The Technology

Like the idea of the wallscreen 'windows'? That's available now. take a look:

Of course we did write about this in 2007 :)

Find out how to do this here.

Plasma drilling

That's being developed too, although perhaps not quite on the scale we suggested. Indications are though that there would be little sign of the 'rocket exhaust' discharge we suggested. Check out this page for more details of a drilling system being developed by the University of Strathclyde.

Holographic display

There's a lot of interest in this as an alternative to current 3-D TV. A true Holographic display would not require special glasses to see the effect. It's being developed too as can be seen here.

Nanonytes

For details of how nanonytes would work try the following articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanorobotics - Nanorobotics

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/nanorobot.htm - How Stuff Works article on nanorobotics

http://www.physics.ox.ac.uk/biophysics/turberfield/ - Nanotechnology in DNA

We predict this will be a huge field in the future (a strange word to use for something so small). I doubt it will be limited to medicine. In our books we have:

They are used inside the human body to clear (and cause) obstructions
Nanonyte drilling
They crawl a strand of DNA finding and fixing problems or inserting new sections. As such they represent a new 'vector' for genetic engineering.
They are used to create 3-D objects (think Star Trek replicators and 3-D printers)
They are used to create a defensive force field
In space they are used to create a huge telescope mirror, miles across, to explore for habitable planets.
Of course the 'baddies' will produce nanytes for their cause and the 'goodies' will counter them with their own nanytes - a nano war!
In 'Stones, Stars and Solutions' we insert a nano-monitor in each of our 'team'. It's function is to monitor the vital signs of the individual and alert if there is a problem. Used with a software modified mobile phone it can be used as a 'Star Trek' style medical tricorder to identify medical problems. We have absolutly no doubt that in the future such nano-monitors will be developed. Hey - does that mean I can claim the $10,000,000 prize offered for inventing this? The bad news is that we also suggest their use in 'Dark Secrets' to extract information from an unco-operative bad guy.
Nano-surgery is suggested in 'No Secrets'. That's surgery leaving no scars and with no recovery time. It would mean the end of the scalpel.

Growing meat in the lab

The problem with rearing animals for food is that we grow attached to them and dislike killing them. Many people think it's just plain 'wrong.' Wouldn't it be nice if we could have meat but not have to kill to get it?

This has been a dream of many for years and the nearest we've come to such a meat substitute is spun soya protein. The trouble is - it's just not meat.

Now, using genetics and stem cells it's been found possible to grow muscle cells in a suitable culture medium. Potentially from a single cell it is possible to grow tonnes of meat in a very short time. No animals are involved other than to provide the original cell and the animal was not killed to get that.

The concept has numerous advantages:

No animals are killed
It's far more energy efficient
It would lead to a reduction in greenhouse gasses. Livestock gurrently emit more of these than the world's cars.
It's real meat

There are still many problems to overcome, chief of which is that it's currently far more expensive. It is being developed however and will become common. We suggest the meat would be grown in a nanonyte frame which would exercise it and promote growth.

For details see:

scientificamerican.com/jun2011/meat
www.new-harvest.org

Of course there is nothing to stop us growing human 'meat'. We are not suggesting a modified form of cannabalism. Instead it could be used to grow muscle to repair things such as a human heart. We use that idea in 'Regret and Retribution.'

The Ruthless Gene

Is there such a thing? It seems there may be. A gene known as AVPR1a has been identified which seems to be the 'ruthless gene'. The shorter this gene, the more likely you are to be ruthless in dealing with others.