Top-10 most promising technologies of our time

For thousands of years, humanity has slowly but surely made discoveries that allowed us to make a decisive leap forward: the wheel, sails, electricity. Today, science and technology almost every year offer us new opportunities in the field of telecommunications, medicine, energy and other fields.

We present to your attention Top-10 most promising technologies of modernity according to the research institute McKinsey Global Institute.

10. Renewable energy sources

After 12 years, solar and wind energy will account for about 16% of the world's energy supply. Over the past 13 years, the generation of energy from these sources has grown 19 times.

9. Genomics

In the near future, scientists will be able to modify the genes of people for medical purposes. Change in the genes of animals and plants will improve agricultural productivity. Genetic engineering will allow even producing fuel based on microorganisms, as well as growing medicinal herbs with improved performance.

8. Cloud information technologies

Ubiquitous network access to data and services will reduce the cost of IT services. The world's leading companies, whose business is connected with computers and the Internet, are actively developing their cloud operating systems. Google recently launched a whole range of devices running Google Chrome OS.And Apple already this autumn is preparing to launch a new OS, which will be fully focused on the "clouds".

7. Intelligent robots

Currently, machines are already replacing the labor of workers, and after a while, most likely, will be able to squeeze and "white-collar workers."In the next ten years, robots will penetrate into the service industry, will select the places of office workers, teachers, doctors, engineers, lawyers and financiers. According to some estimates, about 230 million people around the world are engaged in mental labor. Some of them may remain without work, others will be forced to compete hard with each other, as a result of which labor will significantly fall in price.

6. Mobile Internet

Over the next 10 years, 3.5 billion people will be connected to the Internet, of which 2 billion - through mobile devices. This is a huge market, the development of which promises considerable profits to those companies that will be able to provide mobile Internet territories previously not covered by the world wide web. Socially, this will provide free access to information to those people who have never even had a computer.

5. Self-managed cars

Google's unmanned vehicles have already driven 500 thousand km in total, and at the same time they were in only one accident, and even not through their own fault. A new prototype from Volvo can find a free seat in the parking lot and attach to it without the help of a driver.

4. "Internet of Things"

Sensors and various sensors built into the machines allow you to remotely monitor a wide variety of areas of life from the state of the house to the treatment. According to experts, for the last 5 years the number of devices connected with each other has increased 4 times. An example of this can be remote monitoring of treatment of various diseases or the "smart house" system.

3. New methods for prospecting and extracting oil and gas

In the United States, gas production from shale and oil deposits from weakly permeable reservoirs has already significantly changed the structure of energy supply and led to a reduction in world gas prices. Although analysts at Gazprom say that the shale market is almost not formed.

2. Three-dimensional printing

The basis of the technology is the layered creation of a solid volumetric object. The material can be rubber, gypsum powder or plastic, depending on the technology used. The rapid creation of 3D models will significantly reduce the possibility of getting aesthetic defects or poor quality products to the consumer. The cost of a home 3D printer in the last 4 years has decreased by 10 times.

1. Robotics

Closes our Top-10 robotics. Speech, among other things, is about various electronic systems, like exoskeletons, thanks to which you can increase the physical capabilities of a person. This, of course, is not an Iron Man suit, but a significant relief for the lives of people with disabilities.