Here are 9 breakthroughs of the 21st century that continue to alter our lives.
For those of us who enjoy tinkering with or are
merely curious in technological advancements, the 21st century has been an
exciting period. If you happened to be born in one of the decades preceding the
current one, you have lived through a period of unprecedented technological and
social progress.
Many people were nervous about the new century
because of all the unknowns. I'm sure you're all too familiar with the year
2000 problem. Not only did the world not end on December 31, 1999, but the
subsequent 19 years were also extremely important. Perhaps most intriguing
about this era is the fact that innovations developed in earlier decades began
to gain traction in the modern era.
Over the past few months, we've looked back at each
decade's most important innovations and discussed how they shaped the globe and
our daily lives.
As you probably anticipated, today we are going to
continue that tradition and take a brief look at some of the inventions from
the 21st century. The many contentious inventions made during this time period,
in comparison to others in human history, are what set it apart and make it so
interesting. A number of the items on this list, however, are probably indispensable
to modern life.
Social Media
Let's begin with the easier and more divisive topic:
social media. You may have lost interest in social media because of the endless
stream of updates from your friends or the continual invasions of your privacy,
but it once carried the promise of truly exciting possibilities, like the
ability to bring people together from all over the world. In 2002 and 2003,
respectively, platforms like Friendster and MySpace emerged, paving the way for
the ultimate juggernaut that is Facebook.
The influence of social media cannot be ignored.
It's likely that you found this article through one of our social media
channels. Indeed, social media facilitates cross-continental communication,
serves as a clearinghouse for useful and useless data, and has even served as a
platform for significant political uprisings.
To give you an idea of magnitude, there are 7.5
billion individuals on Earth today, and 2.89 billion of them are active monthly
users of social media. The era of social media is here to stay.
Spacecraft with a wide range of potential
applications
Whether you think highly of him or not, Elon Musk
has achieved significant strides for the world. SpaceX, his firm, has gone on
to create recoverable rockets for future usage. In 2017, SpaceX made history by
reusing one of their rockets for a second time.
What is capsule endoscopy?
The capsule endoscopy was developed because of
significant developments in light-emitting electrodes, image sensors, and
optical design in the 1990s. The technology, first implemented in 2001, makes
use of a wireless camera no bigger than a typical pill. This paves the way for
a thorough examination of the human body, and particularly the digestive
system, in order to detect any signs of intestinal bleeding, inflammation, or
malignant tumors.
Distributed Ledger System
As a concept, blockchain technology did not debut in
2008. In fact, it was first conceived of in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott
Stornetta. But it wasn't until the creation of Bitcoin in 2008 that blockchain
technology found any practical application. All throughout the world, people
are getting pumped about blockchain because of its potential to revolutionize
fields outside of the bitcoin market.
Blockchain technology provides more openness in ridesharing
and cloud services alike. benefits such as increased speed and efficiency,
greater transparency, and tighter security, to mention a few.
Digital currencies like Bitcoin
If you think you heard about cryptocurrency every
day last year, think again. The meteoric surge in Bitcoin's price has brought
widespread attention to other decentralized currencies and tools. While others
in the late 1990s dabbled in the concept of digital currencies, it was the
anonymous Mr. Nakamoto who came up with Bitcoin, which went on to become an
icon of modern life.
With its promise of a more open, safe, and
decentralized financial system, cryptocurrencies are quickly becoming the norm.
System Software for Mobile Devices
Whether you prefer Google's Android or Apple's iOS,
operating systems improve the usability of your mobile device by modifying its
interface in useful ways. This allows for more innovative features and a more
satisfying overall experience for the user.
Printing in Three Dimensions
3D printing, a favorite of ours, has garnered a lot
of attention recently due to its promise as a revolutionary technology with
applications ranging from the food sector to the aerospace industry. Many
instances can be cited as proof that this process has already begun. Not everything
about 3D printing was invented in the 21st century.
The first documented use of the layering technique
used in modern 3D printers dates all the way back to the nineteenth century,
whereas the advent of 3D printing itself occurred in the 1980s. 3D printing has
undergone a revolution thanks to the availability of open-source software and
cheaper production processes. Back in the day, if you wanted to 3D print
something, it would cost you thousands of dollars. There is now the option to
purchase a desktop 3D printer for use at home.
Modifying DNA with CRISPR
Gene editing is noteworthy since it has been a major
component of many science fiction themes before becoming a reality. Using a
technique called clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or
CRISPR, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, Harvard
University, and the Broad Institute independently discovered the potency of the
bacterial immune system in 2012.
CRISPR has the potential to be a powerful
gene-editing technology, allowing for substantial alterations to be made to an
organism's DNA. The potential for CRISPR to one day be used to eradicate major
diseases and to modify humans for reproductive purposes raises a host of moral
and ethical concerns.
Things Connected to the Web
You've surely noticed that this is yet another
commonly used expression. The concept of the Internet of Things was first
proposed toward the end of 1999 by Sun Microsystems co-founder Bill Joy, and it
has since found widespread use in modern home electronics and appliances. In
spite of this, the Internet of Things may be the key to starting the so-called
"fourth industrial revolution," which would fuel development in
fields like AI and robots.