ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha -- the official Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy appreciation society. Douglas Adams: Parrots, the universe and everything. Towel Day - Celebrating the life and work of Douglas Adams. 5 Terrific Ted Talks on Future Technologies. Andrew Maynard is a scientist and emerging technology adviser. He blogs at 2020 Science and tweets as @2020science. What will a technology-driven world look like 10, 50, or even 100 years from now? Those are questions that some of the most inventive and outrageous thinkers around have been addressing at the yearly TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference. TED presenters have been wowing audiences with their future-tech ideas for a long time, and many of these talks are freely available on the web. But it can be a daunting task working out what to watch. So here’s a taster-menu of five great TED talks on how technology might influence the future.
Rather than describe the latest in consumer tech, they take on the much harder task of predicting how technology will change our lives in profound ways. I’ve used a few simple rules in selecting the talks: - Was I hooked within the first few seconds? 1. 2. What if you could change the way your brain works, without drugs or surgery? 3. 4. Michael Pritchard's water filter turns filthy water drinkable.