• Question: do u think they will be any inprovments in 20 years

    Asked by ladiesman1278 to David, James, Mike, Suze, Will on 13 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Mike Dodd

      Mike Dodd answered on 12 Jun 2011:

      That’s a really thought provoking question. I think there will be great improvements in science and the world around you, over the next 20 years. In the last 20 years there have been some amazing jumps forward in technology and science. In the last 10 years we have had the human genome project, which showed us that we had roughly 25,000 genes in our body. Or technology, such as the iPod or mobile phone. Although the mobile phone was around before 20 years ago, no one could have imaged what it could do today. Like being able to check our emails in the middle of nowhere, or being able to update your facebook status the instant something happens (like a great gig). I love being able to watch a movie on my ipod when I’m on a train home or be able to listen to any of 10,000 songs.

      My PhD uses magnets to study the body, called MRI. In the last 20 years there has been amazing jumps in MRI. You can use MRI to look for cancer or changes in the way your heart beats. I can only imagine what an MRI machine will be like in 20 years. It would be smaller, as some are the same size of a ford transit, they will be more powerful, allowing you to look more detailed at the way we are built up and they will be quicker, allowing us to run more experiments on people. The world of medical imaging can only get better and in the next 20 years, I am excited to see what will happen. I’m sure that the others will have some really interesting ideas about what will happen in the next 20 years. Thanks for making me think 🙂

    • Photo: James Marrow

      James Marrow answered on 12 Jun 2011:

      Yes, although the main challenge will be spreading these improvements to the whole world – to do that, we need sustainable and affordable energy.

    • Photo: David Ingram

      David Ingram answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      In 20 years time we should have working wave and tidal energy farms providing economical electricity for the grid. There will be a great many other changes in technology – but I’m not prepared to guess. Futurology is the only kind of science where you are guaranteed to be badly wrong.

    • Photo: Suze Kundu

      Suze Kundu answered on 13 Jun 2011:

      From a personal viewpoint, I’m really excited about my research, because it is something that can realistically be put into use within the next decade. In sciencey terms, this is pretty fast! It also makes you feel really good when you feel like you’re making a contribution to the future of science, which I’m sure the others here will agree with.

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