AND what technology will deliver the next great impact on society and the human condition? Scientist and author Paul Davies has suggested we won't have long to wait before scientists provide the final insight into the origins of life. It will be discovered at the point of exchange when spontaneously replicating organic chemicals begin replicating in a purposeful way, as a primitive early lifeform.
Others believe the next great leap will come from our studies of how the brain works. Researchers are learning more and more about how the brain allows us to think, learn, remember and feel emotion. Once understood, this knowledge might allow us to copy the trick and begin to create biological thinking machines that will make present day computers look as pedestrian as the ENIAC.
Whatever the discoveries, what is certain is that discoveries of some sort will be made. There are those who will continue to seek out creative expression through the sciences and these same researchers will, through luck, skill or intuition, make discoveries that will change the world.
It will be for society and not the scientists themselves to determine whether the change will be for good or ill.