Beware radical elements

Revolutionary new materials like graphene can only be good for our future,can't they?  Well, certainly a lot of people are very excited about the positive side of stronger, lighter, more flexible, water repelling materials but  can this be all good?

I'm not one to pour water on a great idea but I do wonder about the ramifications of the large scale introduction of such radically different materials.

Invincibility

Indestructible materials are all very well, until you come to the point where you do want to break them down.   How do you recycle or destroy a product that has been made so strong and impervious to damage?  Will this create a mountain of waste for which there is no disposal other than burial?

Undetectable hostility

Technology that is tiny, light and virtually undetectable is great if you are the one in charge of its deployment. But what happens when a foreign power or a criminal organisation with nefarious intent gets hold of that same technology.  How do you defend your borders against such a threat?

Loss of traditional ways

The construction, manufacturing and the textile industries employ countless millions of people worldwide.   They rely on suppliers and growers to provide the material that they need to make their products.  What happens when those traditional materials are replaced by these new radical materials?  Potentially there is massive impact to the way that whole communities make their living.

Consider the cotton growers who supply the world's textile industry.  If these new textile materials prove to be superior to natural products, the vast cotton fields of the world will be redundant.  That would destroy the livelihood of countless individuals, communities, even nations that depend on the industry.

No built-in obsolescence

Nothing lasts forever, so the saying goes.  However, some of these new materials are so impervious to damage and decay that they may well last substantially longer than a human lifespan.   What could that mean for the economies of the world?  When things stop wearing out what happens to the industries that bank on feeding the need for replacement goods?  What do all the people who make those replacements do now to make a living?

These are big questions for our leaders and for ourselves.   What will we do to address them and will we do them in time?

Next10 and radical materials

The Next 10 Years: Radical materials

What is this technology?

Again, this not a single technology but a field of development that re-engineers the materials we use for construction to make them stronger, more durable, unbreakable, flexible, waterproof, anything proof.

Much of this change is occurring thanks to advances in nanotechnology, which allows materials to deconstructed and reconstructed at a molecular or atomic level.

What will happen?

Bendy and shatterproof

Brand new materials suitable for the construction, electronics, medical and textile industries will allow for products that cannot be fabricated using current techniques.

Fortunes will be made as scientists partner with big business to patent and trademark new materials.


Products will no longer fail due to material fatigue.

Portability will increase as traditional heavy materials are replaced with lighter ones.

How will this impact society?

Hydrophilic textile

The consumer will have access to an unprecedented array of new and radically improved products,

Society will see a dramatic decrease in injury and fatality incidents as materials become lighter, stronger and resistant to wear.

New textile materials will launch lines of clothes that allow people to survive in extreme heat and cold conditions and a convergence of battery technology and textile development will bring clothes that have flexible batteries woven into the fabric that will act as a power generator.

Assuming that patented materials do not lead to a monopolistic price-gouging mentality these new engineered materials should be cheap to fabricate, resulting in high customer consumption.

The current demand for natural fibres will dwindle and farming of animals for wool production, the cultivation of cotton will be decimated.

What supports this prediction?

Moisture repelling textiles, flexible gadgets

Lighter than air - Aerographite

Feeling fabrics from Footfalls and Heartbeats

Quantum Dots revolutionise displays

Nano

Hydrophobic material repels all moisture

Nanotechnology has so many possibilities that it's hard to know where to begin.

Nano is everywhere and we are only just getting started.

There are some wonderful clips on the Future Trends channel of YouTube.  Some applications of this ability to manipulate materials at the tiniest level are going to change the way we live - no doubt about it.  I'm blown away my materials that are super repellent to moisture, meaning that nothing dirty or wet can stick to them.  No more perspiration on your clothes, mud on your shoes, grime on your windows.

NeverWet

New words for me to work into everyday speech - super hydrophobic, hydrophilic.

On a fun note I loved this Nokia concept for bendable phones with flexible displays and mood sensors.  Nokia make the most wonderful adverts.  Let's hope we see a return to prominence for this great company.

Nokia Twist - the flexible surfboard phone