future

We may not need futurist and inventor Raymond Kurzweil to tell us that solar energy is going to rule in 20 years or the fact that nanotechnology could give global warming a big chill (pdf link), but it’s always a good thing to be reassured. He is one of the distinguished futurists that predicted the demise of the Soviet Union and foresaw the explosive growth of the Internet and wireless systems.

“We also see an exponential progression in the use of solar energy,” he said. “It is doubling now every two years. Doubling every two years means multiplying by 1,000 in 20 years. At that rate we’ll meet 100 percent of our energy needs in 20 years.”

via

I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future of the OS recently. This is nothing new. Since the site launched in 1998 we have always been trying to predict the next generation technologies that we could incorporate to stay ahead of the curve, and without giving ourselves too many props, I think we've done a pretty good job so far.

French designer Jean-Marie Massaud proposes this leviathan airship as a flying hotel for 40 guests with a cruising speed of 130kmh. Read all about it at Dezeen Magazine.