10 global challenges that today solved Technology

1. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

To eliminate the greenhouse effect, humanity is not enough to reduce harmful emissions. We need more and some way to get rid of gas, which is already in the atmosphere. For example, using linking carbon - carbon dioxide conversion process in organic materials.

It is incredibly resource-intensive task. However, scientists are already trying different ways to carbon processing into useful products. Thus, with the catalysts generated from nickel and phosphorus, researchers have convertedResearchers Just Found a Way to Turn CO2 Into Plastic With Unprecedented Efficiency carbon dioxide in various polymeric materials. Several institutions are workingTurning carbon dioxide into fuel over processing CO₂ a synfuel. Using special algae, carbon is convertedAlgae used to convert CO2 into carbon fibres in carbon fiber. There is also a way to makeTurning Carbon Dioxide into Concrete emissions of concrete: it uses limestone.

2. energy storage

People learn to get more and more energy from renewable sources. Wind turbines and solar panels are becoming cheaper, but they have a serious drawback: when the sun sets or the wind stops blowing, they do not work.

This is one of the reasons that humanity can not yet abandon the more stable sources - coal and natural gas. You must find a way to store energy on a large scale. So much so that you can feed all night metropolis, for example. Modern batteries that are not very good at least because of its high cost.

Fortunately, on this issue we are working scientists and companies worldwide. Among the promising developments are, for example, solid-state lithium batteriesToyota and Panasonic Agree to Establish Joint Venture Related to Automotive Prismatic Batteries, The basis of which is a liquid or gel electrolyte and the battery based on aluminumAn ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery. Pros of these inventions is that they allow you to store more energy, but it does not burn, unlike lithium-ion batteries and fast charging.

3. Flu

Pandemic flu is rare, but it is very dangerous. In 1918, more than 50 million people have died because of the virus H₁N₁And then about a million in 1957 and 1968 and about 500,000 in 2009.

The virus is constantly changing, and the old vaccine stop working. So one of the important tasks of scientists and inventors - to create a universal vaccine that will protect against and less dangerous version of the virus, and from the disastrous epidemics. Work on this is already underwayUniversal Influenza Vaccine Research: Scientists are testing several vaccines at once. One is based on the ferritin - a protein that can be assembled into nanoparticles. Other includes four types of hemagglutinin (a component of the influenza virus), which are designed to stimulate the body's immune response.

4. dementia

About a third of people over 85 suffer from dementia. Over time, life expectancy is getting longer, and the number is increasing susceptibility to disease. However, no one really effective way to fight against this disease has not yet been invented.

Development Neurobiology, Neurology and Genetics helps us to better understand, which is why there Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Perhaps with the advent of more advanced devices and technologies for the study of the brain, scientists will be able to find a way to slow or prevent the progression of the disease.

Technology to help make life easier for people with impaired memory now. For example, the application How Do I? using short videos reminds you how to perform daily tasks, for example, put the kettle or washing dishes. But scientists working in the UKLaunching: UK DRI Care Research & Technology at Imperial on systems of smart devices that can automatically monitor the status of patients with dementia and notify relatives, if a person is in danger.

5. ocean pollution

Oceans filled with billions of pieces of plastic - microplastics. They appear when the items created from this substanceThey fall into the water and break down over time. Microplastics very dangerous for marine life, birds and humans, they poison the water and the products that we are producing from it. So, in 2018 in Indonesia foundSperm whale found dead with 13 pounds of plastic in its stomach dead whale stomach which was 6 kilograms of plastic. also, studiesThreat of plastic pollution to seabirds is global, pervasive, and increasing It shows that 90% of seabirds consume a certain amount of plastic in their lifetime.

To continue to live on Earth, mankind will have to clean the ocean of garbage. With current technology it may take hundreds of years, but certainly in the future there will be opportunities for the processing of hazardous substances on a gigantic scale. already testedThe Ocean Cleanup a huge network of autonomous systems that collect plastic with a relatively low cost.

6. Water scarcity

Fresh water on Earth is much rarer than salty. Moreover, it is not evenly distributed in places where people live: for example, in Africa, it is very small. The population of the world continues to grow, and soon we will need energy-efficient and cheap methods of desalination.

It may be new types of filters or electrochemical technology. For example, researchers at Columbia University have come up withNew desalination method could get industry - and the environment - out of a very salty pickle use a special solvent which floats over the layer of salt water. The water rises to a solvent that separates it from the salt, and fresh fluid due to change in density is lowered to the bottom.

7. Unsafe unmanned vehicles

Dozens of companies are developing unmanned vehicles: Ford, Waymo, Audi, Google, «Yandex». Cars drive through the streets, trained and tested, but they are still not sufficiently developed to be released into production. Artificial intelligence is struggling to cope with difficult situations on roads, traffic jams and poor visibility.

But over time, the drones will certainly become safer and transformSelf-Driving Vehicles Will Change The World In Some Unexpected Ways modern city. There will be a taxi stand-alone, through which people will be less likely to use private cars. Number of parking and traffic accidents will be reduced, and the tubes are formed rarely.

The engineers of different brands are working to improve the behavior of unmanned machines. One way to achieve this - the development ofImproving Self-Driving Car Safety And Reliability With V2X Protocols V2X-protocol through which the cars will be able to inform each other of their whereabouts, as well as communicate with traffic lights, barriers, gates, and even buildings.

8. The materialization of artificial intelligence

Today, the development of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics, there are virtually separated from each other. Robots are able to much, even to turn a somersaultBut to think independently and to educate themselves they are not very elusive. But it is good at the neural network and the programs that run on stationary machines.

However, sooner or later, artificial intelligence and artificial body to be united. There will be robots that are able to communicate freely with real world objects, calculate the actions and their consequences. This changeThe Role Of Robots In Industry 4.0 industrial world: robots will be able to work where people do not survive, they do not need to sleep and eat.

9. the unpredictability of earthquakes

Mankind has learned to predict hurricanes and other weather disasters for a few days or even months before they occur. Unfortunately, the same can not be said about earthquakes. Every year thousands of people die, are injured or lose their property due to the quake and subsequent tsunami.

Development of devices that scan the Earth's crust, and programs for data processing will help inform these disasters in advance. Programmers and researchers are already workingNeural Network for Earthquake Prediction Based on Automatic Clustering in Indonesia of neural networks to be able to predict earthquakes in theory. For example, Indonesian scientists develop neural network, which is able to anticipate the appearance after repeated shocks of earthquakes. So far, the best she manages to predict the magnitude tremors on six points.

10. brain decoding

Despite hundreds of years of development of medicine, biology and anatomy, we still know very little about how the human brain works. All our thinking, physical activity, and memory skills recorded in the neurons by using a specific code. The key to this code is not only to explain exactly how we think, but willBrain Decoding more effectively treat mental disorders and neurological diseases.

already promising developments in this area. For example, researchers have learnedScientists have found a way to decode brain signals into speech speech recognition on the signals the brain. A company Elon Musk Neuralink worksElon Musk's Neuralink implant will «merge» humans with AI over the wireless chip system, which will be implanted in the brain and allow control technique the power of thought.