here are just a couple examples of existing technologies that power the world around us. With some luck, these technologies will eventually make their way into our homes for us to experience as well!
Naval Technology
New Navigation Technology on the Map
Ships are massive machines that take months or even years to build and contain some of the world’s most sophisticated technologies. Ships have been around for such a long time and it’s no surprise that many of the world’s most recent ship builds merge traditional and technological methods in order to create something that is big, beautiful and full of excitement. For example, did you know that ships use electronic chart display systems to navigate? Everything from small fishing boats to massive cruise ships uses an ECDIS which helps captains navigate treacherous waters and incoming weather. Think of it as a more advanced version of GPS but for ships instead! With GPS technology growing every year, don’t be surprised if in the future we have navigational devices built into our watches or even our glasses!
5G Solar Drone Service
Google’s Project SkyBender aims to beam 5G internet from solar-powered drones
You’ve probably heard about 3G and 4G internet, the services that our phones use to get mobile internet access no matter where we are in the world. However, there’s a new kid on the block that’s going to knock 4G out of the air with up to 40 times the speed: 5G. The service is provided by solar-powered drones that hover in the air to provide internet access virtually anywhere in the world. It’s an exciting prospect that is, unfortunately, running into a lot of hurdles. However, with some luck, we might be seeing 5G internet connections sooner than you’d expect.
Internet Satellite System
The internet from space: How satellites could soon play a bigger role in broadband
The race to provide internet access to the entire world is a cutthroat one, but SpaceX’s plan to launch 4,425 satellites is perhaps the most exciting one. Considering there are currently only around 1,400 satellites in space, SpaceX wants to introduce another 4,425 in order to provide high-speed internet access to everyone in the world. It has been estimated that the project will cost around $10 billion, but many people have been sceptical about this initial summary and predict it will cost even more. Once the system is fully optimised, it will be able to provide roughly 1 gigabit per second speeds to everyone in the world, which is over 180 times faster than the global average of 5.6 megabytes per second.