Here Are 10 Ways Technology Will Change The World By 2025

As technology changes the way we live our day-to-day lives, it is fascinating to imagine what the future will bring. We may like to imagine one day living on Mars with technology that lets us teleport our toothpaste from CVS and the ability to apparate like Harry Potter.

To help us better imagine what the future holds, Thomson Reuters’ Intellectual Property & Science division compiled areport of the 10 innovations they believe will take place by 2025. They looked through research databases to find the top patent fields with the most inventions containing a priority date of 2012 or later.

These are the 10 innovations Thomson Reuters anticipates will become a reality by 2025:

Dementia will decline.

Thanks to a better understanding of the human genome and genetic mutations, doctors and scientists will be better able to detect and prevent diseases like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. By identifying problematic DNA, scientists will be able to produce actual technology to fight the biological decline of one’s mental capacity.

Solar will be the biggest source of energy.

By 2025, methods for harvesting, storing, and converting solar energy will be advanced enough to make it the primary source of energy on our planet. Something called solar photovoltaic energy will use solar panels to heat buildings and water while powering devices at home and in the office.

Type I Diabetes will be preventable.

A human genome engineering platform will make it possible to modify disease-carrying genes and prevent conditions like Type I Diabetes. Doctors and scientists will be able to modify the RNA and DNA sequences that pass on the disease.

Food shortages and food price fluctuations will no longer be a problem.

Lighting and imaging technologies will improve crop growth year round and combat the problems of traditional farming. We will also be able to grow genetically-modified crops indoors. That means that disease and environmental factors will be less of an issue for crops, and the food we buy at grocery stores will be more consistently priced and available.

Electric transportation will be huge.

Tesla is already making a splash, but by 2025 electric vehicles will take over traditional vehicles. Their battery will be able to last longer, so you will be able to travel longer distances more easily. And airplanes will adopt the technology too, which will totally change the way we travel.

Everything will be digitally connected.

Wireless communications will dominate our everyday lives by 2025. Cars, homes, and appliances will be connected, and this will be the case around the world in every location. New technology will be able to store energy and serve as electrodes to deliver this hyper-connectivity.

Biodegradable packing will be the norm.

Packaging will be made of cellulose materials that are plastic-like but actually made of plant matter so it’s biodegradable and better for the environment than the plastic bags we currently use at grocery stores.

There will safer, healthier drugs to fight cancer.

The toxic chemicals currently used to treat cancer can have harmful and debilitating side effects on patients, but by 2025, cancer-fighting drugs will be more precise and exact, leading to reduced side effects. More targeted drugs can bind to specific proteins and antibodies to cause a very specific action, and paired with advanced knowledge of gene mutations, this will lead to better treatments for cancer.

We will create DNA maps at birth to manage disease risk.

DNA mapping will be the norm thanks to advancements in single-cell analysis, nanotechnology, and Big Data technology. This could theoretically replace blood tests as a more accurate way of detecting diseases.

Teleportation will be tested.

Recent research related to the Higgs Boson particle, also known as the “God particle,” will help forward actual experimentation with teleporting. The idea is that turning off the Higgs Boson particle could let you travel at the speed of light and essentially teleport. It will only be at the beginning of testing, but there is a good chance there will be significant investing in testing teleportation.

15 Hot New Technologies That Will Change Everything

Is today’s technology a positive advancement? Over the past few years technology has taken over society. Everyone uses technology, from children and teenagers to adults and elders. Technology is vital in today’s world and makes everything easier, but can cause laziness and some to abuse it. Some examples are the computer, television, cell phone, and video game systems. Technology has influenced people and their daily lives, some better than others.

Technology has made an impact on retail. Now-a-days people do not need to leave their houses in order to get what they want. For example, there is no more need to go to the mall if one can order clothes online. There is no longer any need to get tired from walking around the malls, instead just go online and shop!

Education has enhanced in schools. Learning as well as teaching has improved and became easier. In every class room there is a computer but not only that, there is a smart board. This helps teachers write on the board more efficiently and gives a big screen to learn better from.. Technology has also helped children with learning by providing computers. Computers allow access to multiple programs as well as the internet. The programs created by Microsoft have tremendously improved education. Work can be done a lot faster by using Microsoft Word. This is a huge help because it makes papers a lot neater and gives people who have sloppy handwriting a nice clean paper to hand in. Microsoft Word spell-checks and corrects the work.. PowerPoint and Excel have improved work. It provides an easy way to present and stay organized with charts and graphs. Computers have made job searching and getting a job stress-free. People can go on a company’s website and apply right then and there. People can as well send resumes online through email to a company. This allows quick and easy replies to getting the job.

Telephones have also improved the lives of people by making communication easier. Now people can keep in touch with others from all around the world with just the dial of a button. Cell phones have as well made this a lot easier by allowing a call to be made from anywhere around the house or even at the store. Texting has developed though cell phones allowing communication without talking. However, it causes a lack of social skills, especially with teens because everyone has a cell phone.

Although television is fun to watch, there are negative effects. One may include laziness which eventually leads to obesity which is why the United States has increased obesity in the last decade. Even though kids have fun laying down watching his or her favorite television shows or playing on his new Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3, it has caused kids to no longer want to go outside and get exercise.

The computer also has a negative effect on people. It has been the site of cyber bullying. This is when someone online bullies another, whether it’s on a social network such as Facebook, aim, twitter, or through emails. Cyber bullying has been a cause for many suicides. People say stupid things to each other even though they may just be joking but the person may take it the wrong way and get upset. Usually it isn’t as extreme and leads to suicide but some cases do. These crimes have been because of the new increase in technology.

Online predators have been developed from the internet. People have been harassing and threatening others online. Some have even pretended to be a friend, but end up being a creepy pedophile wanting to meet up with an innocent child on the internet. This could then lead to sexual abuse or even death. Some online predators impersonate others and pretend to know who he is talking to. Kids don’t know better and should be more careful. Parents shouldn’t allow their kids to go on certain sites and restrict them. No one wants to be a victim of an online predator.

Another bad impact technology has is identity thief. This is when someone steals information and used it for his own benefit without permission. They either take it from sites that have your personal information already or they hack into it. Identity thieves take information such as social security, credit card numbers, names and birthdays. They do the best they can to pretend to be the victim in order to make a new credit card with the victim’s name. Then they spend all of the victim’s money with no cost of their own on whatever they want and they do this many time with different people. They get rich off of people who are careless and leave personal information online. Anything online isn’t safe, so don’t bother even putting it on in the first place.

This should be the drone on everybody’s Christmas wish list this year

Despite how creepy, dangerous, and complicated people perceive them to be, drones are expected to be one of the most popular gifts this holiday season.
The US Federal Aviation Administration projects 1 million of such devices under Christmas trees come December, and Parrot is hoping a good chunk of them will be its new Bebop 2 quadcopter.
Taking the wraps off its new consumer drone in San Francisco today (Nov. 17), the French company showed off a more powerful, durable, and safer quadcopter that’ll be available Dec. 14 for $550. These qualities make the Bebop 2 an ideal gift for amateurs, especially people who’ve never piloted drones before.
Like its predecessor, the Bebop 2 can be maneuvered using a mobile app or standalone hardware controller. The controls are the same on both, but the app uses the mobile device’s accelerometer to steer and accelerate. Taking off, landing, and shooting video or photos using the integrated camera basically requires the press of a button. Once it’s in the air, you don’t have to struggle to keep it up since it stays in place, even when you’re not doing anything, until you command it to do otherwise.
The physical controls on the Skycontroller, a bulky rig that holds a tablet you wear around your neck like a camera strap, are admittedly more intuitive and easier to use, but it comes at a price: It’s bundled with the Bebop 2 for $800.
The Bebop 2 has been streamlined so “the only moving part of the drone is the propeller,” says Parrot CEO Henri Seydoux. “The more you can downsize a drone, the better performance you can have,” he adds. For the 500 gram Bebop 2, this means 25 minutes of battery life, twice that of the previous version. In comparison, DJI’s Phantom 3 drones can fly for 23 minutes. Fewer moving parts also means more durability, since all pilots inevitably crash their drones.
The Bebop 2 can reach a top speed of 60 kilometer per hour, but most people will only be able to pilot it to 36 kilometers per hour. Chief marketing officer Nicolas Halftermeyer compares it to the top speed of sports cars—it can go that fast, but it probably shouldn’t. That said, engineers and drone racers can modify it to go faster for their specific needs. Regardless, pilots will be able to control it steadily in windy conditions, as the company demonstrated with footage shot from the North Pole.
When a propeller hits an object (or wall), all four of them will automatically stop rotating. “The drone is not dangerous,” Seydoux says.

Perhaps there’s no better illustration of how safe it is than a mishap that happened during hands-on demos with reporters following the press conference. As one of the Bebop 2 drones flew out of control at eye level toward a group of reporters (myself included), a Parrot employee grabbed it out of the air with one hand. She then took a bow, and exclaimed to the people in the room: “Safe!”

It’s by no means a stocking stuffer, but $550 is actually quite reasonable when you look at the Bebop’s capabilities and take into consideration that drones with similar specs can cost $1,000 or more.

It's 2015, and Samsung is actually making a new flip phone

With the rise of increasingly large smartphones, flip phones have unfortunately gone out of style.
There's nothing more satisfying than hanging up on someone by aggressively snapping your phone shut, and those versions with a mini-screen on the front predated Galaxy S6 Edge-style 'peek' technology by years.
Fortunately, you'll soon be able to experience all this once again, because Samsung is making a fliphone. Yes, seriously.
Early images and specs of the phone, which is being named the SM-W2016, have been uncovered by the industry insiders at SamMobile. It's a smartphone at heart, but packaged in a much more retro design.

The Android phone has two screens (one either side of the opening top half), an octa-core 64-bit processor with 3GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.
The phone might look like it's straight out of 2004, but it actually rivals many leading smartphones in terms of hardware.
With a glass and metal design reminiscent of the Galaxy S6, it could prove pretty popular.
It's actually quite difficult to buy a phone these days that isn't a buttonless smartphone - leaving people who prefer a physical keyboard (they still exist, as the Blackberry Priv shows) without many options.
The market for this phone might be fairly niche, but if it satisfies users' nostalgia and actually works it could be a success.

Google+ gets major redesign with big focus on Communities and Collections

Google has begun the process of rolling out a major redesign of Google+, featuring a new, simpler look that puts Communities and Collections at the center of everything. These are the areas of Google+ that its most loyal users have stuck with and remain deeply engaged in, even as other features like Photos have been broken out in hopes of reaching a more mainstream audience. "With Collections and Communities, discovering amazing things is simple: just follow or join whatever happens to pique your interests," said Google's Luke Wroblewski. The service's home stream has also been redesigned, with Google claiming that it's now "easier to post, search, connect, and keep up with great content."
The new Google+ overhaul is available today if you opt in, and Google says mobile updates are coming soon. (Not all features have been brought over, so you might be switching between the classic and new views until they both offer all the same functionality.) "While this is an exciting new beginning for us, we’re definitely not done yet," said Wroblewski. "We got here by listening and learning, and will continue doing so." Google+ is finally shedding its "social network" pressures and becoming the focused and intimate destination that we've always wanted.

9 tips for staying safe as you shop online

Americans plan to do as much as 15% of their holiday shopping online this year. USA TODAY asked computer security experts for their tips on how to stay safe as you buy.
1. Just say no to free Wi-Fi
Resist the temptation to use free public Wi-Fi. It is a trivial matter for hackers to eavesdrop on your connection and steal your information.
Florindo Gallicchio, Optiv
2. Avoid e-mails offering deals
Don't click on email offers. Instead, go directly to the retailer’s website to find deals. Same thing goes for promo codes — don't click those links to copy the code, but instead copy it and use it directly on the retailer’s website. Even the most legitimate-looking email could be from hackers phishing for account info.
John Kuhn, IBM Security
3. Don’t be lazy
If you need to create an account with an online retailer, do not use the same email address and password you use anywhere else. This is such old advice it may seem obvious, but many attacks are still successful because people reuse the same combination of email address and password in multiple sites, and attackers know it. It’s not worth the risk.
Geoff Webb, NetIQ
4. Use apps, not your phone’s web browser
Apps for sites like Amazon and Wayfair typically have an extra layer of security and encryption, making them safer to use when you’re out in public.
Morey Haber, BeyondTrust
5. Eschew convenience for security
Never save your credit card information in retail sites and web browsers. If they haven't stored it, it can't be stolen from them.
John Kuhn, IBM Security
6. Credit, not debit
When shopping online, use your credit card instead of your debit card. If something goes awry such as making a bad purchase with a malicious online retailer, it is usually easier to resolve any issues with your credit card company than with your bank (or at least the money is not deducted from your checking or savings account).
Lane Thames,Tripwire
7. Open your statements
Pay extra attention to your bank and credit card statements come January and February. Even small charges you don’t remember making can be a sign of fraud. If you see an unknown charge, call your bank immediately and report it.
Tim Erlin, Tripwire
8. Embrace phone-based payments
Retail data breaches have led to the compromise of millions of credit cards. Mobile payment technologies, like Android Pay and Apple Pay, cannot be cloned like traditional magnetic stripe cards. Consider using these technologies in your holiday shopping to keep your cards safe from thieves.
Ryan Olson, Palo Alto Networks
9. Don't leave your phone unlocked
For God’s sake, set your phone to require PIN or fingerprint to access it!
Jeff Schilling, Armor

Terrifyingly, An Airport Still Runs On Windows 3.1

Orly Airport in France recently suffered a major technical hitch, grounding dozens of flights and causing significant disruption to thousands. Well now the cause of the problem has been revealed it turns out that Orly's Air Traffic Control system runs on Windows 3.1.

That's right, it's running on a piece of software that was around when Floppy Disks were big and the idea of CD-ROMs seemed like the scary future.
According to Vice News, the culprit was a piece of software called DECOR which is used during take off and landings. The software allows Air Traffic Control to provide pilots with a Runway Visual Distance, so how far the pilot can see down a runway.
With the software effectively down, the controllers would have been unable to notify pilots of their visibility if a fog had descended or bad weather had rolled in.

According to Alexandre Fiacre, secretary general of France's UNSA-IESSA air traffic controller union, the company that manages both Orly Airport and Charles de Gaulle are using software that's between 10-20 years old.
The French Transportation Ministry has reportedly vowed to update the systems by 2017.