https://www.advancedsciencenews.com/what-are-mrna-vaccines/
Since WW II, the US and the world have been on a tear, inventing at a pace never seen before. We have dozens of breakthroughs in basic science/materials, medicine/biotechnology, space, electronics, computers, networks, the internet and artificial intelligence. I’ve set aside advances in business processes and pure science, math, social sciences, philosophy and the humanities. I’m not addressing the potential costs and risks of a more technologically advanced civilization. I just want to briefly outline the major technical innovations of the last 75 years. I have grouped them into 3 buckets: traditional industries, medicine and computers.
The computer advances account for 54 of the 115 items, a little less than one-half. There are 21 hardware and network items, about one-sixth of the total (18%). Software broadly defined to include the internet and artificial intelligence sum to 33 items, a solid 3 out of 10 (29%). The 22 medical innovations represent roughly one-sixth of the total (19%). The 39 traditional, historical areas combine for one-third of the inventions.
I won’t describe the innovations in detail. I’ll append web links at the bottom which provide thumbnail sketches of this history and its importance. I expect that my readers know and use these innovations. I’m attempting to summarize then in order to provide perspective. The dominance of computer and communications advances is the biggest takeaway. I expect to see both incremental advances in each category and innovative combinations of computer software, communications, medicine and basic science in the next 25 years.
Agriculture
The green revolution, high yield varieties of rice and other crops
Genetically modified organisms (GMO)
Automobiles
Radial tires, power steering, fuel injection
Electronic ignition, transmission controls, anti-lock brakes
Traction and cruise control, lane warnings
Hybrid and fully electric powered cars
Aviation
Commercial jet engines and aircraft, 747, SST.
Manned space flight
Communications and weather satellites
Drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
International space station
Hubble and Webb space telescopes
Reusable rockets
Basic Research
Nuclear powered electricity production
Photovoltaic solar energy cells
UPC, bar codes, scanning and RFID tags
Fiber optic communication cables
Carbon fiber composites, Kevlar, Teflon, and plastics
LED lights
LCD displays
Lithium-ion batteries
Biofuels
Large wind turbines
3D metal printing
Industrial Advances
Credit card networks
Lasers
Microwave ovens
Automated teller machines (ATM)
Cable television
Robots
Scanning/tunneling microscopes
Portable GPS tracking
Consumer Electronics
Color TV, remote controls
Electric guitar and music synthesizer
Video tape/cassette recorders
Video games, consoles, controllers
Transistor radios, music players, and handheld calculators
Voice mail, answering machine, caller ID, 911
E-readers
Virtual/augmented reality
Surgery
Heart surgery, open-heart, bypass, stents, balloons, heart-lung machine
Organ transplants: heart, lung, liver and kidney
Minimally invasive surgery, endoscopy, laparoscopy
Contact lenses, laser eye surgery
Medical Devices
Kidney dialysis machines
Internal pacemaker, artificial heart
Fetal ultrasound monitor
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Computed Tomography (CT)
Medical Chemistry
Oral contraceptives
Darvon, valium, tetracycline, Prozac
Chemotherapy
Statins, ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers
HIV protease inhibitors
Bio-Technology
DNA structure
Diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, polio, whooping cough vaccines
DNA sequencing tools
Gene editing
In vitro fertilization
Cloning
Human genome sequenced
Personal DNA testing
Malaria, shingles, meningitis, covid-19, mRNA vaccines
Computer Core
Integrated circuits
Microprocessor chips
Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) chips
Computer Hardware
First commercial computer, UNIVAC
Standard layered computer architecture, integrated computer system
Graphical user interface – screen, keyboard, mouse, software
Personal computer, microcomputer, laptop
Supercomputer, quantum computer
Mouse controller
Laser printer, ink jet printer
Palm pilot, smart phone, iPhone
Computer Storage
Hard drive
Floppy disk
Compact disc
DVD
Communications Networks
Arpanet, packet communications
Wired ethernet, local area network (LAN)
Mobile phone networks: CDMA, GSM, 4G, 5G
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
Metro wide area: IEEE 802.16
Cell phone, digital cell phone … smart phone
Core Computer Architecture
Programming languages: COBLOL, Fortran, Basic
Operating systems: UNIX, Linux, DOS
Windows, multiple app interface
Relational database architecture
Software Apps
Database, query, report writing
Word processing, desktop publishing, blogs
Standard email, calendars
Text messaging
Spreadsheets, graphics, database
CAD/CAM, Photoshop
EDI, e-commerce, Amazon
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems
Google maps
Digital Structure
Digital camera, pictures, storage
Digital music, MP3 standard, Napster sharing
Digital voice, VOIP
Digitial video recording, YouTube
Streaming of music and video
The Internet
Decentralized network model
WWW addresses, domains, HTML language, URL
Web browsers
Search engine, Google
Peer to peer large file transfers
Open-source software: Wiki, Linux
Social media networking – Facebook
Video conferencing/Zoom
Internet of things (IOT)
Blockchain, bitcoin, crypto currency
Artificial Intelligence
Language translation
Voice to text translation
Facial recognition
Digital/personal/voice assistant
Autonomous driving vehicles
Artificial intelligence
Links
https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/25-technologies-that-have-changed-the-world/
‘https://www.theclever.com/15-incredible-internet-innovations-that-changed-everything/
https://www.cnbc.com/2011/09/19/15-Influential-Innovations-of-the-Past-50-Years.html
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/10-greatest-technological-inventions-40511.html
https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/g24668233/best-inventions/
https://thebossmagazine.com/21st-century-inventions/
https://www.thoughtco.com/fifties-to-nineties-inventions-4144741
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/famous-inventions-of-the-1960s
https://www.tti.com/content/ttiinc/en/resources/blog/10-best-electronic-inventions-from-the-70.html
https://orgs.wku.edu/ttas/anniversary/anniv-70s-inventions.php
https://www.zdnet.com/article/technology-that-changed-us-the-1970s/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/technology-that-changed-us-the-1980s/
https://www.zdnet.com/article/technology-that-changed-us-the-1990s/
https://hms.harvard.edu/about-hms/history-hms/timeline-discovery
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