The NY Times has a story this morning on Google’s top secret lab researching high-risk, long-term ideas. Without thinking too much about it, the two areas I would hope we could come up with new technology involve transportation and food.
First, I recognize that there have been vast changes in the engineering of cars over the past century. But the basic idea and much of the basic machinery still seems based on ideas from a century ago. Compare the changes in cars to the changes in communication technology, for example, over the past 100 years. I don’t mean simply coming up with better forms of electric or hybrid engines, either, but the basic idea and purpose of a car, a relatively inflexible big(ish) or small(ish) transportation device, seems in need of revision to me.
The second area is in food. I enjoy cooking greatly, spend a lot of time (given it is not my job) preparing food, and am generally aware of what I eat and what is good for me and not good for me from a nutritional perspective. But I think I am more the exception than the rule. Given the significance of nutrition for health and the reality that what we eat is one of the more controllable aspects of our health, you would think it would be easier to keep basic records of what we eat, when, how much, and with what nutritional contents. Basically, if we can make food “fast,” shouldn’t we be able to get more information on the food itself?
I’d agree there. Both of those things are things that we take for granted in the developed world, and both of their ‘availabilities’ as it were are at risk. The car, as well as mass transit systems like subways and such, have been great but with concerns about climate and a flabbergastingly huge population, we need options that aren’t detrimental to the environment and that can mobilize lots of people. Food and water are bare necessities that aren’t as easy to come by for many as they should be. Along these lines, a few years ago I saw a cool TED talk by a guy who invented some kind of water bottle that filters foul water – without electricity – which could potentially bring potable water to thousands of people in need of it.