So maybe we are not all driving to work in a flying car or are being beamed up by a transporter yet, but we should be clearing out a space in the lab and perhaps in the office for a replicator. Sure, they may not work the same as the replicators on Star Trek that instantaneously pop out hot, full-course meals to suit any crew member's whim, but they can generate three-dimensional (3-D) objects to match your computer design.

Many researchers and engineers are busy in their laboratories working on devices that will bring mobility to people who have lost function in the lower body due to an accident, stroke, multiple sclerosis, or other disorders. "Several pretty sophisticated exoskeletons are already on the market now, and they are all similar to each other in terms of technologies, but we're not ready to replace the wheelchair yet," said exoskeleton developer Homayoon Kaz Kazerooni, Ph.D., professor of mechanical engineering at the University of California (UC) at Berkeley. "Eventually, we will have devices that are used by individuals on a daily basis to replace wheelchairs but not with the existing technology. We're at the beginning of a much bigger era in exoskeletons."

Electronic health records may have digitized patient data, but getting that data from one clinician to another remains a huge challenge, especially since patients often have multiple doctors ordering tests, prescribing drugs, and providing treatment. Many experts now believe that blockchain technology might be just the thing to get a patient's pertinent medical information from where it is stored to where it is needed, as well as to allow patients to easily view their own medical histories. In addition, blockchain technology might also be able to help with other aspects of health care, such as improving the insurance claim or other administrative processes within healthcare networks and making health-related population data available to biomedical researchers.

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The human population is getting older, and technology will play a key role in addressing the pressures this aging will place on healthcare systems. According to the 2015 United Nations' World Population Ageing report [1], the number of people worldwide 60 and older will increase from one in eight in 2015 to one in six by 2030 and to one in five by 2050; in Europe and "Northern America" (mainly the United States and Canada), those 60 and older will make up 25% of the population by 2030, and in Asia and Latin America, the number is predicted to be 17%.