REAL Superpowers You Could Have Before You Die | Unveiled

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The REAL Superpowers You Could Have Before You Die</h4>

Have you ever watched it in a film or read it in a book and thought; I could do with some of that! We’ve long been hooked on imagining characters with superhuman abilities… but it hasn’t always been the case that we could ever seriously expect the magic of science fiction to bleed over into the mundane of everyday life. In this generation, however, that could all be about to change. 

This is Unveiled, and today we’re taking a closer look at the real life superpowers that you could have before you die.

In terms of modern technology, time seems to move at a faster rate than it does for everything else. In the twenty-first century, we’ve seen a tech boom that’s grown and grown, constantly gathering pace. It’s like a shiny, twinkling, humming snowball that’s rolling down a hill with seemingly no end… leaving everyone to watch and wonder; just what will they think of next? In this episode, we’re looking at four technologies in particular that really could give you superpowers. Starting with the subtlest, and ending with the most significant of all.

First up, how smart would you say you are? Because the chances are that no matter how you’d rate yourself right now, you’ll be much smarter in the future. Now, this video isn’t solely interested in artificial intelligence… but AI is the foundation for our first superpower. In recent times we’ve begun to see how prevalent AI will be. At the turn of the century it was the plain old internet that had seemed like it would birth supreme knowledge in our species. But now, just googling something is kind of old hat. Instead, search engines, social media sites, encyclopedias, libraries, teaching aids, government reports, sports scores, movie scripts, menus, and just about anything else you can think of… exist in a kind of bottomless data pool. And experts say that pool will be easily mined and sifted in the future, by self-replicating, machine learning, AI applications with infinitely more processing power than even (by comparison) the humble human brain. Contrary to the well-pedaled doomsday predictions of the looming singularity and of humankind being killed off by vengeful robots, however… there are already hints toward how we might harness superintelligence for ourselves.

Brain implants have come a long way in a short time. For decades, they were seen as far-future possibilities. Although, as no-one (back then) really knew how the brain worked… no-one was seriously expecting to meddle inside it, nor to enhance it. But that’s all changed in the modern world. There are now (and have now been) multiple attempts to map the brain in extreme detail. One of the most famous was the Human Connectome Project, started in 2009. At present, we still don’t have the complete, finished article… but the mounting data from brain studies all over the world has enabled us to better understand certain sections in particular, including the Hippocampus and areas linked with memory. This knowledge is then being translated into data in-built into proposed AI implants on the brain, inside the skull, and perhaps even inside the brain as well. For the most part, the primary goal here is to specifically tackle various neurological disorders - including Alzheimer's disease, and schizophrenia. What are known as Deep Brain Stimulation Therapies are being trialed to tackle Parkinson’s Disease and OCD. However, some foresee a near-future time when the same technology will be used not only to combat brain conditions, but also to increase brain capacity. Consider a time when every person has instant access to that same bottomless data pool that AI apps currently enjoy, and you really could be superintelligent before your time is out!

Of course, many of the superpowers on the page and screen are much more visually dramatic than simply everyone being really clever. But fear not, if it’s battles and explosions that you most want to see… then you’re in luck. Super-strength is a kinda catch-all term for a lot of superpowers, but most of them are now within our grasp. For a start, exoskeletons are already here. These are mechanical frames that a person can wrap around their normal, organic bodies, to enable them to achieve more than they otherwise could. There are exoskeletons to enable you to lift more than is humanly possible; with potentially massive implications in construction and engineering. There are also reported skeletons that can be strapped onto soldiers to enable them to move quicker in battle; but, in and out of warzones, this essentially equates to giving us superspeed. Meanwhile, the development of bulletproof materials has been something of a constant for decades… so that now the standard vests are better but also sleeker than ever before. To the point where there’s already talk of the potential for bulletproof artificial skin.

So, during your lifetime, the stage is set for all of those enhancements. However, the quest for super-strength will go much deeper still, and will be more fundamental. Because, forget exoskeletons, what about the regular skeletons that we all already have. X-Men’s Wolverine is probably the most famous demonstrator of this kind of power, with his adamantium bones. But the hope is that these will be available to more than just a henched-up Hugh Jackman, before long. Since as far back as the late ‘90s, scientists have known of certain genes that seemingly enhance bone strength… so now, with the advent of CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, it isn’t beyond possibility that an increase in those genes could be gradually installed into more and more people. At the same time, and more recently, researchers have been able to identify in detail the trace metals that already form a kind of scaffold in our bone structure. It’s work that has led to questions on whether we could ever tweak those trace metals, to perhaps ensure that, one day, everyone’s bones will be unbreakable.

But, now that you know everything and you’re basically impossible to hurt or beat in a fight, you might just want to breathe for a bit. Get away from it all. And here’s where superpower number three would be a godsend; invisibility. There are two main routes to take: either you could have an in-built power to bend and corrupt light to make yourself invisible that way, similar to how Susan Storm (aka the Invisible Woman) achieves it in Marvel Comics… or you could use a device to render yourself unseeable, as per Harry Potter. In terms of what will happen in your lifetime, the second one is much more likely. In general, we see things because light reflects off of them in specific ways and into our eyes which are then capable of processing certain parts of the light spectrum. The job of a real life invisibility cloak is then quite simple; it needs to stop that from happening. In practice, it’s not so easy. But there have been multiple attempts made, and we are getting better at it. 

The development of invisibility cloaks has all to do with a research field known as transformation optics. Within that field, scientists and engineers are working to create metamaterials which are made up of intricate, deliberate nanostructures that can bend or redirect light away from themselves. The Canadian company, HyperStealth Biotechnology Corporation, is a leading developer of military camouflage products… but it claims “invisibility invented” with its highly innovative Quantum Stealth. This is a thin card-like material that, when wrapped around an object you wish to conceal, can render that object fully or partially invisible. Sometimes you can’t see it at all; at other times it’s blurred or indecipherable. What’s clear, though, is that HyperStealth isn’t on its own. There’s a rush of competitors aiming to produce evermore flexible, more reliable, and more convincing invisibility. So, soon, you really will be able to just disappear.

But finally, what above all else would be a pretty handy invention between now and the time that you die? How about… not dying? The quest for immortality has been a long one until now, but increasing numbers are coming to believe that we could finally be reaching the end of it. Again, there are a couple of directions we could head down; there’s digital immortality, and physical. The digital type is largely focussed on ongoing attempts to convert the human mind into transferable data. It’s another realm where AI will be key (if it is to succeed) as advocates claim that the entire human race might one day be housed on huge servers… with our lives, experiences, thoughts and feelings effectively saved as though at a checkpoint in a video game. In some ways, it’s like cryonics for consciousness; the promise being that we will all be able to digitally freeze ourselves before all the information that makes us is lost forever.

Many are more hopeful for physical immortality, however. For a way to live forever but still to exist in physical space, rather than be reduced down to a list of numbers and symbols. Here, it’s life extension technologies that will be crucial. The goal is to push life expectancy higher and higher, so that it becomes more and more likely that you will live for longer… the longer you live. One proposed method is via the use of nanotechnology. The futurist and AI specialist, Ray Kurzweil has previously predicted a remedy to aging thanks to nanotech solutions deployed inside the human body. It’s an idea with a lot of heritage, too, as the twentieth century US physicist Richard Feynman - in collaboration with Albert Hibbs - previously mused that we might one day be able to “swallow the doctor”. The precise applications are only now coming into view, but - if we were to give our bodies over - then perhaps it won’t be long until those bodies never die.

But what do you think? Which of these near-future capabilities are you most excited by? Which do you think may cause more harm than good? And which do you suspect might never come to fruition, no matter the promises that have been made? Let us know in the comments! Because superintelligence, super-strength, invisibility and immortality… those are the real superpowers you could have before you die.