Top 5 Technological Advances of 2016
technology·@sauravrungta·
0.000 HBDTop 5 Technological Advances of 2016
<html> <p><img src="https://i.imgsafe.org/d239417341.jpg" width="680" height="452"/></p> <p><a href="http://www.kigalabs.net/?lightbox=dataItem-il8dgqo5">Image Credits</a></p> <p>The world of technology is a fascinating one. One that never stops, always keeps moving forward, faster than ever. Technology advances at an exponential rate, so our speed of progress is ever increasing. </p> <p>We have achieved a lot more in the last 16 years than we did in the 16 years before that and we will achieve even more in the next 16 than what we have, till now. That’s how technology grows, building upon the legacy of what we already know. </p> <p>Each year we push the boundaries of our collective knowledge, innovating new ways of doing things, finding creative solutions to existing problems, making our lives that much easier. Let’s see what 2016 brought us.</p> <h1> 1. Eternal Data Storage </h1> <p><img src="https://i.imgsafe.org/d23a7e459b.jpg" width="632" height="415"/></p> <p><a href="http://listverse.com/2016/07/26/10-amazing-scientific-discoveries-of-2016/">Image Credits</a></p> <p>Data storage has seen radical improvements since the age of the floppy disk. I still remember using one. These days, pen drives and thumb drives are the most common in terms of physical data storage thanks to flash memory technology.</p> <p> But there is a limit to how long these devices can hold data. It is mostly in the range of 5-10 years, theoretically speaking. That’s not a lot. So, scientists have been looking for ways to increase their lifespan and they have finally achieved it. </p> <p>Scientists have created a glass disc, no larger than an American quarter, that can hold 360 TB (360000 GB) of data. They were able to achieve this by using nano-structured glass. The most impressive thing about it is that it can store data for 13.8 billion years. If that number sounds familiar to you, that’s because that is the age of the universe!</p> <h1> 2. Reusable Rockets </h1> <p><img src="https://i.imgsafe.org/d23c010c22.jpg" width="640" height="320"/></p> <p><a href="http://www.popularmechanics.com/space/rockets/a13927/space-reusable-falcon-9-diagram/">Image Credits</a></p> <p>Up until now, space travel has been a very expensive business. That’s why we don’t see space tourism flourishing anytime soon. A big part of the reason why it is so expensive is that, conventionally, once the rockets fulfilled their purpose of pushing the payload into space, they were either burned in the atmosphere or were ditched in the ocean. </p> <p>But a company called SpaceX, spearheaded by Elon Musk, has managed to design reusable rockets, which come back to Earth and land vertically on a floating drone ship in the ocean. Jeff Bezos led Blue Origins has managed a similar feat. </p> <p>These rockets can be reused dozens of times for future space missions after repairs and refuelling much like how airplanes are used. This will drive the cost of space travel down significantly and space more accessible. </p> <h1>3. Self Driving Cars Became A Reality </h1> <p><img src="https://i.imgsafe.org/d23d84a762.jpg" width="768" height="468"/></p> <p><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/business/self-driving-tesla-fatal-crash-investigation.html?_r=0">Image Credits</a></p> <p>This was one of those things where you are expecting something way into the future and you suddenly come to know that it has already happened! This is exactly what happened with self driving cars. </p> <p>People all over the world were debating as to when we will see the first generation of self driving cars on the road. Some said 2020 and some said even further. But then everyone was surprised when one company after the other revealed to the world that they were already ready and actually brought them to road. </p> <p>Tesla did it with their electric car and autopilot system which has gotten way better in just a few months. Uber was another company to bring its driverless car service to people. </p> <p>It all happened so fast that we didn’t even realise when the future was brought to us. </p> <h1> 4. First Drone Delivered Package (by Amazon)</h1> <p> Amazon has been working on drone delivery technology for quite a while now. Drones are other things that have become mainstream (sort of). Drones can be used for a multitude of purpose and it seems like Amazon had just the right idea. </p> <p>Apart from all the technological challenges like self piloting, identifying and avoiding obstacles to landing at the right spot and many more, this project has also faced challenges from the law. </p> <p>But it looks like Amazon is going ahead with this technology for sure as it delivered its first drone package to a customer in December, 2016. Using this, orders can be delivered within 30 minutes! Check out this cool video to learn more: </p> <p>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNySOrI2Ny8&feature=youtu.be</p> <h1> 5. AI Advanced By Leaps and Bounds</h1> <p><img src="https://i.imgsafe.org/d23f1145d8.jpg" width="640" height="353"/></p> <p><a href="https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/228830-the-next-major-advance-in-medicine-will-be-the-use-of-ai">Image Credits</a></p> <p>Artificial Intelligence is probably going to be the talk of the century and not just 2016. Consider the last year, the beginning of the journey for AI. No one knows for sure what direction it might take but everyone is hoping for the best. </p> <p>For the first time, AI beat the Go World champion. That’s right. A computer software beat a human in a game that depends on intuition as much as logic. </p> <p>Microsoft’s AI became so advanced that it is now capable of understanding speech better than humans. So, your gadgets will soon be able to better understand your commands leading to a voice controlled future. </p> <p>Just in December, news came out that AI can now predict how scenes on TV will play out. This is similar to how we humans guess what is going to happen next like two people going for a handshake or a hug or a sliding car that is going to crash. </p> </html>
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