2015

From the teamat WIRED, themagazine aboutWHAT’S NEXT

JAMES DYSONON THE YEAROF THE ROBOT

SAUL KLEINON THE CREATIVEECONOMY

CARLO RATTION DRIVERLESSFUTURE CITIES

NEED-TO-KNOWTRENDS inTechnology / BusinessMedicine / LifestyleGovernment / MediaScience & Environment

104 PAGES OFIDEAS TOFUTURE-PROOFYOURSELF &YOUR BUSINESS

PLUS 101 MORE IDEAS THAT WILL CHANGE THE WORLD

2 0 1 4 / 2 0 15 £6 .99 WIRED.CO.UK

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NUCLEARBATTERIESResearchers atthe Universityof Missouri willbe real-worldtesting a nuclearbattery basedon radiolysis –splitting waterwith radiation toproduce energy.The team’s water-based batteryincorporatesa nanosizetitanium dioxidecatalyst whichassists theradiation inbreaking downwater molecules.The result:far greaterefficiency.

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The increase in computing speed

that is promised by replacing

silicon in processors with phase-

change materials, following research

at the University of Cambridge.

your whole body in motion,” CohenKadosh says. “When we had our firstsubject, I wanted to be present in theroom to make sure everything wentsmoothly, but she felt uncomfortablethat someonewaswatchingher tryingto solvenumerical problems.

“When the game finished, she cameback and said, ‘I loved it. Iwant to takeit home.’ This is from someone whohated maths.” In 2015, Cohen Kadoshwillcontinuetoexaminemathstraininginside andoutside classrooms.

“Combining cognitive trainingwithbrainstimulationinthecaseofchildrenwithatypicaldevelopment,”saysCohenKadosh,“that’smyviewofthefuture inthefield of education.”JoãoMedeirosisWIRED’sscienceeditor

UR NOTIONS OF TIME IN PHYSICS,philosophy and history are changing.One of the most entrenched notionsabout the world considers time aslinearandhomogeneous–asacontainerwhere events succeed one after theotheraccordingtothelawsofcausality.Albert Einstein famously defendedthis conceptionof time.

EvenasEinstein’stheoryofrelativitycontinued to succeed, numerousthinkers baulked at the mere thoughtof having to consider time in thisway.

“Einstein’s imagination failed him,”explained Lee Smolin of the PerimeterInstitute for Theoretical Physics inOntario in his book, Time Reborn. “Itdoes not seem to have occurred to himtoconceiveof theuniverseas anythingbut static andeternal.”

Aswerefineour theoriesof time,wewill see that to act on the future, oneneeds to start by changing thepast.

Will thetheoriesof tomorrowtrumpthetheoriesoftoday?Theadvancementof science, and the billions of poundspoured intoR&D,wouldcometoadeadhalt ifwedidn’tthinkitwould.Ourfaithin the power and benefits of sciencedependonaparticularnotionof time–wherethepresentmomentisatthepeak

ofour currentknowledgeof theworld.Theultimatenarcissismofourscientificculture is our belief that just by virtueof being at the peak of time, we knowmorethananyonewhocamebeforeus.

In 2015 we will reconsider thevalue of ancient wisdom and low-techsolutions. Big data has shown us theneed to be aware of the danger – andopportunity – of advancing science byremoving knowledge from the publicsphere. To succeed today, one mustknowwhatsomeoneelsedoesnotknow.Agnotology, the study of culturallyinducedignorance, isnowasrelevantasepistemology,thetheoryofknowledge.

In2015,wewill rethink timeand therelationofsciencetocapitalism.Timeisfrequentlycomparedtomoney:tomakemoney on the stock market, one doesnotneedtobesmarterthanthecompe-tition, just faster. Tomanage timeanditse�ectonmoney,wewillneedtofindnew ways of gaining better controlof both. How? By upsetting currenthierarchies between the sciences andthe humanities, and by relearning toappreciate the value of history.Jimena Canales holds the Thomas MSiebelChair in theHistoryofScienceattheUniversityof Illinois.Herbook,ThePhysicistandThePhilosopher:Einstein,Bergson and theDebate That ChangedOur Understanding of Time, will bepublishedbyPrincetonPress in 2015

TEMPORALREORDERINGOur linear relationship with time affects everything from financialtransactions to scientific progress. In 2015, we will throwout the old model and learn to look backwards to move forwards

By Jimena Canales

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