Hummers: driven by people who want the world to be destroyed.

That has to be an exaggeration.

It’s the truth! Unless the Hummer and large SUV owners have been living under a rock, the following facts are known by them:

• Hummers and large, heavy, SUV’s are expensive
• A 2004 Hummer H2 SUV has 9.6 mpg compared to a Honda, who’s miles per gallon ranges from 20-50 mpg. So for sure all of the SUV and Hummer owners know that they’re paying more for the gas prices then other car owners.
• The emissions from cars contributes to global warming, and by simply switching from a fifteen mpg car to a 30mpg, you are cutting your car’s CO2 emissions in half.

What’s up with all the melodramatic titles?

Rika has stated that my titles are over-dramatic. Well they’re not. Our current environmental goal is to stop global warming, and almost everywhere on the road you see these heavy SUVs roaring down the road.

All of these car owners understand that buying fuel efficient cars would not only be less expensive, but better for the environment. So why do they keep buying these heavy duty vehicles?

Why?

“Because I feel safer knowing that in a car crash I wouldn’t be the one hurt” is one that I’ve heard. I guess that some people feel powerful behind a wheel of these tanks, but they’re endangering other people on the road. If no one drove heavy SUVs, then everyone would be safer on the road.

What should we do?

So when choosing a new car, you have several choices. Hybrid cars go for approximately thirty grand, depending on the model you buy. Hummers, on the other hand, often cost much more than that.

-Calister F. Wells

One thing that we can look forward to is a very self-sustainable future. One product is paving the way towards a future which products repair themselves!

French scientists have created rubber that, when pinched together after being sliced, can mend and be as good as new! The process takes an hour, but this is definitely an important leap towards more innovative products and designs.

See the process in action here.

Why this is important:

Just think: we can do so much with this! In places, such as outer space, where repairing gear might be difficult, self repairing space ships, space gear, fuel tanks; so many worries can be eliminated. We are always looking for a way to make space travel much more safe, and this is yet another invention that may bring us closer to where we want to be in terms of safety.

-Rika

There once was a time- and not that long ago, either- when photos were rather expensive (compared to today) and were in black and white. For the people of the time that was completely normal and they didn’t really think much about anything better, until colored photos were invented, and then they took that as the norm.

Videos have come a long way; if you think of it the way I do, then for one you’d be slightly crazy (Calister F. Wells is not exactly the kind of guy people think like) and, secondly, in the time line of the creation of video you’d start at black and white photos. (Or possibly cave drawings- depends if you felt prehistoric).

So such an unused invention like black and white photos have led to what we know today as videos? Perhaps.

Here’s an interesting thought: try and imagine what videos will be like in the future. Star Wars-ish, maybe- the holograms are kind of like videos when you think about it. Will videos include more of the senses? (Smell, perhaps?) That would be interesting.

“How was the movie, Timmy?”

“It smelled funny.”

*Sigh* The future is such that us mere mortals cannot possibly contemplate without humor. I wonder what cavemen would do if they saw us playing the Wii…. probably laugh. Heck, even the present day people still laugh when they see someone swinging that white remote and looking like an idiot.

-Calister F. Wells: Laughing at the Future

The human brain is very complex, and you see these new discoveries about it every day. Emotions and feelings, often times, are more complicated than anything else our body can do. Why do certain people feel certain ways? Why are women often times more organized? The list goes on…

No doubt we will know more secrets of the human brain as time progresses, but being able to figure out more information more quickly would speed up other discoveries as well.

An example of this is the latest in video games, slated to come out this winter: the Epoc. A game that uses the EEG brain signals to control a video game, this shows what we can do with technology and knowledge of the brain. The technology, as it turns out, is older and until now hasn’t been thought to be able to be so flexible. This is a perfect example of how new knowledge of the brain can turn old technology towards new uses!

The Epoc: (read about it here)

Now this all ties into our site. Kendra, our newest writer, wants to help discover the reasoning behind ideas, emotions, and thoughts in a simple way: by polls. So for the sake of science, take her polls! Every once in awhile I’ll come out with a new post summing up the results of her polls and what they mean. Maybe, if we can get enough participation, we can really get somewhere with our research!

(visit Kendra’s page HERE)

-Rika

Yes you read it right: a hotel in space. This miraculous experience opens in 2012 to the public. But don’t get too excited, it opens mainly to the rich public for just three days. It’s 4 million dollars, not your average everyday salary. However, this space paradise orbits there Earth every eighty minutes! I guess that breaks the record of around the world in 80 days. Plus you get to see the sunset 15 times a day; what a view! The only problems builders have come across are water usage, such as bathrooms. The shower problem has been resolved, and they are building a spa room where guests can go in and float around in water bubbles.

Beside the fact you have to be a billionaire, I can find no downside. Great views, experience, the thrill; if I was rich, I would love to be in this hotel. Would you spend the money and travel for three day to space, or do you think it’s a waste? Let us know your thoughts!

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

Citation

Rika’s Thoughts:

Sure this place sounds awesome; but really, how great is it? What is the percentage of it crashing? How often does it’s fuel supply come? It’s too good to be true. Who would spend that kind of money on something that could potentially put there lives in great risk? What’s so good about space, anyways? Sure, the view to our Earth is spectacular, but I just can’t find a love for all those other desolate planets out there.

Well Rika you make great points. However could you imagine what a thrilling vacation to know that your up in space on a real adventure, and so what if the hotel  crashes or runs out of fuel if you survive that’s something to tell your grand kids about. Plus what makes space so great is that it’s not Earth it’s totally different and while your in space you can see Earth! Isn’t that worth seeing?

About two or three years ago on freewebs.com/thenearbyfuture I wrote a particular article about the dangers of using corn as fuel. It was moved to this site earlier in January (view it here) and I thought that it contained some good points. If people had taken the article seriously, then corn and our economy would be in much better shape.

But no. People couldn’t continue research on air powered cars, algae power, solar power, or so many other renewable energy sources that wouldn’t have hurt the economy; any other plant used to replace corn as the ingredient in ethanol would help us out a lot.Why didn’t the world listen?

Some facts about the fight over corn fuel:

• So politicians nod and approve it, automakers throw in their lot and make trucks and cars that run on corn fuel, farmers send tons of corn to refineries- so what could be wrong? More than people are giving a thought.
• The refineries that make corn powered fuel actually use more energy than the corn actually gives cars. So the benefits energy-wise are limited. Also think about the pesticides used to grow all this needed corn; it isn’t good (we’re spraying CHEMICALS on the land for heavens sake of course it isn’t good!) because is causes water pollution.
• Corn powered cars run out of energy quicker and the vehicle needs to fill up more often. Not good news for environmentalists who like car trips.
• Like Social Security, we’re stretching corn’s abilities over too many fronts! It can’t be sweetener, cooking supplies, food, ingredients in cleaners AND fuel! That’s just asking too much.

So with that said, we need an alternative. Maybe another plant to produce ethanol to power cars? That would work! We could use algae which doesn’t take up space where crops should be and grows pretty fast.

The moral of this article is that The Nearby Future has some good points, whether people acknowledge them or not! And sometimes acknowledging our ideas earlier next time might actually help our world….

-Frustrated Rika

“Eat the corn, screw the cars.”

Have you ever watched a movie that was so real? That made you feel like you were in the action? Well what if in the future you really couldin the action?You could have a completely different world or even universe right in your own living room… the product would be similar to a holographic projection and instead of having a movie screen you would have a projector that displays a movie on all of the surrounding surfaces, including the ceiling and floor. All you need is an advanced projector with a 360 degree lens.

What is the downside to this more interactive 3-D movie which I like to call 4-D?

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

Rika’s Thoughts:

I think video games are turning into movies: If you’ve ever taken a look at the Final Fantasy game series, it’s more of a movie or intriguing novel where you make the decisions. Video games will become the movie of the future, and people will almost literally live in their own little worlds.

The downside of the “4-D” kind of world is that it would be very expensive to create a projector that has a 360 degree view to be able to project images on every surface of a room, plus think about the equipment you’d have to use to film that kind of movie! Not exactly standard. Way ABOVE standard. And your actors would have to say pretty much every phrase in front of a camera if you want the actors to be part of that interactive experience. This is much harder than your standard movie, it would take time and money, but if done right, it could be an incredible breakthrough.

But, instead of using a projection, you could use the idea from Heir Apparent where the main character has her head hooked up to a system that inserts her in a video game. No actors, no projectors, just really complicated gaming software and safety tools to keep the gamer from getting hurt.

Great thoughts Piratical Lord of the Guitars!

-Rika

Many people say the Wii is a revolutionary invention. It gets kids who are addicted to video games off the couch and moving around. Also (and this will shock you) doctors are now using the Wii to train for surgeries! Scientists say that out of a test 48% of doctors performance actually increased. It is also said to be useful in training doctors to use both their left and right hands. Plus you’ve seen the commercials the Wii is finally something that even senior citizens can enjoy. I don’t know about you, but I think the Wii is definitely a good thing.

A thought from Rika:

I could see how the Wii would be used in training for doctors- sometimes certain games call for concentration and preciseness. But also these pose a little danger. If you don’t have the wrist strap on you could easily chuck the controller into your TV… or another player. Other than that, I’m all for this invention- especially if it raises the surgical accuracy of doctors.

A thought from Calister:

Surprisingly, I actually agree with Rika for once. Except I don’t want someone operating on me after playing the Wii! Did you know that playing video games actually increases stress? It does and having stressed out doctors during the surgery to any degree does not sound safe.

Everybody is talking about the new Macbook Air notebook. It costs $1799+. Is it worth it? How much would you pay for a notebook? I definitely would not pay that much. I mean, it’s cool and the new thing, but something new will come out and it won’t be cool anymore. Just like we thought RAZR’s were the new, best thing and then an iPhone came out. Don’t get me wrong, I love new things too but not for that much money.

It costs more than an ordinary notebook and regular laptops are even better. They cost more because of the new ultra-slim style. Cons also include that this notebook is an optical drive. If you want to install new software, rip CDs to iTunes, watch DVDs, or burn data to disc, you need to either purchase the $99 Apple MacBook Air SuperDrive, which connects via USB, or use the new Remote Disk feature to “borrow” the optical drive of another computer on your network. So, I guess what I am trying to say is that it costs even more than $1799 because you have to buy all this extra stuff for it even to work. Do you disagree? We want to know!

~Hope

Rika’s Thoughts:

I wouldn’t buy it either- but with a few simple adjustments (including a price adjustment!) I think this would be a good tool for students. It wouldn’t take up much space, it would be convenient, and it would be light. There are all the qualities students. Apple could be onto something!

If any of you have seen the television show Phil of the Future then you know about the Diffy’s many gadgets, and one in particular I’d like to point out is the spray can food. In the future will there really be spray can food? How may calories will this stuff have? Or if spray can food is invented, what will happen to chefs of the world? Millions of chefs will lose their jobs and restaurants will shut down because no one will want to spend money on food when they can just as easily cook it themselves. What are your thoughts on spray can food?

Rika’s thoughts:

Great points, Piratical Lord of the Guitars! But I think it won’t come out of a can. Fresh food trumps food like that every day. Think how many preservatives food like that would have to keep it in a can. I think that in the future food will probably be the same, but the means of getting it will be different. For example, people will be able to order foods in their own home and won’t have to go to the grocery store. Frozen food will still be around because of it’s convenience, and it probably will taste better.

Wow, that’s a good point Rika. So I’m guessing what you’re saying is that instead of walking into Safeway, the city would have an underground warehouse and you’d call in and food would be shipped to you. Or, maybe as technology advances even more, the food will be teleported to you from the warehouse. Also, I’m hoping food will taste better in the future, because as much fast food as people eat, you need variety or else it becomes un-enjoyable.

-Piratical Lord of the Guitars

What is this world coming to!? First, we use corn for fuel. And now we’re using CHOCOLATE for fuel? Mmm… Chocolate… Right! Back to reality! Well, according to a very useful source, scientists have figured out how to turn chocolate into gallons of fuel.

A car company — Ecotec — has been collecting waste from a Chocolate Factory. Ecotec is from the UK and they are planning on driving a car fueled by chocolate all the way from the UK to Timbuktu. The fuel works like bio-diesel and it takes approximately 7 pounds of chocolate remains to produce 1 gallon of fuel. It costs approximately $1.16 per gallon of this sweet gas.

Unfortunately (for anyone who was hoping for this), the fuel is not edible. I know, I wish it was too, but it’s not like you can drink gasoline from a glass. Or can you? Ok! Gotta stay on subject here! Haha. Well, there you have it! The people at Ecotec are currently working on making enough fuel to take them from wherever they are all the way to Timbuktu. (Why there? Who knows?) Keep reading and use fuel-efficient cars!

-Jennith

What if there was a car that ran on compressed air and electricity that gave off virtually no pollutants? That definitely sounds like the kind of car that we’re talking about. Thankfully, someone has already viewed that what if as a possibility and has created the MiniCat (mini Compressed Air Technology car). This new small golf cart type car runs on compressed air and oil (1 liter of vegetable oil, actually) and can travel for eight hours for the incredible cheap price of…. two bucks!

How does this car get its power? Like I mentioned above: compressed air tanks! 90 cubic meters of air tanks, actually. Sounds dangerous to have that much of compressed air under the trunk? Not exactly. According to the creators of the Air Car, they have tested and retested the air tanks to ensure safety. What about oil changes? The car uses 1 liter of vegetable oil and needs an oil change every 31,000 miles.

But this car isn’t all it seems- the French creator doesn’t have a steady income yet, and with only three prototypes made, we here at the Nearby Future are having a hard time believing this too good to be true story. And- according to a grudging MDI- the prototypes have not yet lived up to their goals. In one of the first published tests, the car ran little over 4.5 miles- not even close to the promised amount of mileage for one tank. If the prototypes aren’t at their full potential, what makes the company think that it can get one up and running as soon as they think they can? The company is almost over confident, and they are selling licenses to other people around the world to make and sell the Air Car locally when their first prototype travels a measly 4.5 miles.

What do you think about this car? Do you agree with us that it’s far from completed and a little too good to be true? Or do  you think that MDI is right on the money?

The car debate is continuing- with many, many companies out there finding creative ways to make cars run efficiently without the use of things like gasoline. Who knows? Maybe the car of the future will run on recyclables! Until then, The Nearby Future will be covering every aspect of this speedy revolution.

The MiniCAT by MDI

-Rika

Hummers are seen as huge, gas guzzling vehicles that are out to put as much emissions into the air as possible. On December 1, 2007, they won the ‘green car’ contest. What is wrong with that picture? Actually, nothing. GM’s sketch for the “Hummer O2″ portrays a car that runs on hydrogen tanks and fuel cells. It’s 100% recyclable and lasts for five years. This is still an idea in the making- but it may be the push that the car industry needs to go green.

The “Hummer O2″ Sketch.

-Rika

In the next ten years, classrooms will be changed completely- there’s no doubt about that. One of the things that will change how we learn is the Tablet PC. The Tablet PC, created by Pen Computing and popularized by Microsoft, may be the piece of technology that replaces textbooks and white boards. Write notes and then with a swift press of a button turn those notes into typed up ones- very handy for taking notes quickly and neatly. Instead of bulky textbooks, students could just use one Tablet PC instead. It gives them the capability to scroll through pages from their textbooks like an ebook reader. Recently, universities have been using this as a replacement for a whiteboards, too. Having a nifty little device that not only reads textbooks, has all capabilities of a laptop, AND allows students and teachers to interactively manipulate the same image only makes a better learning environment.

In the classroom, this is definitely an invention that has the power to revolutionize education.

-Rika

Electronic books are a great thing- don’t listen to Rika. Ebook readers are so much more convenient then regular books. Paper can be destroyed easily- I mean, hey! Light a match around a book and there goes your book! (Not that the Sony Reader is fire proof or anything) But over time paper gets torn, mangled, yellowed, you name it! And it’s depleting our tree supply. Electronic books? BAM! No paper. Download a book like you download a song and there you go! Words appear on the screen.

See? Electronic books= more convenient world

-Calister

The worst is here. The books that we know and love that are made out of good ol’ paper may already have some competition from books on screens. Have you heard about Sony’s new device called the “Sony Reader”? If you haven’t, there is good reason. Like the iphone, it is, too, an attempt to innovate the world as we know it.

Unlike the iphone, this ebook reader has no solid chain of products like the ipods. People simply don’t trust Sony’s new attempt at shoving paper books off of the shelves. Do you have opinions? Good! You should. Post them in the comment box.

~Rika

The next advancement in technology car-wise shouldn’t be flying cars. Let’s face it: a lot of energy would be needed to get a car up in the air. And using gas is just not a good idea. What we need is some sort of way to power cars that isn’t harmful to the environment. I say we create a hybrid solar/electric car! The car itself would be covered in solar panels, absorbing energy during the day. At night you would use the electric power until you come to a place to recharge your car.
The upside of these cars would be that the environment would not be harmed, and yet we can keep our cars. Cars would also be somewhat safer because there would be no gas tanks to worry about if the car caught on fire, and the fact that there would be a decrease in air pollution, people might be healthier.
The downside, however, is that solar panels are very expensive, and they would be quite heavy. And we still haven’t found a way to successfully store solar energy for long periods of time. So technology would have to considerably advance until we could be able to create these cars. Another downside is that these cars would also become quite pricey until we find a way to make them cheaper.
So there you have it, what I think should be the next big innovation! It still is an idea in design, but I think it’s a good one nevertheless. I’d like to hear anyone’s comments about my opinion, and I would gladly accept anyone to elaborate on it! But, until then it remains an idea in question, one I think shouldn’t be overlooked. Thanks for reading this!

~Rika

Don’t forget to submit your ideas on Solar Powered cars by leaving a comment!

You’ve seen the movies. You’ve read the books. The future contains many technological wonders that us mere mortals can hardly comprehend. Robots (that may or may not revolt and turn against us) aid humans in everyday life. Hover packs, Honeymoons on the moon! So many miraculous marvels that have us climbing over ourselves to get to the time machine. One of many futuristic machines is the flying car.

It’s a bird…it’s a plane… it’s… … … a flying car (sorry Superman). But don’t grab the keys yet; think about this first.

The economy is slowly being ruined by cars and their exhaust. And not to mention large gas-guzzlers that are draining up the natural resources that cannot be renewed. Imagine what it would take to run a flying car. Imagine the energy needed just to make it hover. That would be a lot, and we haven’t even started flying yet.

So, perhaps the futuristic car that we all fantasize about is changing. What’s one of the popular new cars at the moment? A new car that more and more people are trading their monstrosity of a truck in for?

The hybrid car.

So perhaps this is the car of the future. A car that runs off electricity, or solar energy. Something to stop the ozone layer from sizzling up and burning us all to a crisp. Something good for the environment.

Though not quite as cool an image as the hovering car, the Hybrid shows much more promise for the future.

Who knows, maybe soon, the cars that are ruining the environment will become ghosts of the past, a reminder to people about what the past would be like.

So perhaps, instead of a future where the sun is blocked out by smog, and the only reason people are still living past the age of forty is because of their handy clone-organ donors, the sun will shine brighter than ever before, and global warming was a scare of the past that will be learned from.

Who knows, the future could even be nice and bright. Better wear your shades!!

~Ashley Lampost

We have a whole page about the iphone because it was a pretty good device- motion sensors, tilt sensors, and especially the awaited for touch screen. So you think that Microsoft would step back and let Apple have all the glory? Of course not! What they put on the table was…. a table! Not just a table, but a touchscreen oriented computer table! This new product is expected to hit shelves sometime in 2008, but don’t get excited. Microsoft’s price for this huge computer table better known as the Microsoft Surface is about $5,000 to $10,000 per unit. Not exactly what you call cheap, but Microsoft says that in about three years they’ll be able to lower the price.

With it’s touchscreen ‘concierge’, incredible multi-touch screen, wi-fi and all the cool stuff that comes along with this product including media viewers and such, this computer/table is pretty cool. Will Microsoft make history with this invention? Only time will tell.

The Microsoft Surface; picture from Wikipedia

Now, since the surface computer isn’t out yet, this section is pretty small. Check back later when I’ll add more!

~Rika

P.S. If you have something to add to this leave a comment.

On June 29, 2007 the iphone launched. Like a rocket going into the universe of phones, the iphone, expensive, sleek, and waited for, Apple’s prized product swept across America. 270,000 iphones were sold in the first 30 hours that it hit the shelves!*
Apple isn’t perfect. And neither is the iphone. They made a few mistakes, some of which is the lack of a memory card slot, the ability to send instant messages, voice recording, voice dialing and some other features most other devices have, but a couple other mistakes are the use of AT & T network, and those of us with different networks may not want to sign a 2year contract with them. Also, the iphone’s hands-only touchscreen may pose a problem to people in colder climates who can’t use the touch screen with gloves on. Another negative fact is that Apple used AT & T’s EDGE network instead of AT & T’s 3G/HSDPA network is criticized because EDGE is slower than 3G. Also, the camera takes still photos only, but that doesn’t matter as much.
Despite these setbacks, the iphone has a bunch of great features, too. The music layout differs a little from the ipod, but is pretty much the same- you can still watch videos and TV shows, too! A nice addition to the iphone is a proximity sensor that shuts off the display and touchscreen when the iphone is brought near your face so that you don’t accidentally click something while calling someone. This feature also helps to save the battery. Now, as I said before, the touchscreen only reacts to your finger’s touch. So if it’s in your pocket it won’t accidentally call someone. Another cool aspect of the iphone is that when you are listening to music and you receive a call, the music turns off. When the call is finished, the music starts right up again.
‘How much would you pay for a phone?’ Is the question I think Apple decided to push. But, with built in Wi-Fi with a Safari web browser and email capabilities, it seems more like a computer than a phone. Before the iphone, most people would probably say $600 was too much. But if I asked you “how much are you willing to pay for a PDA-type phone with email, internet, still-pictures-only camera, touchscreen, and that looks awesome but doesn’t have voice dialing, 3G support, a memory card slot, voice recording or instant messaging?” What would you say? Would you say $600 or more? If I told you it was from Apple would that change your answer? Of course it would. If I told you it was Apple’s creation most likely you would up the price you’re willing to pay at least a little because you trust them. But, most of us would still say less than $600. So, the iphone really isn’t worth spending you’re hard-earned dough on yet- keep saving it until the prices go down.
The iphone is a great piece of technology. It has its flaws, but all in all, it’s a pretty cool device. Thanks for reading! Don’t forget to post a comment at the bottom of this page.
Did I get a fact wrong? Or do you think that something could be explained better? Send us your revisions by posting a comment! *Sales information from Wikipedia
I learned of the iphones features and such at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphone